M&A in the UK media and marketing services sectors: Q1 2026
M&A activity hits a three–year high
118
deals completed
26%
technology-first marketing services deals
54%
deals backed by PE
Our view of the market
2025 was not a great year for M&A activity in the UK’s media and marketing services sectors, with 23% fewer deals completing than in 2024. However, the market has come roaring back in 2026. A total of 118 deals were completed in Q1, which is more than double the 57 transactions we recorded in Q4 2025. Moreover, this is the highest quarterly total that we have seen since Q1 2023.
Investor sentiment improved in the final months of 2025, driven by optimism about the UK economy and expectations of further interest rate cuts. This confidence encouraged acquirers to actively rebuild their deal pipelines in Q4 2025, contributing to an increase in completed transactions in Q1 2026.
However, the Middle East situation introduces significant uncertainty and, depending on its duration, could affect both the global and UK economies. The Bank of England has already indicated that additional interest rate cuts are now less likely, and short-term inflation is expected to rise as disruptions in the Middle East impact energy transport, driving up fuel, utility and business costs.
As a result, it is unclear whether acquirers will maintain the same pace of M&A transactions or whether activity will start to recede while the market awaits the outcome.
Quarterly deal volume
Q1 deals by sector
Trending: Market research
Market research was in the top spot as the favourite marketing services category with acquirers last quarter, accounting for 15% of the deals we recorded. This was a return to form, since market research came in joint last place in Q4 2025’s report, representing only 3% of transactions.
In Q1 2026, investor optimism, driven by hopes for a stabilising UK economy and expectations of lower interest rates, encouraged acquirers to actively pursue growth opportunities. The market research and insight sector offers predictable, recurring revenue and high-margin operations, making it financially attractive. Fragmentation in the market presents clear consolidation opportunities, while digital and AI-driven research capabilities allow acquirers to enhance their offerings and gain strategic synergies with existing portfolios.
Even as investor optimism was affected by the Middle East situation, market research businesses remained popular. Amid geopolitical uncertainty, businesses need more than ever to understand shifting consumer behaviour, competitor moves and market trends. Market research firms provide actionable intelligence, which becomes more valuable when the economic outlook is volatile.
We saw cross-border transactions in the space, with UK companies proving particularly popular with US acquirers. In January, Seattle-based Gamebeast announced the acquisition of UK company RTrack, a Roblox market research platform built to help developers and enterprises understand trends, player behaviour and game performance through structured analysis of publicly available data. Also in January, Illinois-based Curion, which is backed by US PE house Summit Park, announced it was acquiring Leeds-based market research agency Blue Yonder.
“Many investors appear to be accelerating deals now to secure market research assets before broader macroeconomic headwinds, such as those associated with the Middle East, potentially slow activity.”
George Hatswell, Corporate Finance Director, Moore Kingston Smith
Q1 2026 deal activity in the marketing services sector
Spotlight on: Martech
In the marketing services sector, while most deals involved the acquisition of traditional service-led agencies, 26% of the deals we recorded in Q1 2026 were technology-led. While this is lower than throughout 2025, we are continuing to witness high demand for technology-first agencies on the part of acquirers.
70% of the technology-led transactions we recorded in Q1 related to martech companies – companies developing and using technology to assist with a digital marketing strategy – while 17% were adtech and 13% mediatech.
Notable UK martech deals
In January, Texas-based WP Engine, a global web enablement company providing products and solutions for websites built on WordPress, announced its acquisition of Middlesbrough martech agency Big Bite. WP Engine is backed by US PE house Silver Lake.
Also in January, Israeli sports-tech company WSC Sports announced it was acquiring UK-based Partnerbrite, a platform for managing digital sponsorships, in a deal reported to be worth around $10 million.
Major holding companies
Notable transactions
The big five global holding companies were for the most part quiet in Q1. Omnicom doubtless remained focused on its integration of IPG, while Dentsu mulled over its future strategy with the reported collapse of interest in the sale of its international operations. The only active acquirers were Publicis, which completed one transaction in the quarter, and Havas, which reported four deals.
