M&A in the UK media and marketing services sectors: Q3 2025
Marketing services deal volume increases as broader sector declines amid uncertainty
77
deals completed
+4%
Moore Kingston Smith Marketing Services Index
56%
deals backed by PE
Our view of the market
M&A activity across the UK’s media and marketing services sectors remained subdued in Q3 2025. Deal volumes have edged down quarter by quarter this year. Acquirers are more cautious amid uncertainty over the UK’s economic outlook and potential fiscal measures, including possible tax increases on businesses, in the upcoming budget.
A total of 77 deals were completed, down 6% from the 82 in Q2, marking the lowest quarterly total since Q2 2021, during the height of the pandemic. The slowdown reflects wider global and domestic headwinds, from geopolitical tensions to weak UK economic data, which have prompted investors to be more selective.
Even so, high-value strategic acquisitions and resilient, cash-generative businesses continue to attract attention, particularly from private equity, which participated in 56% of all recorded deals. Against a broader sector decline, we saw increased interest in marketing services, with more deals completing than in Q2. It is TV, film and entertainment and publishing that had the biggest drop-off in activity.
Quarterly deal volume
Q3 2025 deals by sector
Trending: Creative
Once again, performance and media buying was the favourite marketing services category with acquirers, accounting for 23% of the deals. Creative came second, and we have seen an increasing number of transactions in this space. In a world where data, tech and media are becoming increasingly commoditised, creativity is what still differentiates brands. Acquirers, especially consulting firms and tech-driven networks, buy creative agencies to add emotional intelligence, storytelling and cultural relevance – areas where they may lack credibility. Creativity drives the top of the marketing funnel: the “big idea” that leads to production, media and performance work downstream.
Moore Kingston Smith’s corporate finance and tax teams advised next-generation creative, technology and media group MSQ Partners on its most recent acquisitions. MSQ, majority-owned by New York PE firm One Equity Partners, announced in July that its production agency, M3 Labs, had acquired connected commerce agency PRECIOUS Media, and AI and data-driven production solutions business Wooshii. These acquisitions followed MSQ’s purchase of London-based strategy and innovation consultancy The Forge in May, which Moore Kingston Smith advised on as well.
The Moore Kingston Smith team also advised integrated creative and media agency Golley Slater on its transition to an employee-owned business, marking a major milestone in its near 70-year journey. The company will be held in trust for the benefit of its 130 employees, through the creation of an employee ownership trust.
“Creative agencies are attractive to acquirers because they bring the cultural relevance, brand relationships and ideas that turn data and technology into real business growth.”
George Hatswell, Director, Media Corporate Finance
Q3 2025 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, 27% of the deals were technology-led. This is slightly down on the 30% in Q2 but remains significantly higher than the historical average. We continue to witness high demand for technology-first agencies on the part of acquirers.
65% of the technology-led transactions related to martech companies (companies developing and using technology to assist with a digital marketing strategy), while 29% were adtech and just 6% were mediatech.
Notable UK martech deals
There were several cross-border transactions involving UK martech targets.
In August, UK-headquartered Smart Communications announced it had acquired Australian customer engagement technology business Pendula. The deal was revealed just days after Smart Communications’ private equity backer, Accel-KKR, announced it was selling a majority equity interest in the company to Cinven, for more than $1 billion.
Also in August, US AI-powered advertising resource management software business MINT acquired the UK’s Redmill Solutions, a specialist media data management company. This marks MINT’s second acquisition since former Ipsos and Gartner senior executive Lorenzo Larini joined as its global CEO.
Major holding companies
Notable transactions
The global holding companies were largely quiet. Four of the major marketing services networks – IPG, Omnicom, Dentsu and WPP – made no new acquisitions. Publicis completed two transactions and Havas reported one deal.
In July, Publicis reported that it had acquired US experiential agency Bespoke Sports & Entertainment. The Bespoke acquisition continues the renewed push into sports for Publicis, which in Q2 acquired Adopt, a marketing agency cofounded by former Nike executives and sports agents. Also in July, Publicis Health announced it was to acquire US-based p-value Group, a full-service medical communications business, in a transaction reported to be worth between $250 and $300 million.
Also in July, Havas strengthened its global performance and e-commerce capabilities with the acquisition of Spanish digital performance agency Tidart. Additionally, in September, Havas announced it was forming a new joint venture with Horizon Media Holdings, to be called Horizon Global. This new entity will focus on US-centric global clients and will bring together Horizon’s and Havas’s AI platforms. Horizon and Havas will otherwise continue to operate independently.
