With ten years of experience in corporate banking, Dionis Bălan came up with the idea of creating a financial consultancy department within Power Finance after working with a wide range of bank clients—especially medium-sized corporate clients—many of whom faced significant difficulties in obtaining financing.
“Many of these clients complained about the Romanian banking system—carrying files from bank to bank, being asked thousands of questions by risk departments, losing enormous amounts of time,” explains the consultant as he describes what motivated him to become involved in financial intermediation.
The Advantages of Financial Intermediation
“Financial intermediation means, first and foremost, reduced time for the client,” says Dionis Bălan, Managing Partner at Power Finance, noting that such a consultant can ease the client’s burden in securing the financing they need.
“Having already gained banking experience and five years of consulting, I know every bank individually, what segment each prefers to finance, how far they can go to reduce costs for the client (…) and I also know the profitability each bank expects from a particular client and product. I know exactly how far I can go in negotiations—things a client would not be aware of,” Bălan adds.
Companies Facing Difficulties in Obtaining Financing
Regarding “clients who are harder to finance—due to their repayment history, declining turnover, or issues with suppliers or clients—the consultant says: “Knowing the financial institutions well, I have managed and still manage to secure financing increasingly easily for these clients.”
“For me, they represent an important share of my client portfolio. Some tried on their own first, but ran into roadblocks,” adds Dionis Bălan.
“My role is not only to talk. When I take on a case, a full analysis is done. Legal partners handle the legal aspects; accountants perform an accounting audit; and I provide an analysis of the company’s equity value—its competitive landscape, its market position, client portfolio strength, supplier strength—and then we establish a price,” explains the consultant.
“I work on a success fee, meaning that when I take on a file, it is crucial for me to have a reasonable degree of certainty that it will be approved,” Bălan says about how he selects clients.
Another sensitive topic in financing is the situation of companies that have previously undergone insolvency. According to the consultant, such companies have minimal chances of obtaining financing in Romania.
“If we look abroad—Germany, Spain—they don’t view insolvency the way we do. They don’t see failure as something shameful. They see it as an experience. You tried, it didn’t work; let’s understand why. If you now have a new idea, and it can be verified and assessed for risk, financing can be granted. In Romania, this is not the case,” the consultant explains.
“I have managed to secure financing for companies with an insolvency history, but it was extremely difficult. The requirements are absurd: excessively high collateral coverage and enormous interest rates,” notes Dionis Bălan.
His portfolio of clients spans all economic sectors, from transport—including maritime—to defense, manufacturing across all industries, and agriculture.
“From clients with lower turnover, of a few hundred thousand lei, to clients with several hundred million lei. With some of them I have grown over the past five years,” says the consultant, mentioning several success stories from his five years in this field.
Success Stories
“One notable case was a company from Bistrița: TRANSMIXT, formerly the city’s public passenger transport company, which had been privatized. The company had accumulated large overdue payments, numerous leasing contracts, and a significantly declining turnover, all leading to a drastic deterioration of the business. When I took on the case, the owner had already been searching for financing for about two years. He needed funding to renew the fleet—to purchase buses worth €2–3 million—in order to participate in a public tender. It took eight months of intense effort to secure the financing. It was a very difficult yet very interesting case,” recounts Dionis Bălan, adding that “today the company can obtain any leasing or bank credit without any problem.”
Future Plans
Looking ahead, Dionis Bălan plans to focus on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and on attracting foreign investment funds to Romania. He mentions ongoing discussions with a Norwegian investment fund.
“We are in negotiations and I hope everything will be finalized by spring. It is an investment fund from Norway—actually several companies that have created a fund focused on agriculture. We are currently discussing their entry into the shareholder structure of a fertilizer production company, with the acquisition of 49% of the shares,” explains the consultant.
“I want to bring new markets to Romania. I want to attract new funds. I’m especially interested in family offices that manage significant capital and prefer to invest in companies rather than leave their money in bank deposits earning 0.1% interest. They operate similarly to investment funds but with more flexible conditions. What matters to them is return and business security. I see enormous potential here, and this also increases pressure on the Romanian banking system,” he adds.
“For about a year now, I’ve also focused on the M&A segment, which has started to grow in Romania in recent years. Last year I had several successful collaborations, and I believe this year will be even more interesting. Romanian entrepreneurs are increasingly reaching a point where they feel stuck. Very few know how to expand beyond Romania or how to sell to an investment fund while keeping their business alive and passing it on to their family,” says Bălan.
About the Romanian Entrepreneur
Regarding Romanian entrepreneurs, the consultant highlights recurring issues such as “limited banking knowledge, the desire for total control over every aspect, and the emotional component—which has a tremendous impact on business.”
“As a consultant, I have to help them see the reality of their business or the real value of their business—something very difficult at the moment,” says Dionis Bălan, adding that “entrepreneurs have invested years of their lives in their business, so it’s natural for them to overvalue it.”
“We often encounter situations where entrepreneurs want to sell entirely, and an equal share who want to sell only a minority stake in order to secure funds for further development. The difficult cases are those who want to sell everything immediately. No investment fund wants to impose its people right away; they prefer a transition period of 6 months to 1–2 years during which the former owner remains in management, alongside a board appointed by the fund,” explains the consultant.
“Many entrepreneurs are afraid of this and prefer to exit quickly—but by doing so, they actually scare investors,” warns Dionis Bălan.
“I want foreign investment funds to come to Romania and enter partnerships with Romanian entrepreneurs. I don’t want to see only full exits of local businesses,” he concludes.