Technology, media, and telecommunications M&A update: Q1 2025

Boosted by the continuing growth of platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, marketers have identified short-form video as the medium with the highest return on investment due to its increased accessibility and lower budget requirements.

Technology, media, and telecommunications trends

  • Automation and data analytics software
    The proliferation of low- and no-code platforms continues to make automation technologies more accessible to non-technical users, further increasing the opportunity for deployment.1
  • Experience, MarTech, and revenue management software
    Adaptive pricing technologies allow sellers to opportunistically adjust prices when there is a higher chance to capture revenue at the margins—boosting this software market alone to a $3.5 billion value in 2025, estimated to grow at a continued CAGR of 15.5% through 2029.2
  • E-commerce and retail software
    Additional investments in replicating parts of the brick-and-mortar shopping experience are likely to draw interest from retailers and shoppers alike, which is expected to add to the already $12.2 billion virtual “try-on” market.3
  • Global IT services
    The global managed service providers (MSP) market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 11.9% in the coming years, expanding from $396 billion in 2025 to $835 billion in 2032.4
  • Advertising and publishing
    The market size of artificial intelligence in marketing is projected to grow at a robust CAGR of 26.7% from 2025 to 2034, expanding from $26 billion to $217 billion, pushing agencies to evolve into full-funnel agencies to meet customer expectations for integrated services, and driving strategic M&A throughout the advertising and publishing landscape.5
  • Film and TV broadcasting, distribution, and production
    Companies are combining forces to expand consumer accessibility to content libraries and enhance their competitive edge in an increasingly crowded market. This bundling is viewed as a natural progression for streaming providers to remain competitive, especially as Gen Z and millennials increasingly turn to social media creators and influencers for content over subscription video-on-demand platforms.6

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References

1. Charles Crouchman, “Top five automation and tech trends for 2025,” Forbes, January 3, 2025.
2. The Business Research Company, “In-depth analysis of the dynamic pricing software market,” press release, March 27, 2025.
3. The Business Research Company, Virtual try-on technology market report, January 2025.
4. Markets.Us, “Managed services market size to grow by USD 834.7 billion till 2032, with 11.9% CAGR,” November 2024.
5. Digital Marketing Institute, “10 eye opening AI marketing stats in 2025,” March 3, 2025.
6. NewscastStudio, “Streaming services see high churn rates amid rising costs with Gen-Z, millennials turning to creators,” March 28, 2025.
 

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