The private mergers and acquisitions market (real estate privatisations and transactions not included), will revolve around 700-800 million euros this year, estimates Doru Lionachescu, main partner at the investment firm Capital Partners.

Investment firm Capital Partners, which assisted the owners of the eJobs website in obtaining 4 million euros for 30% of the site, in the biggest transaction on the local Internet market, estimates it will broker deals worth 1.5 billion euros this year, four times higher than last year. Doru Lionachescu, the main partner in the investment firm, says the first part of the year was "fantastic" for business, and expects deals to come from all three divisions of the company - mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and real estate. "Having made 350 million euros in 2005, we had thought we would double our volume this year, but our excellent start to the year has allowed us to make an estimate of 1.5 billion euros," said Lionachescu.

Business is booming in Romania, but red tape and the reluctance of owners to sell, as they are holding out for a better price, prevents the mergers and acquisitions market from progressing, believes Lionachescu. Lionachescu is one of the most influential people on the local mergers and acquisitions market. His firm has brokered deals such as the takeover of Romexterra by MKB, the takeover of Mindbank by ATE Bank, the sale of 50% of Asmita Gardens as well as numerous real estate transactions. "Romania is a sellers' market, and this would stimulate the volume of transactions, were it not for the fact that many owners are delaying their decision to sell, for example, in the hope of getting a 10%-20% higher price six months from now," said Lionachescu. In the current context, in which many companies grow at extremely fast rates compared with the Western markets, the owners of these companies