In H1 2024, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) exercise within the tech-enabled media and advertising sectors continued to rise, with a 7% year-on-year (YoY) enhance in quantity, in keeping with knowledge from Ciesco, a London-based M&A advisory agency specializing within the tech, media, healthcare and sustainability sectors.
This pattern is predicted to speed up within the second half of the 12 months, a sentiment that’s echoed by Collingwood, a consulting and advisory agency specializing within the media sector. Collingwood anticipates a surge in demand for dwell occasions and an growing want for entry to trusted info, fueling M&A exercise within the sector.
In H1 2024, 1,129 transactions have been introduced within the know-how and media sectors, representing a 7% YoY enhance in deal exercise and a 9% enhance in comparison with H1 2022, Ciesco stories. This progress demonstrates a rebound in M&A offers after years of subdued exercise.
In the course of the interval, conventional media noticed the best YoY enhance in purchaser curiosity, adopted by company companies, and, occasions and experiential. Conversely, buyer relationship administration, digital company and martech skilled the largest YoY decline.
Key developments and predictions
Ciesco outlines a number of key developments shaping the tech-enabled media and advertising sector this 12 months. Specifically, it highlights that AI developments are remodeling areas reminiscent of enterprise knowledge administration, content material manufacturing, forecasting and buyer expertise. These applied sciences are enhancing effectivity and driving innovation within the sector.
Ciesco additionally highlights the booming influencer advertising trade which has been fostering personalised, genuine engagement between manufacturers and shoppers. This sector has confirmed resilient amid financial uncertainty and an more and more crowded area, with spending rising roughly 3.5 occasions sooner in 2023 than social advert spending, in keeping with Emarketer’s July 2023 forecast.
Lastly, spending on occasions and experiential advertising is experiencing a powerful post-COVID-19 resurgence. A latest research by experiential advertising company Gradient reveals that 80% of the 750+ senior model entrepreneurs polled have elevated their experiential advertising budgets in order that they now account for 10-30% of their general advertising spend. This surge underscores the rising emphasis on immersive advertising methods and creating memorable, partaking experiences for shoppers.
Echoing Ciesco, Collingwood notes that demand for dwell occasions is rebounding as each audiences and sponsors proceed to put worth on the capability of dwell occasions to assist them be taught, community, and finally forge enterprise partnerships. This has spurred elevated M&A exercise within the occasions section representing over 50% of 2023 transactions.
One other pattern outlined by Collingwood is the growing deal with refined advertising companies. There’s robust curiosity in companies that supply superior shopper and sponsor propositions, with a shift in the direction of demand era pushed by high-quality content material, it says.
Lastly, Collingwood notes the rising want for entry to trusted, high-quality info, particularly within the business-to-business market, highlighting alternatives to leverage high quality content material to interact audiences, and tackle at the moment underserved viewers wants. Key areas the place info gaps exist embody regulatory info, info on trade greatest practices, info and suppliers and data on rising applied sciences.
Notable media offers introduced to this point this 12 months:
- In June, Keleops, a number one European on-line tech media firm, introduced its acquisition of Gizmodo, a famend tech media firm. This acquisition, beforehand underneath the possession of G/O Media and Boston-based non-public fairness agency Nice Hill Companions, goals to bolster Keleops’ place in tech journalism and broaden its attain inside the trade and internationally.
- In July, Britain’s Informa introduced that it had reached a deal to purchase Ascential, an organization specializing in occasions, intelligence and advisory companies for the advertising and fintech industries, for GBP 1.2 billion (US$1.6 billion) in money. This acquisition is critical as a result of, whereas the media trade struggles to generate income from promoting, dwell occasions like these hosted by Ascential are a vivid spot for progress. Ascential is among the final large-scale occasions firms, operating prestigious occasion sequence reminiscent of Lions and Money20/20.
- In August, Pink Ventures, an American digital media and advertising agency, introduced that it was promoting its tech information and evaluations website CNET to Ziff Davis, a publicly-traded digital advertising behemoth, in a deal valued at over US$100 million, sources advised Axios. The event marked a stunning twist for CNET, which had beforehand purchased Ziff Davis, then a tech journal firm, in a deal value US$1.6 billion greater than 20 years in the past. Based in 1994, CNET is an American media web site that publishes evaluations, information, articles, blogs, podcasts and movies on world know-how and shopper electronics.
- American information web site Axios signed in August 2022 a deal to promote to its most up-to-date lead investor, Cox Enterprises. The money deal valued the corporate at US$525 million and included a further new funding of US$25 million in Axios’ media arm to assist the corporate broaden throughout its native, nationwide and subscription information merchandise. Axios is a information web site based in 2016 by former Politico journalists Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz. It’s recognized for its concise and reader-friendly format, designed to ship essential info shortly and effectively.
- In January Thomson Reuters has acquired World Enterprise Media, a London-based supplier of subscription-based, cross-platform editorial protection for the (re)insurance coverage trade.
- In February, US asset supervisor Franklin Templeton introduced a funding spherical for Blockhead, a Singapore-based digital asset media agency. Blockhead stated it is going to use the proceeds to assist the expansion and growth of blockchain know-how and digital property, and to evolve its enterprise mannequin to change into a number one digital asset analysis platform within the area. Launched in 2022, Blockhead at the moment operates a information publication protecting world tales from the blockchain and digital property trade, with an Asian focus.
Regardless of the strong M&A exercise, 2024 has additionally seen notable media closures:
- In June, Fintech Nexus, a fintech media firm beforehand generally known as LendIt, stated that it was shutting down after 11 years of operation and submitting for chapter. The corporate was launched in 2013 to foster collaboration within the on-line lending trade and shortly grew to host giant fintech occasions throughout the US, the UK, Europe, China and Latin America. Nevertheless, exterior challenges, together with the COVID-19 pandemic and the fintech funding downturn, led to monetary difficulties, culminating within the sale of its occasions enterprise 2023 and now a full closure.
- London-based fintech information web site Altfi introduced in January that it was shutting down after ten years of operation, citing “extreme headwinds over the past 18 months.” Arrange in 2013 by finance journalist David Stevenson, a columnist on the Monetary Occasions (FT), Altfi supplied market-leading information, opinion, insights and occasions for the choice finance and fintech group. It organized a sequence of company occasions within the UK, together with the AltFi Lending Summit, the AltFi Awards and the Cash Talks webinars.
- Within the Philippines, tv community CNN Philippines formally ceased operations on January 31, citing “severe monetary losses” which was “worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic,” inside sources advised Philstar.com.
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