Top B2B Mergers and Acquisitions from Q3
In Q3, major B2B mergers and acquisitions—including AstraZeneca's $39 billion purchase of Alexion Pharmaceuticals to enhance mRNA and rare disease research, and Salesforce's $27.7 billion acquisition of Slack to strengthen workplace collaboration against Microsoft—totaled about $1.8 trillion in U.S. deals, with significant increases in advertising spend post-acquisition, such as Alexion's ad budget growing over tenfold and Slack expanding its television advertising presence.
Coming out of the pandemic, large corporations were ready to buy smaller companies to be better positioned for the new economy.
With the surge in activity, deals in the U.S. have added up to about $1.8 trillion this year so far.
As B2B businesses have bolstered their capabilities, ad buying behavior has changed. Here are the five top B2B M&As from Q3 and how their advertising was impacted.
1. AstraZeneca purchased Alexion Pharmaceuticals
In July, AstraZeneca acquired Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $39 billion. This acquisition will likely help AstraZeneca become more competitive in the mRNA research field.
“We look forward to also applying Alexion’s complement-biology platform across areas of AstraZeneca’s broader early stage pipeline and, significantly, to the extraordinary opportunity to extend existing and future rare disease medicines to patients in many countries where AstraZeneca already has a strong presence,” remarked Marc Dunoyer, incoming Chief Executive Officer, Alexion and Chief Financial Officer, AstraZeneca.
Alexion, a biopharmaceutical company, had very little advertising presence in the months leading up to their acquisition. In Q2 they spent less than $12 thousand on advertising overall. After the acquisition, their Q3 ad spend grew more than 10x to $126 thousand.
2. Salesforce secured its Slack investment
Salesforce gained Slack in July for $27.7 billion.
With the acquisition of Slack, Salesforce will boost its workplace collaboration tool and bolster its offerings to compete with its rival Microsoft, who has been the go-to software vendor for businesses.
According to Salesforce, the “combined companies will connect people, apps, and data in ways that drive frictionless workflows across Salesforce, all within a single interface centered around people working together from anywhere.”
Slack’s advertising presence heavily expanded their television presence after Salesforce acquired them. Their advertising presence grew from $1.6 million in Q2 to $22.1 million in Q3. 98% of spend in Q3 was invested in television compared to 86% ($1.4 million) in Q2.
3. Taboola scooped up Connexity
Taboola gained Connexity for $800 million in September.
Connexity is one of the largest eCommerce media platforms, averaging over a million transactions a month and operates websites such as Shobzilla.com. As more publishers look to eCommerce to drive revenue, this deal will help publishers optimize sales.
“With Taboola and Connexity, publishers will get instant access to an innovative technology connecting readers with products, which capitalizes on where consumers spend a large part of their day–reading trusted news online,” said Adam Singolda, CEO and founder, Taboola.
Like previous acquisitions above, Connexity’s ad presence skyrocketed after Taboola purchased the company. Their digital presence moved from less than $50 thousand in Q2 to $7.8 million in Q3. All of their spend in Q3 was invested in Facebook.
4. HP acquired Zerto
HP acquired Zerto, an industry leader in cloud data management, for $374 million in July.
“Data is the most critical asset and is essential to operate in this new digital economy,” explained Tom Black, Senior Vice President and General Manager of HPE Storage. “Zerto’s best-in-class talent and technology expands HPE’s data management and disaster recovery capabilities, giving customers the ability to protect their data and recover in minutes from ransomware attacks.”
In a move that seems to be motivated by their new $2 billion government contract, HP decreased Zerto’s advertising presence after their acquisition. Zerto’s digital advertising fell from $56 thousand in Q2 to less than $10 thousand in Q3.
5. OpenGate Capital gained ScioTeq BV
OpenGate Capital acquired ScioTeq BV for $200 million at the beginning of July.
ScioTeq develops and manufactures visualization solutions including across avionics, aerospace, air traffic control, and security end markets.
This purchase was OpenGate’s eighth acquisition this year. The deal is “representative of the full suite of our cross-border investment capabilities in action,” according to OpenGate Capital’s Partner and Head of Europe, Julien Lagrèze.
For more updates like this, stay tuned. Subscribe to our blog for more updates on coronavirus and its mark on the economy.
Related
Ad Spend & Media Insights Overview
Winmo offers a comprehensive data-driven platform that tracks over $100 billion in US media ad spending across TV, digital, CTV, and OOH, enabling users to identify sales prospects by pinpointing top brands' real-time and historical media investments, optimal media planning and buying periods, and detailed spend analysis to strategically time outreach and increase revenue with actionable insights and contact-level intelligence.
Win Ad Revenue with Winmo Media Sales Leads
Winmo is a comprehensive, researcher-verified sales intelligence platform that helps advertising professionals quickly find and connect with over 230,000 verified media buying and ad sales decision-makers across brands and agencies managing $100 billion in ad spend, providing real-time media buying insights, direct contact information, and predictive sales alerts to streamline prospecting and close deals faster.
CMO Breakups: 5 Brands You Should Start Wooing For New Business
The article highlights five major brands, including Facebook and Lands’ End, that have recently experienced CMO departures, signaling upcoming agency roster changes and presenting timely opportunities for agencies to pursue new business by engaging with these brands' marketing teams before new CMOs are appointed.
How Home Goods Brands Are Rearranging Their Advertising Strategies in 2022
In 2022, home goods brands are increasingly shifting their advertising strategies toward digital platforms like Facebook and YouTube—driven by rising eCommerce trends and consumer interest in home design and furniture rearranging—resulting in a 111% year-over-year increase in digital ad spending, although traditional TV advertising remains significant.
Top 10 Most Searched Company Profiles in Winmo: Q2 2021
The article highlights the top 10 most searched company profiles on Winmo in Q2 2021, detailing key brand activities such as Planet Fitness restarting advertising to boost membership with a focus on Gen-Z and millennials through digital and TV ads, and Arby’s increasing its digital ad spend while shifting away from national TV, reflecting broader marketing shifts amid post-pandemic recovery and changing consumer behaviors.
12 Ads ‘til New Year: 12 New Advertisers in 2020
In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic's drastic shifts in consumer behavior, 411,000 brands spent $81.27 billion on advertising across media, with 5,500 new brands—particularly from direct-to-consumer companies, subscription boxes, and OTT services—emerging prominently to meet the demands of quarantined and socially distanced audiences, as highlighted in a year-end series spotlighting twelve notable new advertisers.