Ad Tech M&A Trends: From Weak Sauce to Hot Sauce 2025

Ad Tech M&A Took Off in 2025

After a quiet 2023, things really heated up in the ad tech mergers and acquisitions (M&A) space in 2024. The year kicked off with a bang as LiveRamp acquired data clean room startup Habu for $200 million in January. This acquisition made sense since LiveRamp is known for maintaining the largest commercial identity graph, while Habu specializes in cross-cloud clean room solutions for walled garden platforms.

The momentum continued throughout the year with notable deals such as Experian’s acquisition of DMP and curation vendor Audigent in December. According to LUMA Partners, the number of ad tech deals nearly doubled in the first half of 2024 compared to 2023, with a 25% increase in deal volume in Q3.

One of the biggest headlines came early the following year when Omnicom and IPG announced their intention to merge pending regulatory approval, creating the largest advertising company in the world. From major mergers like this to smaller acquisitions, 2024 was a flurry of activity in the ad tech world.

Here is a snapshot of some of the most significant deals of 2024:

In January, Rokt acquired AfterSell, Minute Media acquired STN Video, and NP Digital purchased REBL House. February saw Premion acquiring Octillion Media and Walmart’s $2.3 billion acquisition of Vizio. March brought several smaller deals, including UTA’s purchase of JUV Consulting and Sensor Tower acquiring Data.ai.

April was marked by Cadent’s acquisition of AdTheorent and Essence magazine’s parent company buying Refinery29 from Vice Media. May saw Broadsign acquiring OutMoove, and in June, Seedtag purchased Beachfront, among other deals.

The flurry of acquisitions continued with Madhive acquiring Frequence, Voodoo purchasing BeReal, Equativ buying Sharethrough, and Mozilla acquiring Anonym in July. The month closed with Verve’s $185 million purchase of Jun Group.

Overall, the ad tech M&A scene went from “weak sauce” to “hot sauce” in 2024, setting the stage for a promising year ahead. Look out for more exciting developments in the world of advertising and technology in 2025.