Last week’s announcement that Nielsen plans to acquire DoubleVerify (pending regulatory approval) is part of a much broader wave of consolidation sweeping the adtech industry, according to LUMA Partners Founder and CEO Terry Kawaja.
In a video posted to X late last week, Kawaja said roughly $28 billion in adtech M&A has been announced over the past few months, pointing to deals including Publicis-LiveRamp, Fox-Roku, Walmart-Vibe, and Nielsen-DV as evidence that the market has shifted into a new phase.
Why This Matters:
According to Kawaja, adtech dealmaking has been relatively quiet over the past couple of years as higher interest rates, macroeconomic uncertainty, and questions surrounding AI slowed acquisitions.
He argues those conditions are beginning to (finally) reverse. Companies are once again looking for inorganic growth, public company valuations have become more attractive, and buyers are positioning themselves for the next phase of AI-driven change.
If he’s right, last week may prove to be one of several large deals rather than an isolated event. Here’s the full video:
Experts React:
In the video, Kawaja said:
“Twenty-eight billion dollars. That’s how much M&A has been done in the last three months in ad tech.”
He attributed the slowdown in recent years to both macroeconomic pressures and uncertainty surrounding AI.
“War, tariffs, and fiscal concerns, summarized by the acronym WTF, were a series of sequential cascading shocks to the macro economy that had the effect of taking away business confidence. When corporates lack confidence, they hesitate. Add AI uncertainty, and you get a major damper on deal making.”
While AI initially slowed acquisitions, Kawaja believes it will ultimately have the opposite effect.
“We believe AI will ultimately be a strong catalyst for consolidation… buyers try to figure out whether the target’s business model will survive the next version of Claude. Ultimately, however, the business transformation that AI will foment will invariably drive M&A for both offensive and defensive reasons.”
He said the recent resurgence is being driven by three factors:
“One, pent-up demand for inorganic growth. Two, rationalization of some attractive public market valuations. And three, the need to position for upcoming growth drivers.”
Looking ahead, Kawaja expects activity to continue.
“Based on our pipeline, we believe it has legs. Dialogue is up, deal making is up, and we forecast a busy second half of the year.”
He also noted what he called the “Lemmings effect.”
“Deal making begets deal making. Seeing deals get announced is like a permission slip for corporate development activity.”
And he concluded with what may become the industry’s mantra:
“Exits drive returns, which drives investment, which drives more startups, which drives innovation… Exits drive innovation.”
Our Take:
This moment may ultimately be remembered for what it signals. After years of cautious spending, strategic buyers appear more willing to make bets as AI reshapes the competitive landscape.
Whether the current pace continues remains to be seen, but Kawaja’s comments suggest dealmakers increasingly view consolidation as a necessity rather than an option. If that proves true, the second half of 2026 could be considerably more active than the first.
AdTechRadar is owned by Chris Harihar, an EVP at Mod Op. DoubleVerify is a Mod Op client.
