According to Deloitte estimates, the total market value, including transactions that did not have a reported value, was between 1.4 and 1.6 billion euros, up 15% over the same period in 2017.

"We are witnessing an effervescence in the transaction market, both locally and internationally, with an impact on Romanian subsidiaries. Transactions in the third quarter are mainly those started in the first months of 2018 on the basis of the 2017 figures that were very good in all areas", said Ioana Filipescu, Corporate Finance Partner, Deloitte Romania.

The number of transactions monitored in the third quarter was 27, out of which only one third had the value officially announced or that could be calculated on the basis of public data. Thus, the trend of this year continues not to announce the value of transactions. In the similar period of 2017, a total of 28 transactions were announced.

The largest transaction announced in the third quarter was Advent International's acquisition of the Zentiva group, including Zentiva SA Romania, the former Sicomed, with a value of 287 million euros.

The second transaction was the sale of Agricost to the Al Dahra group, the largest transaction in agriculture in Romania, with a value of 200 million euros.

The third transaction was the acquisition of a 7.5% stake in UiPath by a consortium of investors headed by Sequoia Capital at a valuation of 2.6 billion euros, with the deal amounting to 194 million euros.

The fourth transaction is the acquisition by Pavel brothers of Forte Partners' The Bridge project, unrevealed value.

The fifth transaction is the sale by the investment firm Abris of the Urgent Cargus courier company to the Mid Europa investment fund, the largest transaction in the field so far, unrevealed value.

"M & A activity remains intense. We see a growing interest from both strategic and financial investors who want to invest more than 100 million euros per transaction. With 12 transactions of over 100 million euros in the first nine months, there are chances that by the end of the year we will exceed the record of large transactions established last year", concluded Ioana Filipescu. (source: forbes.ro)