M&A Digest Monthly | January 2025

Your monthly guide to the latest M&A news and trends in the media and technology sectors

Monthly M&A metrics

Last month over 145 deals were completed in the media and technology sectors, with capital investment soaring to an extraordinary ￡96bn. This figure surpassed the highest levels seen in 2024, signalling a surge in large-scale deals, fuelled by mega-deals and strong investor confidence in the sector.

Key highlights

• Number of deals: 145+
• Median deal size: ￡34m
• Total capital invested: ￡96bn
• Largest deal: MGX, OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank commit ￡80bn for The Stargate Project

This is based on disclosed deal amounts only. Source: WY Partners M&A tracker, PitchBook.

Notable deals

• HIG Capital acquires Kantar Media for $1bn
• SAMY Alliance acquires Content Lab
• Havas acquires CA Sports
• SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle and MGX commit to $100bn?for Stargate AI infrastructure
• Marketbridge acquires April Six Technology & Science from The MISSION Group
• Rallyday Partners invests in Nimble Gravity
• Stagwell acquires Create.Group
• LDC invests in Precise TV with ￡21m minority investment
• Transmission acquires Earnest
• MobileAction has partnered with Skai’s (formerly Kenshoo) Apple Search Ads business unit
• Perplexity acquires Read.cv
• Getty Images and Shutterstock to merge to form $3.7bn?stock photo giant

Latest insights from our team

Our 2024 M&A review is now live, offering valuable insights into a year marked by resilience and adaptability across the global media and technology sectors.

The review covers key transaction trends across buyer groups, with a focus on strategic shifts in the Global Networks, the growing dominance of social & influencer marketing, and AI's transformative impact on the creative industries. As well as our predictions for 2025 deal making.

"We expect the upturn in M&A activity seen in H2 2024 to continue in 2025, as buyers & investors continue to see the global economy beginning to stabilise from the inflationary pressure of the past 18 months.?Businesses trading well can expect to attract premium valuations from competitive processes, particularly in hot-spots such as social & influencer content, AI powered creative or live event / experiential marketing."?

William Ritchie, Founder & Managing Director, and Elliott Dodds, Director, at WY Partners.

Download the full review here.

Access our live M&A tracker

Our live M&A tracker offers an in-depth analysis of global M&A activity across the media and technology sectors. With just a few clicks, you can monitor deal activity, identify emerging trends, and gain competitive intelligence.

Access the M&A tracker?here.

What we're reading

• William Ritchie, Founder and Managing Director of? WY Partners, shares his thoughts in Adweek's?article on the ongoing effort to sell TikTok. “You can see a strategic buyer being comfortable pricing in the lack of access to the algorithm given the potential as a media platform alone. But the question is whether that would fulfill the Department of Justice’s reason for seeking the sale in the first place.”?Read more.
• TikTok is banned then unbanned: How the internet reacted. Read more.
• ‘An industry on the brink of a major shake-up’: Ad execs on the year ahead in M&A. Read more.
• Martin Sorrell predicts the END of the Big Six HoldCos: Who will survive the shake-up? Read more.
• IPG’s Krakowsky & Omnicom’s Wren offer an inside look at the merger of the century. Read more.
• Do the first large marketing M&A moves of 2025 indicate a trend for the year? Read more.
• How small Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek shocked Silicon Valley. Read more.
• Ian Whittaker's piece on Nielsen's December 2024 data and how the streamers are using live sports to capture audiences. Read more.

Deal spotlight

Our work

We advised Brave Bison on their acquisition of Engage Digital Partners by providing financial due diligence services.

About the deal

The deal marks Brave Bison’s sixth acquisition under the leadership of Executive Chairman Oliver Green and Chief Growth Officer Theo Green since 2020. This move will expand Brave Bison’s workforce to 350 employees across multiple locations, including London, Manchester, Australia, India, and Singapore. The integration of Engage Digital Partners is expected to create an enlarged Sports and Entertainment division within Brave Bison, servicing major federations across various sports such as football, cricket, rugby, motorsports, tennis, golf, and e-sports.

Client testimonial

"We were delighted to have the WY Partners team once again act as trusted advisors to Brave Bison on the acquisition of Engage Digital Partners," says Theo Green, Chief Growth Officer of Brave Bison. "Their media & tech specialism and technical expertise mean they deliver relevant insights that are crucial to deal success. WY's support was of huge value to us throughout this process and we look forward to working together again moving forward."

Read more about our deals here.

Stay updated with our M&A Digest LinkedIn group

Join our exclusive LinkedIn group, with over 450 members, to stay updated on the latest news, trends, and insightful articles curated by industry experts.

Join the LinkedIn group here.

If you're thinking about selling your business, or want to chat about M&A please get in touch at [email protected].

WY Partners

London I New York I Los Angeles

Headquarters

4-6 York StreetLondon W1U 6QD

+44 (0)20 3314 8190

[email protected] | wypartners.com | LinkedIn

Read more from WY Partners.