Full-service digital agencies remain the single largest sub-segment for mergers and acquisitions in the marcoms sector, according to the latest findings from Results International.
The final quarter of 2015 saw 29 deals involving full-service digital agencies, accounting for 12% of all marcoms deals globally, up from 9% in Q3.
Despite this, integrated agencies were the biggest climber from 2014 to 2015. They were involved in around 8% of all marcoms M&A last year, up from only 4% in 2014. Other significant sub-segments include PR, mobile and website design and build.
Between October and December last year 250 marcoms deals were made in total, down slightly from Q3 but 15 more than in the same period in 2014 – a rise of 6%. There were 979 deals in total during 2015, slightly up on the 972 the previous year.
Serial acquirers – classed as buyers who made two or more acquisitions – accounted for a quarter of deals in Q4 (26%), led by WPP with nine acquisitions. WPP was also the most acquisitive group across 2015 in total, with 38 deals over the year.
“Full-service digital agencies have been a significant driver of marcoms M&A for several years now, as both networks and other buyers seek to take advantage of the rapid growth in digital,” said Julie Langley, partner at Results International.
“The strong interest in integrated agencies last year probably reflects a client-led trend; many agencies set up originally to be specialists have increasingly expanded their service offering and re-positioned themselves as integrated, in response to client demand.”
The research also revealed that a number of emerging buyers entered the marcoms sector last year, with US advisory firm Teneo Holdings acquiring Blue Rubicon, Stockwell Communications and Pendomer, while publicly-listed Chinese advertising and LED display provider Shenzhen Liantronics bought three Chinese businesses in Q4 alone, covering outdoor advertising, integrated marketing services and SEO.
