Time for reflection over the summer break | Issue #16 | The M&A Insider

Dear readers,

With the summer holidays upon us, it is a time for a well earned rest with our families.

Now we have the UK elections behind us and the economy on a stronger footing, we’re speaking to agency owners about their growth plans and potential timings for M&A activity.

This year we’re seeing a resurgence in agency M&A, after a subdued few years, and we expect this to continue well into 2025.

Tax rises seem inevitable in the UK, Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax will be considered as part of a package of tax increases to help the government tackle the rising national debt. The Labour government is announcing changes as early as 30th October.

Business owners should focus on growth as the key driver for building value, although, it’s important to consider the timing of any capital event around market conditions, buyer appetite and changes to government tax policy.

If you’ve reached a crossroads, and want to understand your options, including a valuation and view of the market, get in touch.

Have a great summer break

Mark

Industry News

M&A Deals

• Publicis Groupe acquires influencer marketing platform in $500m deal
• Interpublic Explores Sale of Digital Marketing Agency to Consulting Giant TCS
• Capgemini acquires product design and development consultancy D+I
• Publicis Groupe announces the acquisition of Downtown Paris
• Tripledot acquires Zephyr Mobile
• Brainvire Merges With Said Differently
• Smyle Group of brands has been acquired by The Human Network
• Just Global joins Trilliad to create new B2B Growth Services Provider category
• Muckle Media acquires fellow Scotland agency
• Owners of Cannes Lions, Ascential, to be acquired by Informa
• MAD//Fest acquired by Ingenuity Group

News

• The AI Summer - Benedict Evans
• OpenAI to launch SearchGPT
• Meta launched their latest LLM Llama3.1
• Havas has B Corp certification revoked following Shell win
• When IT hits the fan: How brands are responding to the world’s biggest outage ever

Cactus News

• Investing in Your Agency's Growth: Strategies for enhancing delivery and client service competencies
• Deliverology Episode #7 with Joanne Reid: Switching Gears: The Adventure from Agency to In-House
• Alfie Wenegieme FCCA joined Harv Nagra on The Handbook: The Agency Operations Podcast - How to get better at Finance
• The Cactus Agency Growth Survey 2024/25 has now closed, register to get your copy of the report

What's coming up

5th Sept - Agency Founders Round Table - Sustainable agency growth

Joanne Reid & Alfie Wenegieme are hosting another of their popular sustainable agency growth round tables. The last event was a sell out, so if you want to explore some of the biggest challenges faced by agency owners when scaling their businesses and ways to overcome them, book your place now.

18th Sept - Agencynomics Big Event

The Cactus team will be attending the Agencynomics Big Event in London to see Dan Archer and Alfie Wenegieme debunk some common agency myths. If you can’t make the live event, there are also virtual tickets available which will give you lifetime access to the recording. Tickets are available here.

25th Sept - Agency Founders Walk & Talk - Midlands

Dan Archer and Sally Baker, Co-Founder at Wondrous are heading to the Clent Hills for a day of gentle exercise and networking. Our popular Agency Founder Walk & Talks are a great way to get out of the office and gain some fresh perspectives. Join them on 25th September.

Recommendations of the month

Books:?

How to Create Business Culture - Ben Horowitz

Good Energy - Casey Means

Tech:??

Bigdata - meet your real-time research assistant

Podcast:?

Bubble Trouble with Benedict Evans

Playlist/mix:?

Skalar Rausch - chilled summer mix