The future of agency services, talent and M&A: Bluhalo M&A Insider, Issue 18

We hosted agency founders at The Ivy Club in September, to share stories and hear from our panellists on The Next & Future of Agency Services, People and Culture.

M&A activity is a strong indicator of where there is scarcity and demand in the market, and therefore opportunity to find growth and value.

Looking at deals over the last 12 months, the following areas show where demands lie for both buyers/investors and clients:

AI, data, analytics and martech transformation
Buyers are targeting AI-native talent, bespoke tools, workflow IP, platform expertise, data migration, system integration, analytics and AI-enabled delivery.

Performance marketing, commerce and measurable growth
Performance remains attractive where agencies can demonstrate real commercial impact. The demand is not just for paid media execution, but for performance connected to data, commerce, attribution, optimisation and revenue.

Influencer, social and creator economy
This is one of the strongest M&A themes. Buyers are acquiring capability in influencer, social-first content, creator networks, youth culture, community building and creator-led commerce. Influencer marketing has moved from a bolt-on channel to a serious strategic capability - especially where it connects culture, content, commerce and data.

Experiential, sports, entertainment and culture
Live experience, sports, entertainment, brand activation and cultural marketing remain attractive because they are harder to automate. They provide clients with emotional engagement, community relevance and real-world audience access.

Specialist PR, communications and reputation advisory
Generalist comms is under pressure, but specialist PR and advisory-led communications remain valuable, particularly in tech, healthcare, public affairs, corporate reputation, financial comms, crisis, regulated sectors and high-retention client environments.

The key themes that ensure agencies continue to thrive in our ever changing landscape:

Focus your offering and proposition to clients around solving the complex business challenges they struggle to address internally or through automation / tech platforms
Be proactive with clients - find innovative solutions that deliver measurable commercial success, or greater ROI, for them. They will find new budgets if you can deliver this
Invest in the Next and Future services and where clients budgets are growing, rather than services that are being commoditised

The future agency will be:

smaller at the centre
sharper in its specialism
smarter in its use of technology
clearer on the business problem it solves
more focused on measurable value
less dependent on selling hours
more likely to build IP, systems, tools or repeatable methodologies

If you want to discuss the future shape and direction of your agency, get in touch.

M&A Deals August & September 2026

AI, data, analytics and martech transformation

AlixPartners acquires Artium

Announced: 4 August 2026 | Source: AlixPartners newsroom

Global consultancy AlixPartners acquired agentic AI software consultancy Artium, which specialises in building enterprise-grade AI agents and counts BNY Mellon, Mayo Clinic and eBay among its clients.

Why it matters: For the agency and consultancy market, the message is clear: buyers increasingly want teams that can build and deploy AI systems, rather than simply advise clients on AI strategy.

Taptap Digital acquires Skyrise

Announced: 25 August 2026 | Source: Skyrise news release

Global location intelligence and audience activation platform Taptap Digital acquired Manchester-based Skyrise. The combination brings together privacy-first audience design, location intelligence, omnichannel activation and agentic AI, while strengthening Taptap’s UK and wider EMEA presence.

Why it matters: Another deal sitting directly at the intersection of data, media activation and AI.

Integrate acquires CaliberMind

Announced: 26 August 2026 | Source: CaliberMind announcement

B2B demand-generation platform Integrate acquired CaliberMind, bringing marketing attribution, buyer-journey analytics, marketing mix modelling, account scoring and revenue intelligence into its platform.

Why it matters: For B2B agencies, the direction is worth noting: clients increasingly expect the connection between marketing activity, pipeline and revenue to be visible inside the technology stack.

MERGE acquires Brado’s Digital and Insight practices

Announced: 26 August 2026 | Source: MERGE agency update

Marketing and technology agency MERGE acquired Brado’s Digital and Insight businesses, adding qualitative research, performance media and generative-engine optimisation capability.

Why it matters: The deal is particularly interesting because it combines traditional customer insight with AI-era discoverability - a combination we expect to see much more of.

Artefact acquires The Nunatak Group

Announced: 8 September 2026 | Source: Press release (Pinion Newswire)

Global data and AI consultancy Artefact acquired Munich-based The Nunatak Group, a strategy consultancy specialising in digital and AI transformation. Nunatak brings around 50 consultants and AI engineers across Munich, Berlin and Zurich, with expertise spanning AI strategy, operating models, marketing and sales transformation and data.

Why it matters: Another clear example of consulting M&A shifting towards the intersection of strategy, data and practical AI implementation.

