As the ad industry and holding companies increasingly hone in on media, data and technology, an unlikely suitor is backing creativity: private equity firms.
Multiple PE companies struck agency deals in 2024, including Svoboda Capital and AEA Investors. Several firms have also been circling R/GA, according to multiple people close to the situation. Interpublic Group of Cos. has been trying to sell the digital agency for several months. R/GA declined to comment on PE firms’ interest.
PE firms are set to continue spending in the year ahead, according to multiple M&A experts interviewed by Ad Age, especially given favorable macroeconomic conditions, including less regulation anticipated under the new Trump administration, dry powder (a surfeit of uninvested capital) and lower interest rates.
There are several other factors, too. After making investments in other complementary areas, PE firms are now interested in rounding out their revenue streams with some creative firepower, experts said. And the steady emergence of AI—which is helping agencies save time and money—is helping assuage some longstanding concerns about risk.
Also read: IPG expected to sell R/GA to management-led group backed by private equity