We caught up with Peter Mitka, Head of M&A at EPH, after taking part in the M&A Drivers panel at the 2018 forum. With Central and Eastern Europe presenting many opportunities, we asked him what trends in the energy he could see coming through in the market and how attractive the region is compared to others such as Western Europe for Chinese investors. 

The Chief Legal & Procurement Officer at Borelais AG, Katja Tautscher, joined us for a coffee and a chat about key concerns in due diligence and the role of advisors in the M&A process. We also gained a better understanding about recent acquisitions by Borealis AG and the spread of acquisitions made geographically. 

Serban Roman, Country Director at Enterprise Investor highlighted entrepreneurial success stories and strong economic growth as the primary selling points for investors who are looking at Romania with fresh eyes for new opportunities. We also discussed the specific challenges facing the M&A market in Romania and how strategic players and funds are driving deal flow. 

With Austria sandwiched between the DACH and CEE regions, we sat down with Klaus Tutschek of Telekom Austria to see how they differentiate between the two and what regulatory differences have been noticed between EU and non-EU countries in the CEE region. Digital services were also hot on the agenda, with the recent spin off of a digital service company for customers featuring, due to the increasing digitalisation in the market.