Romanian mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market recorded 258 transactions during 2022, with a total estimated value of USD 6.6bn. This represents a 26% increase compared to the deal count of 2021 (206), and a higher estimated value by 10% on a year-on-year basis (USD 6.0bn in 2021).
Strategic investors continued to be the dominant players in Romanian M&A, accounting for 88% of transactions in 2022.
Domestic transactions showed a slight increase with 119 deals recorded (compared to 112 in 2021), while the number of transactions undertaken by foreign investors (inbound) increased by 38% YoY, to a total of 119.
The most active sectors by deal volume were technology (19.4% of transactions) and real estate (16.3%), followed by healthcare (11.2%), power and utilities (8.1%) and diversified industrial products (7.8%).
In 2022, the average transaction size remained steady at US$ 45m, but below its most recent high in 2020. This effect is also amplified by the consistent trend of unreported transaction values for larger deals.
The most active investors by country of origin came from the United States (11.6% of inbound deals), Germany (8.3%), United Kingdom, Belgium and Poland (6.6% each).
The largest transactions of the year
Natural gas producer Romgaz acquired ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited and its 50% stake in offshore project Neptun Deep for USD 1.06 billion.
The acquisition of automaker Ford Romania by Ford Otosan Netherlands for USD 785m, and CA Immo’s office portfolio in Romania was acquired by Paval Holding for USD 389m.
GlobalLogic, a Hitachi Group company, acquired Fortech, one of Romania’s leading independent digital engineering firms for an estimated consideration of USD 255m.