These companies are resilient to ad volatility and platform shifts, with buyers prioritizing direct audience access and defensible engagement.
“Vertically focused, monetization-ready platforms are driving digital media dealmaking,” according to a JEGI Clarity report published in June.
Still absent from the landscape are major roll-ups. Instead, the first half featured carve-outs, asset sales, and continued portfolio refinement from both strategic buyers and PE shops.
Holding companies are increasingly paring down their holdings to maximize the return on their resources, according to Berstein.
“There’s a sense that if you’re not all-in on a category, the reward doesn’t justify the complexity,” Bernstein said.
Similarly, digital media firms are looking to offload underperforming brands—often those contributing just a few million in EBITDA—to focus on higher-margin brands.
“For these firms, it’s about reconcentrating their resources,” Saunders said.
AI’s double-edged impact
While artificial intelligence has upended media workflows, it is also reshaping M&A narratives. Buyers are assessing whether an asset is vulnerable—or enhanced—by automation, according to Jeff Kaloski, a managing director and partner at L.E.K. Consulting.
“A lot of the sell-side work we’re doing is focused on how insulated a business is from the disruptions being posed by AI,” Kaloski said. “You need a story around how AI can be a tailwind.”
In fact, rather than a pure headwind, if AI is able to make media companies leaner and more efficient, it could make them a more valuable acquisition target, according to Wright.
“If AI fully takes hold, you’ll see far greater execution efficiency,” Wright said. “Margins improve, and for acquirers, that’s appealing—even if it comes with broader industry disruption.”
Pent-up demand is poised to pop
Despite the slow start, dealmakers expressed a cautious optimism that the second half of the year could see a marked uptick in activity, as long as economic conditions continue to stabilize.
“There’s a flood of people saying, ‘It’s June—if I want to go out this year, I need to move now,’” Berstein said. “We could see a pickup before Labor Day.”
“The macroeconomic pressure to consolidate is still there—it increases by the month,” Wright added. “If interest rates come down, and the stock market remains steady, you can expect an explosion of M&A in the back half of 2025.”