In March, Publicis announced the acquisition of Israeli measurement and content intelligence company AdgeAI. Arthur Sadoun, Chairman & CEO of Publicis Groupe, commented: “In the AI era, brands don’t simply need more content. They need to know what works and, crucially, why, in order to immediately scale their creative messaging across audiences, markets and platforms.”
Looking ahead to Q2, Publicis’ acquisition of 160over90 from WME Group is also noteworthy. The deal highlights continued investment in sports and experiential marketing, a segment benefiting from strong audience engagement, premium content demand and increasing brand spend around live events.
In February, Havas revealed it had acquired majority stakes in Spanish public affairs consultancy Acento Public Affairs and also in Ctrl Digital, a Swedish measurement, analytics and data activation specialist.
In March, Havas announced the acquisition of Berlin-based cultural marketing agency Styleheads. Styleheads will join Havas Media Network in Germany, where it will expand the capabilities of Havas’ global Play network. Also in March, Havas announced the acquisition by Maison BETC of Eyesight, a Paris-based agency involved in the design and production of fashion shows and events for luxury houses.
Challenger networks
Q1 was exceptionally quiet for the challenger networks, with only one of the serial acquirers that we track announcing a new transaction.
In March, UK-based market research company Thinks Insight and Strategy was acquired by Montreal-based communications business Avenir Global for an undisclosed sum.
Marketing services industry stock market performance
Global stock markets started the year in bullish form but fell in March with the commencement of military action in the Middle East. Since then, the markets have been extremely volatile, with large intra-day swings, as investors react to announcements relating to the expected duration of operations. The S&P 500 ended Q1 down 5%, while the FTSE 100 experienced significant early gains, opening above 10,000 for the first time ever in January, but then experiencing a sharp downturn in March, ending the quarter up just 2%. The Moore Kingston Smith Marketing Services Index lagged behind the overall market, down 9% across the quarter. Of the 12 companies in the Moore Kingston Smith Marketing Services Index, only three ended the quarter in positive territory.
After three consecutive years of poor performance, S4 Capital began to see upward momentum, and was our star performer in Q1, with its share price up by 36% across the period. Investors responded positively to its reporting much smaller pretax losses for 2025 compared with 2024, despite a fall in revenue, and guidance from the company that it expected profitability to improve in 2026. The market was also moved by revised upward analyst recommendations and reports of a significant purchase of the company’s shares by its senior independent non-executive director.
Our worst performer in Q4 2025, Mission, had another sorry quarter in Q1 2026, with its share price sliding by a further 33% across the period. It saw its share price drop by 21% in a single day at the end of March, as it announced a swing from profit to a huge loss in its latest annual results. Mission issued a profit warning in January amid “macroeconomic uncertainty”. In March, it revealed its revenues fell by 21% in 2025, and it suffered an £18.8 million loss before tax versus a £2.9 million profit before tax in 2024.
Moore Kingston Smith Marketing Services Index Q1 2026
Private equity
Of the 118 transactions we recorded in Q1, 54% involved private equity (PE) investment, either directly or via an existing portfolio company. This is the same as last quarter, demonstrating that PE remains the key driver of M&A activity in the UK market.
PE is attracted to marketing services businesses because they are part of a fragmented, growth sector where financial investors can apply the classic PE playbook – roll-ups, margin expansion, multiple arbitrage and attractive exits – when the macroenvironment improves.
The UK PE market was boosted by a series of interest rate cuts in 2025, and increased activity in the first quarter of this year was underpinned by anticipated further cuts. However, the Middle East situation has put paid to these hopes, at least for the short-term. It remains to be seen whether PE houses, particularly those reliant on leverage, scale back their activity in the coming months.
Percentage of PE-backed deals
Notable UK PE-backed deals
Moore Kingston Smith advised on a number of UK PE-backed transactions in Q1.
In January, UK PE house Mobeus announced it was investing £15.8 million to acquire a majority stake in London-headquartered, AI-powered, brand strategy and insights consultancy G=mc2.
Also in January, Phoenix Equity-backed UK-headquartered events organiser Nineteen Group announced three acquisitions of US-based conference and event organisers: The Lead, focused on fashion, beauty and consumer businesses; Reliabilityweb, a conference business serving engineering, maintenance and asset performance professionals; and SubSummit, which serves e-commerce, subscription and retail professionals.
