Agency M&A trends and predictions

Paul Holmes joins the Echo Chamber to discuss his annual review of mergers & acquisition activity in the global PR market. Independent firms continue to drive dealmaking, but this year's list is as notable for the firms that are active (including management consultancies) as for the companies that were relatively inactive in 2016 — such names as Teneo, BlueFocus and Omnicom. Holmes and Arun Sudhaman discuss what recent M&A trends mean for the market and offer up some deal predictions for the next 12 months, as 2017 shapes up to be another restless year for agency M&A activity.