Emperor takes minority stake in exceptional™

Announced: 22 September 2026 | Source: exceptional™ announcement

Employee-owned corporate communications agency Emperor has taken a minority stake in digital marketing agency exceptional™, formalising a relationship between the two businesses that dates back around a decade. exceptional™ specialises in AI Search/GEO, SEO, paid media, analytics and digital strategy and will remain independently operated following the investment.

Why it matters: AI search is rapidly moving from an experimental service line into something larger communications groups want embedded within their core proposition.

Performance marketing, commerce and measurable growth

Chief Media acquires AMZ Advisers and stake in Reach Social

Announced: 17 August 2026 | Source: GlobeNewswire

Independent performance agency Chief Media acquired ecommerce consultancy AMZ Advisers, including its stake in creator-led social commerce business Reach Social. It gives Chief Media deeper capability across Amazon, TikTok Shop and social commerce.

Why it matters: The deal reflects the convergence of performance media, retail media, marketplaces and creator marketing.

Influencer, social, creator economy and fandom

Saylor joins forces with Mutiny

Announced: 30 September 2026 | Source: Announcement via LBB

Social-first entertainment agency Saylor has combined with gaming specialist Mutiny, creating a wider creative platform built around fandom, entertainment and gaming. The combined business is backed by Shamrock Capital, which acquired Mutiny earlier in 2026. Mutiny will become Saylor’s dedicated gaming division alongside its creator and production studios.

Why it matters: This is an interesting bet on fandom as a marketing platform. As brands look beyond conventional advertising towards creators, gaming, entertainment and communities, specialist agencies with genuine audience credibility become increasingly valuable.

Experiential, sports, entertainment and culture

The Expo Group acquires toddstreet

Announced: 23 September 2026 | Source: The Expo Group press release

PE-backed The Expo Group acquired creative experiential agency toddstreet, bringing strategic communications, content and creative services into its events and exhibition platform.

Why it matters: Experiential remains attractive because physical experiences are difficult to automate completely and sit increasingly close to content creation, community and first-party data collection.

Specialist PR, communications and reputation advisory

Headland acquires Shearwater

Announced: 21 September 2026 | Source: Headland press release

UK reputation and communications consultancy Headland acquired Brussels and London-based Shearwater, adding political, regulatory and EU public-affairs expertise and establishing a Brussels office.

Why it matters: As regulation around technology, AI, trade and sustainability becomes more complex, specialist advisory expertise is becoming increasingly valuable to broader communications groups.

Brand, design, digital experience and insight

Prophet acquires JBi Digital

Announced: 4 August 2026 | Source: Prophet press release

Strategy and creative consultancy Prophet acquired London-based JBi Digital, adding digital strategy, design, development and optimisation capabilities.

Why it matters: The deal is another example of consultancies pushing further downstream from strategy into technology and delivery.

Koto acquires Stereo Creative

Announced: 10 September 2026 | Source: Announcement via LBB

PE-backed brand consultancy Koto made its first acquisition since WestBridge invested in the business, acquiring Stereo Creative. Stereo adds campaign, digital, content, sports and entertainment experience to Koto’s core brand and design proposition. The combined group has around 230 people across eight studios.

Breakwater takes majority investment in JKR

Announced: 10 September 2026 | Source: Growth Capital Partners press release

US private equity firm Breakwater Management made a majority investment in Jones Knowles Ritchie (JKR), succeeding Growth Capital Partners as the global branding group’s PE partner. JKR has around 300 people across London and New York and works with brands including Coca-Cola, KFC, Ford and Walmart.

Why it matters: It is a useful reminder that highly differentiated creative and brand businesses can still attract institutional investment despite the industry’s broader uncertainty.

Koto acquires Altiverse

Announced: September 2026 | Source: Altiverse announcement

Brand and design group Koto has acquired London-based strategic digital agency Altiverse, with its team joining Koto’s London digital practice. The acquisition adds deeper capability across product strategy, UX, UI, digital design and development, allowing Koto to connect brand, web and digital product work more closely.

Vespa Capital sells DTAG businesses to UNRVLD

Announced: 1 October 2026 (per trade coverage) | Source: Research Live

Vespa Capital completed the sale of DTAG’s remaining businesses, 2CV and The Value Engineers, to UNRVLD. The two consultancies add around 70 specialists across consumer insight, brand strategy and innovation to UNRVLD’s experience and technology proposition.

Why it matters: It is another example of digital experience groups moving upstream into research, insight and strategic consultancy to own more of the client relationship.

Industry News

UK advertising spend forecast to reach £50.5bn in 2026

The latest AA/WARC Expenditure Report forecasts UK advertising spend to grow 8.2% to £50.5bn in 2026.

