New research from Agency Leadership Advisors examines all of the public relations and integrated communications agency sales that were announced in 2019 to identify insights and trends. The data helps agency owners — whether or not they are thinking about selling soon — make better decisions to grow their businesses.
The complete report is available for free download, but here are a few highlights from last year’s 62 transactions:
- The median size was 20 employees, and 71% of the deals involved firms with less than 50 employees.
- The median age of the selling agencies was 13 years old, with major clusters in the 5-10 year old range or those over 25 years old.
- Specialties in particular demand included health, digital, financial services, technology, travel/tourism, and public affairs.
- About two-thirds of the buyers were independent agencies, while holding companies continue to be active and made 14 acquisitions.
- There were 10 buyers who acquired more than one agency in 2019.
For more details, plus the complete list of 2019 M&A transactions, get your own copy of the report here.
