ROMANIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ileana Glodeanu and Delia Dumitrescu, Wolf Theiss
Market dynamics and competition The competitive PE landscape in Romania blends international funds, regional players and increasingly sophisticated local firms. Leading global players, such as CVC Capital Partners, compete alongside promi - nent regional managers like MidEuropa Partners, Enterprise Investors, Abris Capital and Innova Capital. Local funds are building track records and scaling up, professionalising portfolio companies and enhancing exit preparedness. However, investing in Romania demands market knowledge. Legal frameworks can be complex, and regulatory enforcements may vary. Understanding local business culture and performing strong due dili - gence are essential to mitigate risks and unlock value. Key Trends in PE Deal Activity in Romania A shift to larger, more strategic transactions A dominant trend in recent years is the shift from numerous small, local deals to larger, more strate - gic transactions. As per recent reports from Invest Europe, the average buyout size in the CEE grew from about EUR18 million in 2023 to EUR30 million in 2024. In Romania, several major transactions have raised the bar: • CVC Capital Partners, through Mehiläinen, acquired Regina Maria, the country’s top private healthcare provider, in a transaction valued at approximately USD1.4 billion for the Romanian leg; • Urgent Cargus was acquired by Sameday for an undisclosed value, completing a trio of exits in Romania for Mid Europa, after the sale of Profi and Regina Maria; • CVC also teamed up with Therme Group in a USD1.2 billion joint venture to scale up Therme’s “wellness” concept across Europe; and • in a separate deal, a 70% stake in La Cocos, a local retail chain, was sold to Schwarz Gruppe for roughly USD117 million following a 56% share pur - chase by CEECAT Capital, Morphosis Capital and EBRD in the previous year. These transactions underline a clear trend: inves - tors are prioritising deal size, sector consolidation
Statistics report, PE investment in the CEE region surged by around 50% in 2024, totalling approxi - mately EUR2.83 billion. Buyout activity led the reviv - al, jumping nearly 79% to EUR2 billion, while overall funding declined by about 34%, suggesting a trend towards larger, more selective deals. Despite fewer companies securing PE backing, investor confidence is rising. CEE’s growth outpaced the broader Euro - pean average nearly twofold, and that accelerating pace helped boost the region’s share of Europe’s total PE investment. In a nutshell, while fewer companies attracted funds, the market’s increasing scale and deal quality high - light the renewed optimism across the CEE. Economic and political context Romania’s attractiveness for PE is grounded in several structural strengths. Politically, while the country has experienced some fluctuations, it maintains a rela - tively stable environment conducive to investment. Its status as an EU member country since 2007 ensures regulatory alignment with European standards and access to substantial EU funding programmes aimed at infrastructure and innovation. Ongoing infrastruc - ture modernisation, especially in transport networks and energy grids, is another pillar of Romania’s invest - ment appeal. EU cohesion funds and national projects aim to plug infrastructure gaps, enabling smoother logistics and energy reliability. The CEE region overall is expected to grow faster than Western Europe. As per the European Commission’s European Economic Forecast, Spring 2025, Institu - tional Paper 318, May 2025, the Romanian econo - my is projected to grow by 1.4% in 2025, a modest increase from 2024’s rate of 0.8%. However, chal - lenges like global trade tensions and domestic fiscal instability may dampen export performance, and ulti - mately investment and consumption. The government aims to reduce the budget deficit from 9.3% of GDP in 2024 to 8.6% in 2025 through spending cuts and potential tax reforms. Nevertheless, there are emerg - ing opportunities in sectors like healthcare, technol - ogy and consumer goods, and lower inflation and the easing of monetary policy should lead to more favour - able financing conditions in 2026.
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