Last year at this time, with the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dealmaking environment for 2020 was unknown. The year had gotten off to a fast start, with more than 20 publicly reported M&A transactions completed by early March. However, the sudden shutdown of economies worldwide, and the mass shift to “virtual office environments” understandably put many potential deals on hold as buyers and sellers took stock of where things were headed. After an initial slowing of activity, M&A picked up in the second half of 2020 and finished 2020 down only slightly from 2019.
While the composition of deals appears to have changed, a key trend from 2019 carried over to 2020 private equity firms and private equity-backed PR firms (collectively referred to in this report as “PE firms”) remained active buyers in the market, and public holding companies remained mostly on the sidelines compared to prior years.
For years, this author’s law firm, Davis+Gilbert, has advised both buyers and sellers on acquisitions of public relations agencies, provided strategic counsel and insight on trends in the M&A market, and published data about acquisition activity. Once again, this year, Davis+Gilbert presented its Public Relations Industry M&A Activity Report, providing an in-depth analysis of deals completed in 2020 based on publicly available material.