The advertising industry’s M&A market is waking up. In recent weeks, Publicis completed its $2.2 billion purchase of LiveRamp, Salesforce announced a $5.7 billion deal for Braze, Affle said it will buy Perion for $420 million, and Stagwell acquired Freestar.
Bankers say to follow the ad dollars, pointing to influencer marketing, retail media and connected TV. Analysts add that AI is making adtech’s real-time decisioning and identity tools more valuable to strategic buyers.
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Business Insider’s CMO Insider polled nine industry figures on who could buy next. Accenture plans about $5 billion in acquisitions this fiscal year.
Adobe, fresh from buying Semrush for $1.9 billion, faces pressure from creative AI rivals. Havas closed eight deals in nine months and favours smaller targets. Omnicom, after its $9 billion IPG merger, could look at retail media. OpenAI’s ad business has passed 100,000 advertisers, though its planned IPO could slow deals.
Publicis may add data assets and an “agentic orchestration” play. Stagwell, with more than 60 acquisitions, is eyeing Latin America. The Trade Desk, with about $1.5 billion in cash, could break its habit of avoiding big deals. Zeta Global, whose shares are up about 70% over the past year, was called “one to watch.”