Omnicom and IPG remain focused on their own planned combination. Under the terms of the all-share deal, Omnicom said at the start of August it was set to pay only $9 billion for IPG. This is down from the $13.3 billion price tag estimated when the takeover was first agreed in December 2024, as the stock prices of both companies have fallen in the intervening period. The actual price will only be confirmed once the deal is completed, expected before 31 December 2025.
The announcement in August that Dentsu was “exploring strategic alternatives” regarding its international business sent the industry gossips into overdrive, as that is well-known to be stock market code for “looking to sell”. Following that announcement, there has been speculation that Dentsu’s international arm, which accounts for around $4.5 billion of revenue, might be too big for a single acquirer but could be broken up and provide much needed fuel for the ambitious mid-tier challenger networks.
Challenger networks
A number of the challenger networks were busy. As mentioned above, the Moore Kingston Smith corporate finance and tax teams advised creative, media and technology group MSQ Partners on the acquisitions of PRECIOUS Media and Wooshii by its production agency, M3 Labs. In August, S4 Capital made an official stock market announcement that it had received a proposal from MSQ regarding a possible merger, only for MSQ to voice its surprise three days later saying it knew nothing about any such proposal.
On the acquisition trail, Brave Bison announced its fifth transaction for the year in September, revealing it had bought strategy and insights consultancy MTM in a deal worth £12 million.
It has been a while since Brainlabs featured on our list of acquirers. However, in July, it announced it had acquired Los Angeles-based agency Exverus Media, in a bid to extend its West Coast presence and expand its full-funnel media-buying capabilities.
In August, Gravity Global announced the acquisition of US performance media agency Marketing Doctor. The addition enhances Gravity Global’s paid media expertise and supports its continued growth in regulated and mid-market sectors, while extending its integrated marketing capabilities.
Marketing services industry stock performance
Global stock markets continued their bull run. After delivering 10% gains in Q2, the S&P 500 ended Q3 up a further 8%, while the FTSE 100 was up 6%. The Moore Kingston Smith Marketing Services Index lagged behind the overall market but was also in positive territory, up 4%. Of the 13 companies in the Moore Kingston Smith Marketing Services Index, nine ended the quarter with their share prices up.
The quoted challenger networks found greater favour than the global holding companies among investors. Our top three performers are all challengers, while two out of our three worst performers are industry giants. Investors seem to be favouring challenger networks over the legacy holding companies because they promise higher growth, leaner business models and stronger alignment with the priorities of clients’ budgets.
Q1 and Q2 star performer Brave Bison again led the pack, seeing its share price increase by 34% across. Investors responded positively to its most recent set of results and September acquisition of MTM, sending the share price to a nine-year high.
WPP was our worst performer, primarily due to issuing a trading update and profit warning in early July. It said like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs for the first half of 2025 would be lower than the same period in 2024. For the full year, it anticipates a 3-5% drop. Mark Read, WPP’s CEO, said: “Since the start of the year, we have faced a challenging trading environment with macro pressures intensifying and lower net new business. While we expected the second quarter to be similar to the first quarter, performance in June was worse than anticipated and we expect this pattern of trading in the first half to continue into the second half.” In August, the company confirmed it was halving its dividend and holding a strategic review of its business. WPP’s share price ended the quarter down 30%.
Moore Kingston Smith Marketing Services Index Q3 2025
Private equity
Of the 77 transactions we recorded in Q3, 56% involved private equity (PE) investment, either directly or via an existing portfolio company. This is a significant increase on the 51% we reported last quarter. The August interest rate reduction to their lowest level for two years is likely to boost PE transactions, allowing more affordable leverage to come into the market. However, hopes for further rate cuts before the end of the year dissipated in September as less favourable UK economic data emerged.
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.
Percentage of PE-backed deals
Notable UK PE-backed deals
In August, stakeholder strategy business FGS Global, which used to be part of WPP before it was sold to KKR at the end of last year, announced it had acquired London-based Edmonds Elder, a digital-first integrated communications and campaigning firm.
In September, Carlyle Group-backed digital marketing agency Incubeta revealed its acquisition of RocketSource, a consultancy with proprietary frameworks that provide the foundation for AI-driven transformation across marketing data, analysis and activation.
In August, Impact XM, a global experiential marketing agency based in the US, announced the acquisition of Shelton Fleming, a London-based strategic experience agency. This acquisition marks another step in Impact XM’s international growth strategy, expanding its footprint across the UK and Europe while enhancing its ability to deliver immersive, strategically aligned brand experiences at scale. Impact XM is backed by US PE-house Cohesive Capital.
