Buyers in the events, media and information services sector are increasingly targeting specialized verticals, preferring niche communities over broad appeal.

According to the latest M&A Activity Update report from Grimes, McGovern & Associates, which tracked over 360 transactions across 2025, acquirers prioritized sector-leading niche events and media companies with loyal communities in 2025, favoring brands with committed niche audiences, strong identity and repeat attendance.

Several deals illustrate this trend. In March 2025, Emerald acquired all assets of Insurtech Insights, a London-based company that serves the growing insurance technology community. Founded in 2018, Insurtech Insights produces leading conferences across Europe, Asia, and the US, bringing together insurers, brokers, technology providers, investors, and thought leaders to explore innovations shaping the industry’s future.

In July 2025, Cambridge Innovation Institute (CII) acquired Integrative Healthcare Symposium, a longstanding event for integrative healthcare practitioners, and Integrative Practitioner, a podcast and e-newsletter to support integrative healthcare professionals. This strategic acquisition was intended to expand CII’s healthcare portfolio, and strengthen its position as a leader in advancing innovation through conferences and media.

Most recently, in January 2026, Nineteen Group, an international events and media organization, purchased Reliabilityweb, a respected global community dedicated to reliability engineering, maintenance excellence, and asset management. The acquisition marked a key milestone in Nineteen Group’s expansion in the US and reinforced its growing footprint across the manufacturing sector.

Event M&A activity continues upward trend

Findings from the Grimes, McGovern & Associates study revealed that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the events, media and information services industry rebounded in 2025, with transaction volume rising from 341 in 2024 to 361 in 2025.

This growth was largely driven by event deals, which totaled 95 transactions in 2025, up from 94 in 2024 and 73 in 2023. This sustained expansion underlines investors’ continued confidence in face-to-face event platforms throughout the years.

The media and information services vertical also rebounded in 2025, rising from 247 in 2024 to 266 in 2025, and returning to 2023 levels after the 2024 dip.

Together, these trends point to a market that has factored in macroeconomic uncertainty and entered a disciplined but active acquisition cycle focused on scalable, specialized, and defensible media and event properties.

In 2025, private equity (PE) involvement remained high in M&A deals, with a rising share in deal counts of 25% compared to 17% in 2024 and 20% in 2023. PE firms were particularly active in the events category, where 46% of the deals involved PE, up from 33% in 2023 and 36% in 2024.

This climb signals that PE firms are prioritizing live and experiential assets, where pricing power, community-driven defensibility, and platform roll-up opportunities may be more tangible, while remaining more selective in traditional and digital media transactions.

Software companies target media assets in acquisition push

In the events and media M&A landscape, 2026 got off to a strong start, with 14 deals in the events category in January and February alone. This figure represents nearly double the number recorded in the same period last year.

Another trend that is the acceleration of software companies acquiring media brands. In February 2026, HubSpot Media, the in-house media division of the enterprise software firm HubSpot, acquired a creator-led entrepreneurship publication called Starter Story.

Founded in 2017 by software engineer Pat Walls, Starter Story is a video-first media brand with more than 800,000 YouTube subscribers, a 275,000-person newsletter, and a total audience of roughly 1.6 million across platforms. The company is profitable and generates a seven-figure revenue, according to Founded.

HubSpot’s media network, which also comprises the Hustle, now drives over 50 million engagements and tens of thousands of leads each month. With Starter Story joining the network, HubSpot’s combined YouTube subscriber count rises to 2.9 million.

In March 2026, Plaid, a US$8 billion open banking startup, acquired This Week in Fintech (TWIF), marking the company’s first buy of a media business as it focuses on broadening customer relationships by  providing additional resources, expanding content formats, and creating more opportunities for community engagement.

TWIF provides news and analysis for operators, builders, and investors navigating the fintech industry, with a newsletter operation that’s said to have around 200,000 subscribers, according to Axios.

Most recently, in April 2026, OpenAI acquired Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN), bringing a team with strong editorial instincts, deep audience understanding, and a proven ability to convene influential voices across tech, business, and culture.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by MDROTONALI via Freepik