Big agency groups are buying up successful adtechs and platforms as they race to maintain their dominance in what has become a volatile ecosystem.

Adland’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) was forecast to come back with bang in 2025… and for marketers across the board, this has been the space to watch.

Having secured regulatory approval in the US, UK, Australia and numerous other markets, with EU and Mexico still pending as of late October, the Omnicom-Interpublic mega-merger – announced in December 2024 – was thought to have set the tone for this year.

And it did get off to a strong start, particularly among the big six agency groups. WPP acquired InfoSum for a reported $150 million, marking a strategic step for the holdco’s AI-driven data offering, enabling it to maximise first-party data and integrate privacy-safe tools into its intelligent marketing operating system – WPP Open.

A timely move from the British agency as the month prior, rival holdco Publicis Groupe bought data and ID tech group Lotame to boost its existing data arm in the US. The group also expanded its footprint in Latin America with the acquisition of influencer agency, BR Media Group.

Meanwhile, Havas expanded its CX capabilities in North America through the acquisition of Enverta Digital – a CRM and tech specialist headquartered in Toronto. The French holdco also bought out performance marketing shop Tidart.

Among the other big agency groups, Stagwell acquired ADK Global – an integrated advertising and marketing solutions firm – for approximately $24 million, later merging with its media shop, Assembly.

It’s all about data and privacy

What’s clear among these holding companies is they are all scrambling to buy up successful adtech firms. But why?

Brands – whether they are a retailer, e-commerce platform or a gaming operator – are increasingly wanting better, privacy-safe and transparent measurement tools from their ad investments. They want to know what their return on adspend (ROAS) is and they want to track campaigns at every possible point.

Therefore, it’s no surprise the battle between the big agency groups is centring around data and privacy. And it’s not all about the value… it’s about capabilities. Holdcos are buying products and tech that can shore up their services and futureproof roadmaps, rather than simply taking out competition or profitability.

This was clear from the big four holding companies third quarter financial earnings report, which saw a rather flat organic growth. Headline figures from IPG, WPP, Publicis Groupe and Omicom showed a collective organic growth of approximately 0.3%, according to Madison and Wall. This is the lowest average quarterly rate since 2020.

Publicis Groupe had the highest organic growth rate at 5.7%, with Omnicom following with 2.6%. IPG’s results showed a decline of 2.9% in organic revenue globally, and WPP’s Q3 revenue less pass-through costs fell by 5.9% year-on-year.

Rumours versus activity

With such figures, it’s no wonder the rumour mill was buzzing about another mega-merger.

The latest one to hit the headlines was WPP in talks with Havas about a possible takeover, which was reported in The Times. One source had suggested to the newspaper that the French holding company is considering buying WPP Media (formerly GroupM), while another claimed it would take a “sizable stake and seek a board seat”.

Havas’ chief executive Yannick Bolloré denied any such talks were being held in a memo to employees. He also reassured staff that given the holding company’s strong results – achieving a 3.8% organic growth in Q3 – its aim is to “continue to reinforce our market position and drive growth”.

WPP’s Q3 earnings report told a very different story. The UK-based agency had to downgrade its revenue for the second time in just three months, with the forecast now looking at a 5.5 to 6% decline. It comes after the holding company lost major accounts including media buying for Coca-Cola in North America and Mars’ media globally.

Given WPP’s downward spiral, another mega-merger seemed plausible… but this could have had a significant impact on the advertising ecosystem.

These agency groups which have long dominated adland have seen their space disrupted by adtechs and big tech, all of whom now have a sizable chunk of the market. Many advertisers go straight to the big tech players like Google, Meta and Amazon, rather than via media-buying agencies and WARC predicts by 2026, the three listed will account for over 46% of global adspend.

The knock on effect is now more visible than ever. Just this week, M&C Saatch’s share price took a hit, down by 11.9% to 111 pence. The London-based agency expects net revenue to now decline by around 7%.

It’s a similar story for S4 Capital, which saw its share prices fall by 7.1% to 16.44 pence and its net revenue full year forecast slashed by 10%.

It is why for marketers, keeping an eye on the M&A scene is more important than ever. And not just on the agency side. There’s so much going on that it’s hard to cover in one article.

For affiliates, keeping their ear to the ground on the adtech side is just as important. For example, earlier this year, rumours circulated that German media group Axel Springer explored the sale of its affiliate marketing arm, Awin.

Although no sale has been confirmed, it has not been ruled out. The firm has a global affiliate network of 1,400 employees and works with more than 30,000 publishers and advertisers and a sale could attract interest from other affiliate platforms.

There have been some big deals over the course of the year, but it’s been more of a stumble rather than an outright bang.

However, a combination of falling interest rates, an easing financial climate and abundance of private equity capital, alongside a surge in acquiring AI and data analytics capabilities, could see M&A activity stride forward in 2026.