Small entrepreneurs and niche businesses, investment funds' new target

Investment funds, which a few years ago paid record amounts for Romanian companies, are now looking for value in niche businesses, less targeted in times of economic boom.

The latest decade of economic growth brought to Romania big investment funds willing to allocate hundreds of millions of euros to be part of the unprecedented growth of Romanian companies.
The peak was reached in 2008, when American fund Advent International paid 123 million euros for drugmaker Labormed. Another major deal had been concluded in 2003, when the same investment fund became a shareholder of Terapia in exchange for 40 million dollars.
Since the onset of the crisis, amounts allocated to the Romanian market by investment funds have been dwindling, with the 56 million-euro low hit in the first nine months of this year.
The construction and real estate markets have been the "casualties", with investment funds now looking for value in less targeted companies in years of economic growth. The deals concluded in the past year confirm this: online platforms (Paravion.ro), printers (Infopress), HR companies (SmarTree) attracted investments from funds.