Alina Badulescu, Mariana Vancea Abstract—The paper investigates the main issues concerning the activity of mergers and acquisitions in Romania in the period 2000- 2004. As in the first decade after the failure of the socialist economy the market of M&A was living its infancy based exclusively on privatization transactions, after 2000 the market entered in a stage of maturity. We are investigated both the registered evolutions in terms of number and value of transactions, and some sectoral issues, concerning the most important industries affected by the M&A process. Keywords—mergers and acquisitions, Romania, 2000-2010 decade I. INTRODUCTION ROWTH and development of companies through mergers and acquisitions is currently one of the most common methods of expanding enterprises. Associated with external growth policy, mergers and acquisitions are one of the ways for implement the strategy of vertical integration, specialization or diversification. Mergers and acquisitions have seen an upsurge in recent years and have become important in the strategy both of the big groups, and small businesses. Consequently, these operations constitute one of the main ways of firm development available to improve the strategic position within their business environment In Romania, mergers and acquisitions activity has appeared much later than in other countries. Thus, in the early 1990s, in Romania the State dropped to more efficient operation of the economic sector, thereby the emergence of the most enthusiastic defenders of the principle to maximize the value, namely the private shareholders. The 1990s were marked by the phenomenon of privatization, which were the premise of developing the market for mergers and acquisitions in Romania. The process of privatization was relatively heterogeneous, and the main methods used have been represented by MEBO method, mass privatization and the sale of shares on a case-by-case basis to foreign investors [1, 2]. After 2000, mergers and acquisitions market in Romania began to grow and to get more mature. So, they began to be increasingly more mergers and acquisitions "pure", e.g. transactions carried out outside the privatization process. The economic growth recorded, the business environment stabilization and the EU accession have made Romania a target more and more attractive for foreign investors, who have had the highest share in the domestic market of mergers and acquisitions. The flow of foreign investment has increased, on As part of a broader analysis of mergers and acquisitions in Romania in the past decade, the present paper approaches the main issues of the 2001-2004 periods, during which the process of maturing of the corporate takeovers market has started. The 2005-2007 period of the mergers and acquisitions market in Romania is the subject of other submitted. II. THE DYNAMICS OF THE M&A ACTIVITY IN ROMANIA AND ITS POSITION WITHIN THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE After the year 2000, the market for mergers and acquisitions in Romania began to take shape, even if the country was only in the early stage of ”pure” mergers and acquisitions, e.g. transactions with other companies than those made in the privatization process. The region of Central and Eastern Europe, it has been already noted a gap from Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic (these countries were able to attract most of the foreign investment in the region) which was mainly due to the slower pace of the privatization and economic growth [3]. As shown in Figure 1, from the 26 private transactions carried out in Romania in 2001, the number rose to 181 in 2008, and later registered a reduction in the number of transactions, due to the events that have marked the world economic scene: economic turndown and crisis. As regards competition policy to be applied in Romania, the basis of mergers and acquisitions control is represented by Competition Law No. 21 of 10 April 1996, as amended and supplemented by Emergency Ordinance of the Government (OUG) No. 75/2010. Thus, "there are prohibited the economic concentrations which would significantly impede effective competition on the Romanian market or a substantial part of it, in particular as a result of the creation or strengthening of a dominant position". The law establishes compulsory notification of concentrations at The Competition Council and the criteria for compatibility with the competitive business environment. Economic concentration operations must be notified to the Council of competition where the aggregate turnover of the undertakings involved in the transaction exceeds an equivalent in Romanian currency (ROL) of 10,000,000 euros and when at least two of the involved companies achieved on the Romanian territory a annual turnover higher than the equivalent in ROL of 4,000,000 euro each (Competition Law, no. 21/1996, as amended by OUG No. 75/2010). The Activity of Mergers and Acquisitions in Romania in the 2000-2010 decade, First stage: G Alina Badulescu is with the Department of Economics, University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania e-mail: abadulescu@uoradea.ro Oradea, Romania e-mail:mavancea@uoradea.ro Mariana Vancea is with the Department of Economics, University of Oradea the background of solid economic results recorded in Romania. toward the maturity of the market (2000-2004) World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Economics and Management Engineering Vol:6, No:6, 2012 1021 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 6(6) 2012 ISNI:0000000091950263 Open Science Index, Economics and Management Engineering Vol:6, No:6, 2012 publications.waset.org/1771/pdf