"Almost everything that was for sale was bought," a broker said as comment on the big transactions conducted on the Stock Exchange in 2007. His statement, although exaggerated on purpose, sums up best the moves that took place this year. The first year after the accession to the EU stirred things up and made players, be they strategic investors or investment funds try and grab a "share" of the market segments considered to have the highest growth potential.
From the only sweets maker listed on the BSE to the most important insurance companies on this market, all of them have found a buyer during the year. Most transactions were carried with construction companies' shares, which is hardly surprising, brokers say, considering the constructions sector witnessed the highest growth pace in 2007, which is expected to maintain for the next few years.
The shareholders of construction companies, after all, noticed the high interest of investors in this market segment and put up for sale some of the stakes they held, opening the market for such shares.
The biggest transaction of 2007 with shares of a listed company did not involve a player in the constructions sector but one of the main sweets producers on the domestic market, Kandia-Excelent Bucuresti.
In a surprise deal, Cadbury Schweppes group, Europe's largest sweets maker, took over 93.2% of Kandia-Excelent at the beginning of June, paying almost 100 million euros. The sellers were investment fund Axis Investments Limited, which held 84.1% and Meinl Bank, which held 9.1%. The deal was concluded at a 2.9 RON price, about 15% lower than the closing price in the day before the deal.
The cumulated value of the next two biggest transactions, the takeovers of Asirom and Ardaf, exceeded the value of the Kandia-Excelent deal only by a little. The deals whereby the controlling interests in two insurance companies were taken over totalled 111 million euros. The sale of Asirom and Ardaf, along with the Austrians at Uniqa taking control of another insurance company, Astra Bucuresti, meant that all the listed insurance companies changed owners this year.
The deal whereby Vienna Insurance, the biggest insurance group in the Central and Eastern Europe took over more than 50% in Asirom amounted to 76.4 million euros.
The other listed insurance company Ardaf Cluj-Napoca, controlled by a local businessman, as was Asirom, was sold early in March in a 35 million-euro deal. Tender SA, a company held by businessman Ovidiu Tender, gave up its 56% stake, bought by Czech investment fund PPF Investments.
Both Ardaf and Asirom had been ailing for a few years, and the investors that bought them believe they can turn them around.
Another big transaction on the BSE was that involving the shares of one of the biggest players on the domestic milling and bakery market, Loulis Romania (former Mopan). Leipnik Lundenburger Invest (LLI), the biggest company on the European milling market bought 60% of the shares of Greek Loulis group for 33.9 million euros.
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