TV, film and entertainment
Within the TV, film and entertainment sector, TV and film transactions and gaming deals proved equally popular with acquirers, each accounting for 38% of the deals we recorded. Content deals were the most prominent, accounting for 63% of the transactions, with production services deals accounting for the remainder.
ITV Studios continued its 2025 acquisition spree, announcing it had taken a majority stake in Spanish scripted production company Plano a Plano in July. The acquisition is a further milestone in ITV’s strategy of expanding its international content business, with Plano a Plano becoming the latest production company to join the group in recent years alongside Moonage Pictures, Eagle Eye Drama, Hartswood Films, Quay Street Productions, Happy Prince, Poison Pen Studios and Plimsoll Productions.
Notable UK TV, film and entertainment deals
In August, the UK’s biggest independent post-production group was formed as Envy acquired Halo. Envy’s recent credits include Walking with Dinosaurs for the BBC and Netflix’s Building the Band. Halo has worked on Netflix’s Alexander: The Making of a God and Disney’s Limitless with Chris Hemsworth.
It has been tough for TV production companies getting work commissioned recently, but those producing top-quality content and with IP ownership are still seeing strong financial performance and remain attractive to acquirers.
IP is particularly relevant for the creator economy, an area where we expect to see many deals in the future, as linear TV advertising budgets move to YouTube. In 2024, YouTube overtook ITV to become the second most-watched service in the UK, only behind the BBC.
In September, Arcade Media, a talent management group representing some of the UK’s top content creators including the collective of British YouTubers The Sidemen, who have 24 million followers, received a significant investment from Lumina Media. This deal will help fuel Arcade’s ambition to become the leading creator-first platform and build lasting IP that drives conversation and culture. The Moore Kingston Smith corporate finance team advised Lumina on this transaction.
Q3 2025 deal activity in the TV, film and entertainment sector
Publishing
Consumer publishing was in the top spot, representing 71% of all the publishing deals we recorded. B2B publishing accounted for the remainder.
In September, Haymarket Media announced it was acquiring Marketing Week, Creative Review and the Festival of Marketing from Centaur Media, to strengthen its position in the marketing communications sector. Haymarket already owns long-established B2B marketing communications brands, including Campaign, Performance Marketing World and PRWeek.
Notable UK publishing deals
In August, US-based online and print travel media brand AFAR acquired the UK’s SUITCASE magazine and digital channels.
In September, Motorsport News, the weekly publication for the UK motorsport scene, was acquired by MotorSport Vision from Kelsey Media. Motorsport News has been reporting on UK motorsport for more than 70 years.
Q3 2025 deal activity in the publishing sector
Outlook
Continued global geopolitical tensions and unhelpful domestic economic data, coupled with concerns about what might be in the late November budget, mean that the deal-making environment is still challenging. However, over the summer we did see increased early-stage deal activity, and some improvement in client spend data which will feed into completions in the coming months.
The longer-term fundamentals for the UK’s media and marketing services sectors remain healthy, and there is no shortage of potential investment monies available. This is counter-balanced by acquirers remaining cautious in their approach to structuring deals, particularly with sellers, who themselves are biding their time while their trading improves.
“While marketing services deal activity has ticked up, it is disappointing to see market activity across the rest of the sector soften in Q3. We anticipate businesses exercising caution until the Chancellor delivers her budget at the end of November. Once there is greater clarity around fiscal policy and hopefully continued improvement in client spend, we expect to see an increase in deal volumes again.”
Paul Winterflood, Corporate Finance Partner at Moore Kingston Smith
Moore Kingston Smith media M&A highlights
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Methodology
In compiling our deal tracker we use Pitchbook, an international financial data provider that gives access to comprehensive data on the private and public markets. We analyse every deal with either a UK buyer or UK seller (or both) and where the target company is classified as marketing services, publishing or TV, film & entertainment, the transaction is entered into the deal tracker. We classify marketing services into sixteen sub-categories; TV, film & entertainment into seven sub-categories; and publishing into four sub-categories. As well as the data extracted from Pitchbook we have used information from the following sources: koresoftware.com, marketingdive.com, adexchanger.com, take1.tv, nftplazas.com, havasgroup.com, wpp.com, thedrum.com, deadline.com, businesswire.com, ft.com, fortune.com, themarketinpractice.com, antin-ip.com, wildstone.co.uk, media4growth.com, pehub.com. Any assumptions, opinions and estimates expressed in the information contained in this content constitute the judgment of Moore Kingston Smith LLP and/or its associated businesses as of the date of publication and are subject to change without notice. This information does not constitute advice and professional advice should be taken before acting on any information herein. No liability for any direct, consequential or other loss arising from reliance on the information is accepted by Moore Kingston Smith LLP or any of its associated businesses.
