Dealmaking and M&A Should Flow In 2025, But That’s Not All Down to Trump

Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav is not the only CEO anticipating that a new president will be “positive” for the industry.

With President-elect Donald Trump heading back to the White House, investment, merger, and acquisition activity across media, tech, and agencies is poised for growth, but for reasons beyond Trump himself. 

While it’s likely that Trump will loosen regulation—especially in areas like artificial intelligence, accelerating investment, and reducing bureaucratic restraints—broader factors like increased consumer confidence, lower interest rates, and, most importantly, pent-up interest from business owners and operators to monetize their assets will spur M&A activity in 2025, sources told ADWEEK. 

“Most [business owners] have been waiting for two to three years,” said Blake Saunders, managing director at investment bank Methesulah Advisors.

Deregulation combined with lower taxes would be more favorable for U.S. businesses which would, in theory, have higher profits and more capital to deploy.  

Another catalyst for increased deal flow, especially in Big Tech, is that FTC chair Lina Khan, who has been tough on M&A, will likely be replaced much more quickly under Trump (her seat on the commission expired in September). 

“The antitrust environment has made it harder for some of the biggest acquirers—the big tech companies—to make acquisitions,” said Andrew Lipsman, independent retail media analyst and consultant. While both parties have built antitrust positions into their platforms, “there’s probably a sense the range would be loosened on some of that activity [under a Republican administration].”

Adtech poised to thrive

Adtech M&A has undergone a thawing over the last 24 months, said Conor McKenna, partner at Luma. 

“We’ve characterized M&A (and the market broadly) as going through a “Survive, Revive, Thrive” period across ’23 to 24 and into ’25,” he said.

There’s been a tepid return and less strategic transactions. But 25 is poised for a return, “With adtech especially, there are many new entrants that are increasingly seeing advertising as a critical growth lever over many years,” said McKenna.

But it’s not just new investment expected to flow. Existing deals will have their fates sealed, and with Trump in charge, that alone could be volatile.