The transaction that tipped the scales at FP: the Moise family and the connections with Bogdan Drăgoi

The process by which Bogdan Drăgoi's group reached the position of decisively influencing Fondul Proprietatea (FP) does not seem to have been possible without two elements that, viewed together, provide the key to the entire evolution of recent months: the involvement of the Romanian state, through the Ministry of Finance, and the intervention, at the critical moment, of the Moise family, which sold a significant block of shares to Lion Capital exactly when it needed to consolidate its majority alongside the state and overturn the decisions adopted by the FP AGM in November and December 2025.

From this perspective, what at first glance seemed to be a succession of independent movements - market acquisitions, votes in shareholder meetings, repositionings on the board and, finally, the submission of the letter of intent regarding the candidacy of SAI Muntenia Invest to be appointed administrator of FP - begins to take on the shape of a coherent mechanism, in which each stage prepares the next one. And the turning point, the one in which the balance tilted decisively, is linked to the additional accumulation of shares by Lion Capital after the partial failure of the public offering and to the appearance, in this context, of the sale made by Andrei Octav Moise.

Against this background, the messages appearing in the comments section of the article "The takeover of FP by the Drăgoi clan takes shape; the candidacy of SAI Muntenia Invest confirms the BURSA scenario”, published on March 19, acquire a special relevance, anonymous messages attributed to Bogdan Drăgoi, which describe, in a direct and unambiguous form, the logic of the intervention.

One of them states: "Hello, I am Bogdan Drăgoi. I would like to clarify a few aspects. FP under the management of Franklin Templeton fulfilled its plan, sold Hidro, Enel and GDF (and other holdings), gave the money back to the shareholders. Now, remaining a shareholder in Salrom, Aeroporturi şi Porturi, FP was starting to no longer fulfill this mission and was starting to become an inconvenient shareholder for the interests of the state. Therefore, an attempt was made to appoint an administrator (Roca, Impetum or whatever they call it) who, under the shelter of big words, would keep FP in order. Unfortunately, these minorities appeared (Istvan, the Slovenians and others) who did not understand where the wind was blowing and prevented the election of those from Impetum/Roca. So the gentlemen from the Ministry (ed. - Ministry of Finance), considering my experience in taking over and disciplining other SIFs, asked for my help. And I, as I am indebted after the Cooperative I didn't bother, I got involved. And if I got involved, you can see that I want to get my money out. So it's normal for SIF Muntenia (which is otherwise very competent) to become the administrator of FP. But I assure you that, for the rest, everything written in the article above is a blatant lie. Please continue to buy FP shares and have hope that you will receive dividends (ignore the malicious comments that Lion Capital, Infinity, Longshield do not pay dividends - here we will). Hope dies last. Then, as I said on another occasion: don't worry if you don't come to vote, we will take care to vote properly. I greet you all and wish you an excellent day. Come on FP!”

Regardless of the authenticity of these messages, they synthesize, in an almost didactic form, what the facts in the market suggest: an intervention determined by the change in the balance of power in FP and a collaboration between the state and a private shareholder capable of delivering the necessary votes to regain control.

After the public offer launched by Lion Capital for approximately 9% of FP was only partially subscribed, the result not being sufficient to ensure a dominant position, it became obvious that the group needed an additional contribution to overcome the critical threshold. In this context, the transaction carried out by Andrei Octav Moise appears, who, together with close people (daughter and wife), sells approximately 3.3% of Fondul Proprietatea to Lion Capital, at a price higher than the offer price. The timing is crucial: exactly when Lion needed those percentages to build, together with the Ministry of Finance, the majority that changed the decisions of the AGM.

Later, Moise returns to the shareholding with a symbolic number of shares, a gesture that does not change the reality of the transaction, but emphasizes the punctual nature of the previous exit. At the same time, in the AGM, he votes in line with the Ministry of Finance and Lion Capital, contributing to the reversal of the balance of power. The sequence of these events inevitably raises the question of whether we are dealing with just an individual investment decision or with a piece of a larger mechanism.

Because, once the gaze moves from FP to the relationships surrounding BRK Financial Group and the former SIF Muntenia (today Longshield Investment Group), a second level of construction appears. Ileana Herling, close-person to Andrei Octav Moise - as it is written in the reports from BVB, in fact Moise's wife, appears simultaneously in several key points of this circuit: shareholder in BRK Financial Group, where it reaches approximately 10%, and significant shareholder in SIF Muntenia, after, in 2024, it buys from Bogdan Drăgoi a package of over 15% of this company, according to reports in financial publications in our country and an article published in România Liberă.

The connection becomes even more interesting in the context in which BRK Financial Group is the intermediary of some relevant transactions in the market, including in the FP area, and SIF Muntenia/Longshield is the very vehicle from which SAI Muntenia Invest, the candidate supported and controlled by Lion Capital for the management of Fondul Proprietatea, is derived. Thus, the same names and the same entities appear, successively, in key positions: in shareholding, in intermediation and, finally, in the attempt to take over the management.

Viewed chronologically, these movements outline what can be described as a circuit in kind of money and shares. In 2023, SIF Muntenia reduces its exposure to BRK, facilitating subsequent accumulation. In 2024, Ileana Herling enters strongly into the SIF Muntenia shareholder base and consolidates her position in BRK. In 2026, the Moise family sells an essential package of FP to Lion Capital, contributing to the change of majority. In parallel, Lion increases its stake, aligns itself with the state and proposes its own administrator.

None of these steps, taken separately, represent a violation of market rules. Each transaction has an economic justification, each vote has a legal basis, each candidacy respects the procedure. But, put together, these elements build a different picture: that of a mechanism in which the accumulation of positions, the intermediation of transactions and the relationships between actors converge towards the same result.

In this vein, the candidacy of SAI Muntenia Invest no longer appears as a simple episode in a competitive process, but as the final stage of a path that began long before. It is not the beginning of a competition, but the moment when a group that has built its position in the shareholding, secured its alliance with the state and benefited from key transactions ends up claiming, in a "natural” way, the management of the fund.

Of course, the fundamental question remains: is this circuit the result of independent decisions that, coincidentally, led in the same direction or the expression of a strategy built step by step? The answer is not explicitly provided by any official document. But the sequence of facts, the synchronization of key moments and the overlapping of relationships between actors are enough to outline an image that the market sees more and more clearly.

And at this point, the discussion is no longer just about who manages Fondul Proprietatea, but about how, in a market apparently governed by rules and procedures, control can be built through a discreet circuit of actions, influence and opportunity.