Social Throwback 2023: Acquisitions and mergers of the year

2023 was a year filled with turbulence and flourishment for the advertising and marketing industry. Some of the businesses saw remarkable growth as strategic reshuffles defined the course. 

The global advertising market is growing at a steady rate of 5.8% annual growth as we reach the periphery of 2024. India jumped one spot and is ranked 8th globally vis-a-vis ad revenue. The Indian advertising market grew 11.2% in 2023 and is expected to continue at the same pace in the coming year. 

Amidst this growth and expansion, the A&M industry witnessed some crucial acquisitions by major players like WPP and Havas as well as mergers that substantially altered the landscape, beefing up their skill sets, too. The impact of these changes largely seems to have been positive as the Indian advertising economy touched INR 1 trillion in 2023. 

Although the overall value of deals saw a decline as opposed to last year, Mergers and acquisitions remained a crucial part of the industry as organizations looked to adapt to rapidly changing market dynamics. Established players joined forces with innovative startups to gain a competitive edge and unlock new markets. 

Global advertising giant WPP announced the merger of its two creative agencies Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R to form a combined entity called VML. Meanwhile, Havas acquired the PR consultancy firm PR Pundit, to mention a few. 

Dentsu Inc. acquired the global omnichannel marketing production agency Tag Worldwide expanding its reach. 

Here are the mergers and acquisitions that took place in the A&M industry in 2023: 

January 

WPP acquired Fenom Digital 

February 

Zoo Media network acquired The Starter Labs

March

Havas Sports and Entertainment, Havas Content and Cake India merged to form Havas Play

WPP acquired Goat

INOX merged with PVR Cinemas

WPP acquired Obviously

April

FCB Group India acquired a majority stake in Kinnect 

June

WPP invests in diversity-focused creative agency Majority

Dentsu completed the acquisition of Tag Group to grow its creative production and customer transformation and tech capabilities

July 

Omnicom Media Group acquired media and marketing solutions agency Ptarmigan media

Havas acquired PivotRoots to strengthen its digital, performance and integrated solutions

August

Social Panga merges with LS Digital

Voot folded into JioCinema allowing users to migrate

September

Collective Artists Network acquired a learning tech company, Under 25 Universe

October

WPP merged Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R to create VML

GroupM and Criteo partnered to drive commerce media innovation in APAC

Omnicom acquired digital commerce business, Flywheel Digital 

Dentsu India combined iProspect and Sokrati's capabilities

November 

Havas acquired a majority stake in PR Pundit

Adobe acquired its first Indian start-up with Rephrase AI

Havas acquires Klareco Communications

WPP’s FGS Global acquired Canadian comms & public affairs advisory Longview

December 

Havas acquired EPROFESSIONAL, a Hamburg-based performance marketing agency