Q1 investment increased 9.3% to £11.7bn, with particularly strong growth in addressable TV, digital radio and OOH.

Why it matters: marketing budgets haven't disappeared. They are being redistributed. Agencies positioned around measurable performance, data, retail/commerce, video and emerging media should continue to find opportunity even in a difficult wider economy.

Source: WARC / Advertising Association

AI is reinforcing Big Tech's grip on advertising

Digiday's September ad-tech coverage highlights how AI is increasingly becoming embedded into the advertising infrastructure of the largest platforms rather than existing as a separate product category.

As planning, creative, targeting, optimisation and measurement become increasingly automated, differentiation based purely on executing platform activity becomes harder.

Why it matters: agencies need to own something above the platforms - strategy, customer understanding, proprietary data, IP, specialist expertise or the ability to connect multiple systems around a client's business objectives.

Source: Digiday Ad Tech Briefing

Google keeps its ad-tech stack, but faces behavioural remedies

Following Google's US ad-tech antitrust case, the court stopped short of forcing a break-up of its core advertising technology.

Instead, Google will operate under behavioural remedies including increased interoperability with competing systems and restrictions around preferential treatment.

At exactly the same time, competition is moving into a new territory: AI-driven advertising infrastructure.

Why it matters: the advertising industry's dependency on a small number of technology platforms isn't disappearing. Agencies need to understand where they genuinely add value when more execution is controlled within those platforms.

Source: Digiday

Publicis continues to reshape the holding company model

September saw further evidence of Publicis' momentum, including major global account moves involving PepsiCo and LVMH.

Digiday reports that Publicis has increasingly secured large client relationships without conventional competitive reviews, reflecting the power of its integrated data, media, technology and creative proposition.

Why it matters: clients appear increasingly willing to consolidate around partners that can connect multiple capabilities and demonstrate tangible business value. Independents don't need equivalent scale, but they do need a compelling reason to be bought alongside - or instead of - those integrated groups.

Source: Digiday

AI advertising has a measurement problem

As AI increasingly influences discovery, recommendations, media optimisation and purchasing journeys, traditional attribution is struggling to keep up.

Industry attention is moving towards incrementality, first-party data and governance - not simply generating more AI-produced content or campaigns.

Why it matters: measurement capability becomes more valuable as execution becomes cheaper. Agencies that can prove what caused an outcome rather than simply reporting activity will have a stronger proposition.

Source: Digiday Ad Tech Briefing

The creator economy continues to merge with mainstream media

The Edinburgh TV Festival put YouTube, creators and the future of television firmly at the centre of debate. YouTube's increasing role in TV viewing, creator-led formats and changing distribution models featured prominently alongside broadcasters and production companies.

At the same time Netflix announced new UK commissions spanning traditional production, live sport and creator-led entertainment.

Why it matters: the distinction between social, influencer, television, streaming and entertainment continues to collapse. For agencies this creates opportunity around creators, branded entertainment, IP development, audience strategy and distribution.

Source: Edinburgh TV Festival coverage Source: Netflix UK announcements

IBC and DMEXCO: AI moves from experimentation to infrastructure

September's two major European industry gatherings told a similar story.

IBC brought 41,225 attendees from 170 countries together around AI-powered production, content discovery, sports, trust, provenance and new commercial models.

DMEXCO's theme was “Scaling Intelligence”, focused explicitly on moving AI out of experimentation and into operating processes and business models.

Why it matters: 2025 was largely about experimentation. 2026 is becoming the year businesses expect AI to produce measurable operational and commercial outcomes.

For agencies, having a few AI tools is no longer differentiation. Building AI into how the company operates and how value is delivered to clients increasingly is.

Source: IBC 2026
Source: DMEXCO 2026

Bluhalo News

Bluhalo Agency Founder Events

It was great to see so many of you in September in London for our agency founders event about the future of agency people, culture and services and the drinks gathering later in the day too - it certainly was a gathering of good people, great content and conversation!

We are planning our next events which will be in Scotland, Manchester and London. A mixture of round table brunches/lunches/dinners, panel speaker events and early evening drinks.

Priority invitations will go to those who have attended our events previously but you can register or share the link below to others who may wish to join us next time.

https://bluhalo.com/agency-founder-events

We have launched a new retreat programme: “Everything Starts with the Close” - with a business development focus. If you’re doing business development yourself or one of your team would benefit from this get in touch: More here

What Business School Does Not Tell You About Business Valuation. Spencer Gallagher joined ActionCOACH Business Coaching UK for a live episode of the Business Growth Podcast, exploring what really makes a company valuable and why every founder should understand that value long before they plan to sell.

Ten questions we are often asked by agency founders

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