M&A advisory for marketing automation software companies
Marketing automation and sales tech M&A has been driven by strategic consolidation at the major CRM and marketing cloud platforms and PE platforms running martech and sales tech roll-ups. Deals price on retention through pricing model transitions, AI-product differentiation and enterprise contracting durability.
The most active strategic buyers are Salesforce, HubSpot, Adobe and the major CRM and marketing cloud platforms, alongside PE platforms running martech and sales tech roll-ups. Flow has direct access to the martech and CRM strategic acquirers and PE platforms that drive deal activity in this category.
Flow team has relevant sector experience and has worked with marketing automation and sales tech companies across marketing automation and CRM, sales engagement and conversation intelligence, customer data platforms, email and lifecycle marketing, and AI-driven go-to-market tools.
"Marketing automation software" KPIs M&A buyers look at
Key metrics strategics and PE buyers look at when analayzing marketing automation software M&A targets
ARR
Net retention
Customer count
Consumption revenue
AI credits / overages
ARPU
CAC payback
Gross margin
Logo retention
Self-serve vs sales mix
Marketing automation software valuations in May 2026
Public marketing automation software comps trade at 2.0x EV/Revenue. Median revenue multiple across marketing automation software M&A deals was 4.0x in the last 12 months.
2.0x
Median EV/Revenue as of May 2026 for public marketing automation software companies
3.7x
Salesforce is the highest valued public marketing automation software company based on EV/Revenue (excluding outliers)
4.0x
Median EV/Revenue across marketing automation software M&A deals in the last 12 months
16x
Median EV/Revenue across marketing automation software VC rounds in the last 12 months
Key recent marketing automation software M&A deals
$2.0B acquisition of Resulticks by Diginex was the largest marketing automation software M&A transaction completed in the last year.
See all marketing automation software M&A deals| Logo | HQ | Description | Buyer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jun-25 | Resulticks |  | Resulticks is a New York-headquartered omnichannel marketing platform offering real-time customer journey orchestration across email, SMS, mobile apps, web, and voice channels. It equips brands with tools for personalization, segmentation, and loyalty programs serving clients such as ICICI Bank and Nissan. Established in 2009 as a Communikate subsidiary, Resulticks expanded from email automation to full-suite engagement with development centers in Chennai, India, and Singapore to cover Asia-Pacific and North American markets. | Diginex | $2.0B | - | |
Nov-25 | SEMrush | | SEMrush Holdings Inc is engaged in the online visibility management software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform. Its platform utilizes data and intelligence at the core surrounded by AI-powered interconnected hubs focused on search engine optimization, paid advertising, social media management, local marketing, brand marketing, and content marketing Geographically, it generates revenues from the United States, the UK, and Others. | Adobe | $1.9B | 4.2x | |
Dec-25 | Qualified | | Qualified is a Seattle-headquartered platform that integrates with Salesforce to generate sales pipelines through website interactions. It captures buyer intent signals on corporate sites, enabling real-time chats and personalized engagement for revenue teams. Clients including Okta, Zoom, and Autodesk leverage its tools to convert anonymous visitors into qualified leads. Launched in 2018, the service connects web data with CRM systems for account-based marketing. | Salesforce | $1.5B | 47x | |
Sep-25 | PROS | | PROS is a Houston-headquartered software company founded in 1985 that delivers AI-driven revenue management, pricing, and eCommerce solutions to airlines, hotels, and manufacturing firms worldwide. Listed on NYSE under PROS, it powers dynamic pricing engines and CPQ configurations for B2B sales optimization across global enterprises. | Thoma Bravo | $1.4B | 4.0x | |
May-26 | Bluecore | | Bluecore is a multichannel marketing platform leveraging predictive intelligence for retail personalization. It unifies consumer behavior and product data to manage nearly 500 million shopper profiles and vast catalogs. Headquartered in New York, Bluecore prioritizes and activates campaigns based on anticipated customer relationships. | Insider One | $1.0B | - | |
