Q3 2026 Media, Marketing, & Online Industry Trends

Q3 2026 KEY HIGHLIGHTS

The largest deal in Q3 2026 was Uber’s announced acquisition of Delivery Hero, for $14.8 billion. Delivery Hero is the world’s leading local delivery platform, operating its service in around 65 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

There were 145 financially sponsored transactions in the 1st 3 Quarters of 2026 with an aggregate value of $27.4 billion, representing 18 percent of the total volume and 11 percent of the total value, respectively.

Q3 2026 KEY TRENDS

Total transaction volume in Q3 of 2026 increased 10 percent over Q2 of 2026, from 262 to 288.

Total transaction value in Q3 of 2026 decreased 18 percent over Q2 of 2026, from $56.2 billion to $46 billion.

MULTIPLES & VALUE TRENDS

The median revenue multiple remained the same on a year-over-year basis at 1.6x.

The median EBITDA multiple rose 27 percent on a year-over-year basis from 8.5x to 10.8x.

NOTABLE DEALS IN Q3 2026

The top ten deals by value have seen two new additions since our half year report: the previously mentioned acquisition of Delivery Hero by Uber, and Mari Group’s announced acquisition of ATG Entertainment, one of the world’s largest theatre operators, from Providence Equity Partners, for $6.1 billion.

Other notable Q3 transactions include Copart’s pending acquisition of ACV, a digital wholesale vehicle marketplace, for $1.9 billion; Sky’s announced acquisition of ITV, the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster and streamer, for $1.9 billion; and Trustar Capital’s announced acquisition of Lingxi Games, a leading Chinese mobile game developer, from Alibaba Group, for $1.4 billion.