November 26, 2024–Ad tech, marketing tech and digital content deals are surging to the highest point since the first half of 2022, shortly after the 2021 advertising boom.
Why it matters: The recent M&A uptick stems from a comeback in digital ad spend and increased attention on the companies supporting these media channels to simplify the market.
Driving the news: Video platform Brightcove agreed to be acquired by Italian tech company Bending Spoons for $233 million, they announced on Monday.
- The take-private deal is the latest in a flurry of deal flow in the media sector.
- Brightcove, which hosts and monetizes videos, has been publicly traded since 2012. Like most ad and martech companies, its valuation skyrocketed in 2021 but then struggled amid an ad market slowdown.
Zoom in: M&A activity across ad tech, martech and digital content was up 13% in Q3 of 2024 compared to the prior quarter and up 20% compared to Q3 of 2023, per data from Luma Partners. For ad tech, specifically, M&A volume was up 118% year-over-year and up 26% quarter-over-quarter.
- Notable Q3 deals included Equativ-Kamino Retail, Outbrain-Teads, Publicis-Influential, Optimizely-Netspring and Ziff Davis-CNET.
- Deal flow has continued to heat up in Q4 with Zeta-LiveIntent, Mediaocean-Innovid, Connatix-JW Player and Samba TV-Semasio.