Daniela Secară, BT Capital Partners: Listing is no longer optional for companies aspiring to leadership in the economy

Daniela Secară, CEO of BT Capital Partners, spoke with Ziarul Financiar, emphasizing the crucial part the capital market plays in the growth of companies and the overall economy.

Context:

OMV Petrom, Hidroelectrica, UiPath, Romgaz, and Banca Transilvania occupy the top positions in the 2025 edition of the ZF 100 ranking of the most valuable companies in Romania. This is the first time in 20 years that all five of the top companies are listed on the stock exchange.

What can we learn from the fact that the five most valuable companies in Romania are all listed on the stock exchange?

• The fact that the top five companies are listed for the first time in 20 years marks the maturity of our capital market and sends a strong message: Listing is no longer optional for companies aspiring to be leaders in the economy.
  
  
• Access to financing, transparency and corporate governance are becoming decisive criteria for top performance, and these come with a market that is growing rapidly both quantitatively (in terms of the number of investors and the amounts invested) and qualitatively (in terms of the financial education of investors).
  
  
• Market valuation, through market capitalisation, reflects not only accounting results and, in a perfectly efficient market (which does not exist, however), it is also the best way to quantify a company's future prospects in terms of expectations regarding the sustainability of its business model, capital discipline and competitive advantages.
  
  

How did we get here?

• The Romanian economy has experienced several distinct cycles. From 2006 to 2008, it experienced a period of boom fueled by lending, economic convergence, and accession to NATO and the EU. However, the capital market was relatively small, and the leaders in energy, telecommunications, and banking were mostly unlisted.
  
  
• After the economic crisis, between 2012 and 2019, Romania entered a phase of stable growth, with listed companies in the energy and banking sectors gaining traction.
  
  
• In 2020-2022, the pandemic accelerated digitalization, bringing to the forefront companies capable of scaling up quickly. This was especially true for technology companies, some of which went public during that period, both locally and internationally. UiPath is one example. It entered the top tier in 2019 at a value of 6.3 billion euros and reached an unprecedented value of 10.5 billion euros in 2020.
  
  
• The listing of Hidroelectrica in 2023 was a major catalyst: it consolidated the "weight" of the companies listed in the ranking and validated the stock market as the main mechanism for evaluating and financing the champions of the economy. In addition, major listings also provide a benchmark: the success of large IPOs encourages other companies to follow suit, broadens the investment universe and increases the resilience of the financial system by diversifying sources of financing.
  
  

Why do listings matter?

• Listings play three essential roles in economic development. The first is access to capital: companies can finance large projects without relying solely on debt, optimising the return on investment they can achieve.
  
  
• The second is transparency: regular reporting, stronger corporate governance, communication with investors and the adoption of ESG standards incre ly confidence and internal discipline, which is reflected in better multiples and more robust valuations.
  
  
• The third is liquidity and international visibility: presence in indices and coverage by analysts encourage foreign capital flows, reduce volatility and anchor companies in a global or at least regional ecosystem. In practice, this translates into higher market multiples for listed leaders, which pull up the top and raise the barrier to entry for unlisted companies.
  
  
• The threshold for 10th place increased from approximately €1.2 billion in 2006 to over €3 billion in 2025. This higher barrier is a result of economic growth, as well as the advantages and performance standards of listed companies mentioned earlier. As these benchmarks become the norm, unlisted companies are struggling to achieve similar valuations without the advantages offered by the capital market.