MOLDOVA Law and Practice Contributed by: Oleg Efrim, Ina Jimbei and Mihail Pitușcan, Efrim Rosca & Associates
Efrim Roșca Asociații MD-2012, București 72 str., Chișinău,
Republic of Moldova Tel: +37322238301 Fax: +37322238303 Email: contacte@era.md Web: www.era.md
1. Trends 1.1 M&A Market
more structurally aligned with European standards and institutionally better equipped to support sophis - ticated M&A transactions than it was a year ago. 1.2 Key Trends Over the past year, Moldova’s M&A market has been characterised more by institutional consolidation and regulatory alignment than by volume. Ongoing legis - lative reforms, driven by EU accession, are aligning company law, financial regulation and competition rules with European standards. These changes also strengthen merger control and FDI screening within transaction planning, enhancing predictability and decreasing structural obstacles in cross-border deals. Consolidation within the financial sector continues to be a key focus, with banking and insurance deals indicating enhanced prudential oversight and strate - gic shifts. At the same time, renewable energy has developed into a reliable asset class for transactions, backed by increased capacity, competitive bidding processes and better revenue predictability. Simultaneously, efforts to implement a structured privatisation programme and to establish the Mol - dova International Stock Exchange have improved the medium-term outlook, despite the absence of a deep and liquid capital market. Confirmations of sovereign ratings by S&P Global Ratings, Fitch and Moody’s have bolstered macroeconomic credibil - ity and enhanced financing conditions. Overall, the main trend shows increased institutional maturity and execution ability, setting the stage for more advanced transactions.
Moldova’s M&A market is evolving on a more institu - tional and macroeconomic foundation, with legislative reforms continuing, particularly in the context of EU accession negotiations. The alignment of company law, financial regulation, competition rules and super - visory standards with EU requirements has advanced further, reinforcing legal predictability and integrating regulatory scrutiny – including FDI screening and con - centration control – earlier in transaction structuring. At the same time, the market benefits from external validation of macroeconomic stabilisation through sovereign ratings assigned or confirmed by S&P Glob - al Ratings, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s. Although still below investment grade, these ratings reflect fiscal discipline and institutional continuity, lower the sover - eign risk premium, and improve financing conditions for complex or leveraged transactions. Sectorally, consolidation in banking and insurance has become more pronounced, renewable energy has matured into an asset class capable of attracting secondary investors, and the structured privatisation agenda introduces a medium-term transactional cata - lyst. The establishment of the Moldova International Stock Exchange further strengthens the infrastructure for capital-market-linked transactions, even if liquidity remains at an early stage. While transaction volume has not increased dramati - cally and geopolitical uncertainty continues to weigh on large-scale investment decisions, the market is
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