Apr-26 | Talon.One |  | Talon.One is a Berlin-headquartered incentives platform that integrates loyalty programs, promotions, and gamification for enterprise retailers and brands. Launched in 2015, the company operates from offices in London, Boston, and Singapore, powering campaigns for Adidas, Sephora, and Carlsberg with API-driven personalization using customer data. Talon.One earned recognition in Gartner's 2023 Market Guide for Loyalty Program Vendors and IDC's 2024 MarketScape for Loyalty Software Providers, supporting rule-based engines for real-time discount validation. | Adyen | $869M | - | |
Dec-25 | Applecart | | Applecart is a strategic communications platform used by Fortune 500 companies, advertising agencies, trade associations, and governments. New York-headquartered, it connects C-suite executives with decision-makers via targeted content distribution across email, social media, and display networks. Clients apply it for public affairs, investor relations, brand marketing, and employee communications campaigns. | Blackstone | $700M | - | |
Dec-25 | Brevo |  | Brevo is a Paris-headquartered cloud marketing platform founded in 2012. Formerly Sendinblue, it offers email campaigns, SMS transactional messaging, CRM tools, and automation for SMBs and e-commerce. Users access newsletter builders, segmentation, A/B testing, and analytics to nurture customer relationships across sales funnels. | BpifranceBridgepoint Group+1 | $540M | 2.5x | |
Dec-25 | ON24 | | ON24 Inc provides a cloud-based intelligent engagement platform that combines experiences with personalization and content, to enable sales and marketing organizations to capture and act on connected insights at scale. The Company’s platform offers a portfolio of interactive and hyper-personalized digital experience products that create and capture actionable, real-time data at scale from millions of professionals to provide businesses with buying signals and behavioral insights to efficiently convert prospects into customers. It provides solutions to Financial services, Life Sciences, Life sciences, Insurance, Technology, Associations, and Others. | Cvent | $400M | 3.1x | |
Sep-25 | Selligent Marketing Cloud | | Selligent Marketing Cloud is a Brussels-headquartered B2C platform powering personalized campaigns for retail, travel, automotive, publishing, and financial brands. Over 700 clients including Nectar and Halfords deploy its AI-driven data layer for real-time segmentation and omnichannel orchestration across email, SMS, web, and app. The system processes first-party data for journey automation and preference centers. Ten offices span the U.S. and Europe, supporting operations in 30 countries through 50 partners. | Zeta Global | $325M | 7.7x | |
Oct-25 | Sojern | | Sojern is a San Francisco-headquartered digital marketing platform for travel brands leveraging machine learning on 4.5 trillion annual traveler signals. The company drives direct bookings for 10,000 hotels, airlines, and agencies like Marriott and Expedia through multiscreen ads on apps, search, and email. Sojern reports $1.5 billion in incremental revenue for clients yearly. | Rategain Travel Technologies | $250M | 1.5x | |
Apr-26 | PartnerStack |  | PartnerStack is a Toronto-headquartered partnership automation platform for B2B SaaS companies enabling affiliate, referral, reseller, and agency programs. The Y Combinator-backed software handles partner onboarding, deal registration, commission tracking, and marketplace features. PartnerStack powers ecosystems for clients including Notion, Webflow, and Semrush across North America and Europe. Founded in 2014, it processes billions in partner-generated revenue annually through integrations with Stripe and Marketo. | AppDirect | $200M | - | |
Jun-25 | Symbiosys | | Symbiosys is a technology platform aligning marketing efforts between retailers and brands in retail media networks. It unlocks mid-funnel activation through data synchronization, campaign orchestration, and performance analytics. Retailers like Walmart and Target integrate Symbiosys to monetize shelf space via sponsored product placements and audience targeting. | DoorDash | $175M | - | |
Mar-26 | Alia Software | | Alia Software develops website engagement tools including customizable pop-ups, banners, and prompts that capture visitors, build email lists, and promote offers. Users configure elements via templates for campaigns or segments, track performance with analytics, and integrate with CMS and marketing platforms. | dotDigital Group | $60M | 15x | |
Jul-25 | SocialPilot | | SocialPilot is an Ahmedabad-headquartered social media management platform used by agencies and brands to schedule posts across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. Launched in 2014, it offers team collaboration, content curation from 100-plus sources, and white-label reporting for client management. | group.one | $50M | 5.0x |
Most active buyers of marketing automation software companies
Fullcast, dotDigital Group and Salesforce are the most active acquirers of marketing automation software companies in the last three years.