In March, UK PE house Rockpool Investments acquired SEEN Group, a specialist beauty marketing and communications group, whose clients include Unilever, L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, Coty and Shiseido. Moore Kingston Smith advised Rockpool on the transaction.
TV, film and entertainment
Within the TV, film and entertainment sector, music, streaming and online content deals proved to be equally popular with acquirers in Q1, each accounting for 21% of the deals we recorded.
Content deals were the most prominent, accounting for 42% of the transactions, with production services deals accounting for 32%, and pure technology plays for the remainder.
Notable UK TV, film and entertainment deals
In January, UK media group Global Media & Entertainment acquired a majority stake in The Overlap, a sports media group founded by Gary Neville, which owns a highly successful YouTube channel. Moore Kingston Smith advised The Overlap on the transaction.
In February, John Gore Studios announced it was moving further into the AI production space with the acquisition of UK indie Deep Fusion Films. Deep Fusion had previously worked with John Gore Studios on Hammer Heroes: Legends and Monsters, which celebrated the legendary horror production house’s 90th birthday and resurrected Peter Cushing via AI.
Q1 2026 deal activity in the TV, film and entertainment sector
Publishing
B2B publishing was in the top spot in Q1, representing 55% of all the publishing deals we recorded. Consumer publishing accounted for the remainder.
The main UK publishing news story continued to be the fight to gain control of The Telegraph. In December 2025, it was understood that the owner of the Daily Mail, DMGT, had secured funding for an agreed £500 million takeover of the broadsheet newspaper. However, this was cast into doubt when, in February this year, the Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, said she wished to launch an investigation into the proposed deal, over concerns the transaction could affect the plurality of views in the UK media. Then in March, German publisher Axel Springer gatecrashed the party by agreeing to pay £575 million for the title, trumping DMGT’s offer. Axel Springer’s plans are not expected to raise plurality concerns demanding investigation, although the transaction still requires regulatory consent.
Notable UK publishing deals
In January, LSE-listed global specialist media platform Future, whose publications include Marie Claire and Woman & Home, announced the acquisition of SheerLuxe, a digital publisher in women’s fashion and lifestyle, for an initial cash consideration of £40 million plus another possible £40 million based on performance over the next three years.
In March, US-based Diversion Publishing announced it had acquired UK independent publisher Influx Press, which publishes in the categories of upmarket horror, literary short fiction and satirical fiction.
Q1 2026 deal activity in the publishing sector
Outlook
The UK’s media and marketing services sectors have experienced a strong start to 2026, with Q1 delivering the highest number of completed M&A deals seen in any quarter over the past three years. However, while a stable and supportive dealmaking environment had initially been anticipated for the rest of the year, the situation in the Middle East has introduced new uncertainty, and the scale of its impact remains unclear.
M&A in the UK media and marketing services sectors should remain active but highly selective through the rest of 2026. The market is being driven more by strategic necessity, especially the need to acquire AI, data and digital capabilities, than by cyclical tailwinds. This means deals will continue but primarily for assets that can demonstrate growth, resilience and technological relevance. PE is likely to continue to be a major driver of deal activity, with pressure to deploy capital after a quieter 2025, although receding chances of further interest rate cuts may affect some more highly leveraged transactions.
Paul Winterflood, Corporate Finance Partner at Moore Kingston Smith, comments:
“We are delighted to see M&A activity rebounding in early 2026. We remain cautiously optimistic for the remainder of the year, notwithstanding the global headwinds that may buffet the media and marketing services sectors in the short term.”
Moore Kingston Smith media M&A highlights
Contact us
Methodology
Moore Kingston Smith has analysed M&A transactions involving a UK buyer and/or UK seller where the target company is classified as operating in marketing services, publishing, or TV, film & entertainment. Within these sectors, businesses are further classified into sub-categories.
The research is primarily based on data extracted from Pitchbook, supplemented by publicly available information from industry and company sources where appropriate. The research aims to capture all transactions that fall within the stated criteria, although it is possible that some qualifying transactions may not have been identified.
