The emerging agency buyers - Private Equity and Employee Ownership Trusts…same same but different

Given the steady decline in the M&A appetite of the networks, that is good news for agency owner managers. According to one of the sector’s corporate finance boutiques, the six largest holding companies completed only 15 deals in 2020 (compared to 95 deals in 2016).

Buyers are becoming much more diverse, both in what they look like and where they come from. Much has been written about the consultancies (think Accenture) but the technology firms (think Cognizant) and mid-market groups (think S4 Capital) have also been flexing their M&A muscles.

Our sector focussed M&A lawyers will be talking to you about two emerging and quite different buyers to the sector: private equity and employee ownership trusts. We will look at how these deals are structured and things to think about if considering such a transaction. You will also hear from recent sellers who chose such an exit route.