Marketing Services M&A Update – March 2021

Flight to Digital Drives Marketing Services M&A

Capstone’s March 2021 Marketing Services M&A Update is now available, highlighting how the rise in e-commerce, social media, and digital news has driven shifts in marketing and advertising to digital channels, accelerating the Marketing Technology (MarTech) and Advertising Technology (AdTech) segments. MarTech and AdTech’s emersion in the space has created competitive advantages over traditional marketing services providers, offering precise marketing solutions coupled with tracking real-time analytics for active campaigns. The sector has fostered significant investment appetite, positioning MarTech and AdTech firms as highly attractive targets for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) among strategic and private equity (PE) buyers.

Also Included in our Report:

• Why initial public offerings (IPOs) from technology-based providers are expected to rise.
• A breakdown on what type of buyers are targeting programmatic MarTech and AdTech software providers, contributing to the resurgence of M&A activity in 2021.
• How marketing analytics providers are adapting to the changing consumer privacy rights, and details on the adoption of first-party identity management solutions as opposed to the use of third-party cookies.

Capstone Partners maintains an active Business Services practice in the middle market, with Marketing Services being a key focus vertical. We regularly operate across the marketing service spectrum working with clients in AdTech/MarTech, creative and digital agencies, media buying and selling, and promotional products and experiential marketing firms. We regularly work with the industry’s most active acquirers and investors.

Note: This report was published prior to the rebranding of Capstone Headwaters to Capstone Partners.