See all marketing automation software acquirers| Logo | HQ | Description | Key acquisitions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fullcast | | Fullcast is a provider of AI and machine learning solutions for go-to-market teams in sales and marketing. Its platform automates territory planning, account segmentation, and resource allocation to optimize revenue operations. Customers in SaaS and enterprise software industries use Fullcast to align sales strategies with market data. The company operates from the San Francisco Bay Area. | Copy.aiEbstaAtrium+2 | 5 | |
dotDigital Group |  | dotDigital Group PLC is a software-as-a-service technology company, offering cross-channel marketing automation technology to marketing professionals. Its customer experience and data platform (CXDP) combines automation and AI to help businesses deliver hyper-relevant customer experiences at scale. The platform also allows Dotdigital's customers to automate personalised marketing experiences across web, email, SMS, WhatsApp, chat, push, social, ads, and other media. The group's operating segments are EMEA (its key revenue-generating market), the U.S., and the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. | Alia SoftwareSocial SnowballFresh Relevance | 4 | |
Salesforce | | Salesforce provides enterprise cloud computing solutions. The company offers customer relationship management technology that brings companies and customers together. Its Customer 360 platform helps the group deliver a single source of truth, connecting customer data across systems, apps, and devices to help companies sell, service, market, and conduct commerce. It also offers Service Cloud for customer support, Marketing Cloud for digital marketing campaigns, Commerce Cloud as an e-commerce engine, the Salesforce Platform, which allows enterprises to build applications, and other solutions, such as MuleSoft for data integration. | MomentumQualifiedBluebirds+1 | 4 | |
Publicis Groupe | | Headquartered in France, Publicis is the world’s second-largest ad holding company based on revenue. Publicis’ services, which include traditional and digital advertising, public relations, and consulting, are provided worldwide, with over 80% of its revenue coming from more-developed regions such as North America and Europe. | Captiv8WibilongMars United Commerce+2 | 4 | |
DemandScience | | DemandScience is a global B2B data provider headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts. The company supplies intent data, account insights, and buyer contact information to sales and marketing teams worldwide. It partners with over 500 technology vendors and agencies, processing signals from 2,000 data sources to identify in-market accounts. Founded in 2015, DemandScience operates in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, powering lead generation campaigns for clients like Adobe and Dell Technologies through its AccountProfiler and BuyerIntent tools. | BoundDemandJumpTerminus | 3 | |
The Transparency Company | | The Transparency Company is a SaaS platform specializing in Google Maps review auditing, fraud detection, and removal services, with tiered subscriptions providing monitoring, compliance reporting, and competitive analysis for businesses. | GatherUpGrade us | 2 | |
Spotler |  | Spotler is a Dutch marketing automation provider offering email, SMS, and cross-channel campaign tools for mid-market businesses. Its platform supports lead nurturing, segmentation, and analytics, integrated with CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot. Headquartered in Utrecht, Spotler serves clients across Benelux and Scandinavia, including Rabobank and bol.com. Founded in 2004 as Email Plus, it now handles 1.5 billion emails yearly with GDPR-compliant data management. | Capital IDWebpower AdriaOBI4wan | 2 | |
GTCR | | GTCR is a Chicago-based private equity firm targeting growth companies in financial services, technology, healthcare, and information services sectors. The firm employs its Leaders Strategy to partner with management teams for acquisitions and organic expansion. | FMG SuiteTRANZACTLiveBarn+2 | 2 | |
Intuit Mailchimp | | Intuit Mailchimp is a cross-channel marketing platform headquartered in Atlanta that equips businesses with tools for email campaigns, audience growth, landing pages, ads, and website building. Acquired by Intuit in November 2021, the Atlanta-based company operates offices in Brooklyn, Oakland, Vancouver, London, Seattle, and Santa Monica. Mailchimp supports over 12 million customers globally, including TED Talks, Shutterstock, Boston Market, and Nikon India, by delivering data insights and multichannel automation from one dashboard. Founded in 2001, it processes campaigns across email, social media, and more to drive revenue. | RaleonAmpedChatitive | 2 | |
Consensus | | Consensus is a San Francisco-based SaaS provider automating personalized product demos for sales teams. Its platform generates interactive videos and documents tailored to prospect behaviors, featuring branching logic for feature spotlights in SaaS and enterprise tools. Integrated with Salesforce and HubSpot, it shortens sales cycles by 40 percent for clients like Gong and Outreach. Launched in 2019, Consensus supports 500 revenue organizations worldwide. | PeelReachSuite | 2 |
Founders and investors we've worked with
We've supported winning builders across marketing automation software and beyond.
MAILINGWORK
We acted as exclusive sell-side advisor to MAILINGWORK, a Chemnitz-based email marketing software platform, on its sale to French digital marketing leader Positive Group.
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TestSolutions
We acted as exclusive financial advisor to Swiss PE firm Patrimonium on its majority stake acquisition of TestSolutions, a Frankfurt-based software testing and IT services provider.
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Resillion
We provided buy-side advice to a dominant TIC industry player on the carve-out and acquisition of Resillion (fka Eurofins Digital Testing), a Hasselt-based digital testing, cybersecurity and forensics provider.
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Digital Asset Management Software Provider
We provided buy-side advice to Byron Capital Partners on its acquisition of a leading European digital asset management (DAM) software platform.
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Boryszew
We provided buy-side advice to Boryszew, a Warsaw-listed diversified industrial group across automotive, metals and chemicals, on industrial software market mapping and target screening for its buy-and-build strategy.
See moreRecent M&A advisory track record
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