Report: Agency Mergers & Acquisitions Plummet 46%, As Consultancies Soar 134%

Report: Agency Mergers & Acquisitions Plummet 46%, As Consultancies Soar 134%
B&T Magazine
By B&T Magazine



A new global report by the marketing tech company R3 has found that agency mergers and acquisitions (M&A) fell a staggering 46 per cent in 2017. Conversely, M&A by the consultancy companies rose a massive 146 per cent from the previous year (albeit off a lower base).

You can check out some of the more interesting graphs from the report at the bottom of this article.

Based on the analysis, consulting firms such as Accenture, Deloitte, IBM, KPMG and McKinsey invested $US1.2 billion in agency acquisitions in 2017. By contrast, agency holding groups including WPP, Dentsu, Omnicom, Interpublic and Publicis declined by $US1.8billion in the same period.

R3 assessed 401 deals across the year in the marketing communications space, just a slight increase on 2016’s 398 deals. Overall, $US13.5 billion of M&A funds were invested in these deals, a three per cent decrease on the previous year.

By region, Europe saw the largest increase (34 per cent) with $US3.7 billion in deals despite the decrease in the overall number.

The US continued to lead the other regions, on both the volume ($US6.6 billion) and number of deals (202) through the year, including Williams Lea Tag, Turn and Rocketfuel.

Both Asia (down 34 per cent) and Latin America (down 45 per cent) declined in terms of deal size through 2017, led mostly by China (down 77 per cent) where there were just 16 deals completed.

It was another strong year for digital and digital service acquisitions, with these two categories representing $US6 billion combined in value over 2017. The creative number was bolstered by Bain Capital’s December acquisition of ADK Japan.

Spread throughout the year was an increasing number of unconventional buyers, outside the traditional acquirers. From Snap Inc. to the New York Times to boutique Private Equity groups, this was truly a year where investment ideas could come from anywhere. All regions were ultimately led by one of these firms.

Screen Shot 2018-01-23 at 8.35.43 am

Screen Shot 2018-01-23 at 8.36.43 am

Screen Shot 2018-01-23 at 8.37.42 am




Please login with linkedin to comment

R3

Latest News

Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm
  • Media

Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm

Sydney Comedy Festival 2024 is live and ready to rumble, showing the best of international and homegrown talent at a host of venues around town. As usual, it’s hot on the heels of its big sister, the giant that is the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, picking up some acts as they continue on their own […]

Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth
  • Advertising

Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth

The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has announced the final epic lineup of local and global marketing powerhouses for RESET for Growth 2024. Lead image: Josh Faulks, chief executive officer, AANA  Back in 2000, a woman with no business experience opened her first juice bar in Adelaide. The idea was brilliantly simple: make healthy […]