After peaking in 2024 with close to a thousand of transactions announced, a total of 797 transactions were recorded in 2025. There was robust demand from strategic and financial buyers, with Private Equity firms accounting for the buyer in 23% of these transactions.
Marketing and Ad Tech M&A Activity by Deal Count
Marketing and Ad Tech M&A Activity by Disclosed Deal Amount
Disclosed M&A deal value reached $32.5B in 2025. Financial terms were disclosed in only 14% of transactions during this period as buyers preferred to keep their M&A strategies private.
Top Marketing and Ad Tech Acquirers by Deal Count
Publicis Groupe and 2 PE firms Cinven and Main Capital Partners led MarTech acquisitions in 2025 with 5 deals each, followed by the financial buyers: Mountaingate Capital, Bridgepoint, Constellation Software holding, and 2 strategics - media company Ziff Davis and sales performance management specialist Fullcast - each completing 4 transactions.
Marketing and Ad Tech VC Funding​
Venture capital peaked in 2021 and steadily declined through 2025. The median VC funding size was $3.2M, a fraction of the disclosed M&A transaction size. As overall VC funding decreases, many businesses are instead pursuing M&A as a strategy for growth and liquidity.
