Ioana Filipescu, Raiffeisen: Even if the economy grows, investors will not rush in

2011 will be an extension of this year on the M&A market, namely investors' perception about Romania will be "bad" and it will be a while until the "light at the end of the tunnel" becomes visible, believes Ioana Filipescu, managing director of Raiffeisen Investment Romania and one of the best-known M&A consultants in Romania.
"Investment appetite does not return suddenly. If the economic growth pattern changes a little, this does not mean investors will be rushing in. M&A deals tend to take increasingly more time so that we cannot expect any miracles next year on the market," she said in an interview with ZF.
Though several deals have been announced lately, Filipescu believes this does not amount to a market rebound, but rather to investors making haste toward yearend.
"I believe the deals that have been completed during this period (the last few months of 2010 i.e.) have more to do with the fact that the year is ending and less with optimism. Buyers operate with some budgets. It's only logical that deals started a while ago should be concluded ahead of the yearend," maintains Ioana Filipescu.