The biggest investment bankers on the local market, which used to specialise in mergers and acquisitions consultancy until this year, are switching to debt restructuring or consultancy for infrastructure projects now that the time of major deals is over.

"We have not abandoned the M&A, but it is clear you can no longer make a living out of it. We need alternatives. We are repositioning on financial restructuring, that is debt restructuring and infrastructure consultancy," says Ioana Filipescu, managing director of the Raiffeisen Investment Romania investment bank.

The mergers and acquisitions market stood at approximately 1 billion euros in the first six months of this year, according to Raiffeisen data, compared with 3.5 billion euros in the same time in 2008, but this value also includes the deal whereby businessman Dinu Patriciu sold his remaining stake in Rompetrol. Given such a drastic decline of deals, investment bankers see restructuring as a way to boost revenue.

"At least 30% of companies will have to reduce their loans by 20 to 30%. You can't do it alone, and banks see this (turning to a consultant i.e.) as a good thing," says Matei Paun, managing partner of BAC Investment.

BAC Investment signed a contract for debt restructuring and is in talks with four other firms. The minimum amount of loans that is attractive to Matei Paun's company for restructuring stands at 10 million euros and the maximum amount exceeds 100 million euros. Over the next six months, he says mandates to sell will continue to generate the highest revenues, but next year the balance will tip towards restructuring.

"We continue to have mandates to buy and sell in various stages of negotiation. All in all we have approximately 6 to 12 mandates both to sell and to buy companies," says Matei Paun.

Another local investment firm betting on financing th