As Q2 2025 wraps, the marketing M&A environment is showing renewed signs of momentum—fueled by improved clarity around capital costs and a sharpening of buyer criteria. While interest rates and macro uncertainty continue to shape deal pacing, both strategic and private equity buyers are leaning into opportunities that offer defensible margins, automation, and clear market differentiation. Agencies that can pair creative fluency with measurable results—especially through data and tech—are drawing the most sustained attention.
At the same time, tariff-driven cost dynamics are starting to influence acquisition priorities. Firms with domestic production capabilities, simplified supply chains, or tech-led efficiencies are increasingly favored as buyers seek to de-risk exposure and deliver value in a shifting cost environment.
Key M&A Trends Shaping the Marketing Industry:
1. AI Consolidation Accelerates Across the Marketing Stack:
After a year of experimentation, buyers are now acquiring AI capabilities that integrate directly into creative, media, and analytics workflows. Demand is high for agencies with proprietary AI tools or deep partnerships with leading models, as buyers look to protect margins and future-proof service lines.
2. First-Party Data Capabilities Drive Strategic Interest:
The new 10% baseline import tariff — and 34% rate on Chinese goods — is already pressuring marketers reliant on hardware, packaging, and physical goods. As a result, agencies with U.S.-based production, nearshore capabilities, or a focus on digital-only performance marketing are gaining buyer interest. Additionally, strategic acquirers are reevaluating cross-border deal structures and looking to de-risk exposure to impacted supply chains.
3. Holding Companies Eye Mid-Sized Creative Shops for Cultural Rejuvenation:
Strategics are seeking creative agencies with strong culture, diverse leadership, and high client retention to reinvigorate legacy networks. Unlike prior scale-driven rollups, these acquisitions are focused on talent, differentiated creative approaches, and integration into omnichannel ecosystems.
4. Retail Media Demand Softens, but Attribution Tech Stays Hot:
Retail media remains a buyer interest area, but growth deceleration has led to more disciplined valuations. However, technology providers enabling closed-loop attribution, dynamic creative for retail environments, and retail data activation are seeing strong interest from both strategics and PE-backed platforms.
5. Private Equity Shifts Toward Recurring Revenue and Vertical Specialization:
PE buyers are gravitating toward agencies with subscription-based revenue, media spend under management, and specialization in verticals like healthcare, B2B SaaS, and financial services. Interest in generalist marketing agencies has cooled, while those with clear niche positioning and embedded tech continue to transact.