Data compiled separately by both PRovoke Media and New York law firm Davis+Gilbert shows an increase in mergers and acquisitions in the public relations sector during the first half of 2026, compared with the same period last year.

The D+G data suggests a 20% increase in completed transactions, with deal activity skewed toward smaller sellers, and an increase in the share of deals involving private equity buyers. The firm says influencer marketing, data and analytics, reputation and crisis management, and content capabilities continued to attract strong buyer interest.

PRovoke Media will be producing an annual review of M&A activity at the end of the year, as always. But at the mid-year point, we thought we’d take a look at the deals from the first half that have the greatest potential to have an immediate and material impact on the performance of the acquiring companies.

1. Real Chemistry’s acquisition of Spurwing

The growth of Real Chemistry is one of the biggest PR industry stories of the past two decades, as what started as a San Francisco-based biotech specialist has developed into the largest healthcare PR firm in the world, a disruptive force in digital communications and data and analytics, and one of the 10 largest public relations agencies in the world.

All of that happened while Real Chemistry was primarily a domestic US business. Yes, it has established itself in London and has some presence in Europe, but it derives far more of its income from the US than most other top tier agencies and until this summer it had no footprint at all in Asia.

That changed with the acquisition of Singapore-based Spurwing Communications, a firm with local expertise in healthcare communications, medical affairs and strategic consultancy as well as in analytics and advertising—an ideal complement to the business RC has built in other regions.

The acquisition allows Real Chemistry to claim a genuinely global footprint and the ability to deliver solutions in most of the world’s major markets.

2. Infinite Acquisitions in New York and London

Corporate and crisis communications Infinite received strategic investment from ParkSouth Ventures, a North Carolina-based private investment firm, in August of last year and has been putting that cash to good use during the first half of 2026.

First, it acquired New York-based financial communications firm Dukas Linden Public Relations, expanding its financial services capabilities and strengthening its position in the professional services sector.

Then, it acquired Greentarget UK, one of the UK’s leading specialist financial and professional services communications agencies, a transaction that more than doubled Infinite’s footprint in London.

The combined business employes more than 120 consultants across London, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, and Washington, DC, and is already showing up alongside larger, better-established firms on lists of the world’s leading crisis and risk advisory firms.

3. H/advisors Builds Out Capabilities

There have been more headlines about the big holding companies selling off or consolidating their PR holdings than making strategic acquisitions, but French giant Havas is an exception, with two transactions in the first half demonstrating its interest in establishing its H/advisors corporate affairs operation as a leader in the high-stakes, high-margin end of the public relations business.

In February, Havas acquired a majority stake in leading Spanish public affairs consultancy Acento Public Affairs, with a team of more than 50 professionals across its offices in Madrid, Barcelona, and Brussels. The firm immediately integrated into H/Advisors to expand its international advisory services into Spain.

In May, the company snapped up Format, a French corporate influence consultancy that will join forces with Havas Paris and H/Advisors, strengthening the companies’ digital influence expertise.

The deals demonstrate that Havas is committed to elevating H/advisors into the front rank of financial and public affairs advisory.

4. Paritee Makes an AI Advisory Play

Paritee—the Norwegian parent of Nordic agency Geelmuyden Kiese and the UK’s Brand2Life—has made a number of acquisitions in the past 12 months, including US-based corporate strategy and executive communications firm One Strategy Group earlier this year—an indication its ambitions are not limited to Europe.

But its acquisition in July of a majority stake in Ainigma, a specialist AI advisory firm that helps organizations “move from AI experimentation to AI-native through leadership, culture, capability building and agentic AI solutions” was a particularly interesting move, underscoring Paritee’s broader investment in AI and innovation, and strengthening the group’s ability to support clients as AI becomes a boardroom priority and a driver of enterprise-wide change.

The size of the deal—Ainigma employs a team of just 18—is less significant than the capabilities it adds.

5. MWW Adds Employee Communications Capabilities

It remains a mystery why so few public relations agencies have been able to build substantial employee communications practices, especially given the critical importance of the internal audience to organizational success, and the obvious benefit that employee voices can bring to marketing and corporate reputation efforts.

MWW’s acquisition of workforce communications consultancy HudsonLakev has the potential to pay off big tine, adding expertise in organizational transformation, employee experience, talent strategy, employer branding, recruitment marketing and labor relations, and complementing the independent agencies already robust capabilities in other areas,

6. Finn Partners Buys Australia’s Honner

Finn Partners has acquired a number of small and midsize agencies since its spinoff from Ruder Finn and the firm has a particularly impressive recent track record in the Asia-Pacific region, where it bought first the highly-regarded Indian healthcare specialist SPAG—now firmly established throughout Asia—and then Singapore-based Rice, particularly well known for its technology and consumer capabilities.

The acquisition this summer of Honner expands Finn’s reach into Australia for the first time, and just as important adds financial services and corporate communications expertise to its capabilities in the region, giving Honner founder Philippa Honner a mandate to expand those capabilities regionally.