Nine is making an offer to acquire the remaining 45.5 per cent stake in Macquarie Media, which it gained through the Fairfax Media merger in late 2018, at a cost of $113.9 million.

The new owner of IBM’s Marketing Cloud and commerce product portfolio has taken the wrappers off a fresh brand name, portfolio and leadership team, all designed to emphasise its focus on marketers.

Salesforce has taken a huge leap forward in the data visualisation and analytics space, picking up Tableau for a whopping US$15.7 billion.

Woolworths has confirmed a strategic partnership with Marley Spoon that will see the supermarket giant invest $30 million into the subscription-based meal kit provider as well as its Dinnerly brand.

Publicis Groupe is jostling for a stronger position in the marketing transformation solutions space and has acquired marketing services and data company, Epsilon for a total US$4.4 billion.

Outdoors enthusiasts will be able to get their fix from the one place following news that the Outdoria Group is set to become Australia and New Zealand’s largest dedicated marketplace for planning, booking and equipping camping, caravanning, outdoor experiences and road trips.

IBM is offloading its marketing and commerce technology portfolio to private equity in order to spin off the offering into a new commercial entity. But several analysts are questioning whether the decision will provide the focus needed to succeed in the rapidly evolving martech landscape.

Accenture has acquired one of the world’s most impactful creative agency heavyweights to propel its CMO services capabilities further, picking up US-based creative player, Droga5.

A total of 144 roles will be made redundant and just shy of 100 employees affected as Nine and Fairfax become one media business on 10 December.

Forrester has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire SiriusDecisions, a business-to-business research and advisory firm, for US$245 million in cash, subject to adjustment.

The historic merger between Fairfax and Nine has passed the last hurdle, with Australia’s Federal Court giving the go-ahead for the deal.

OOh!Media has dropped its CMO role in favour of a head of marketing as part of a new executive leadership structure that follows its acquisition of AdShel.

Fairfax Media has played down reports former Domain Group CEO, Anthony Catalano, has made an alternative offer for the business as shareholders throw their support behind the proposed historic merger with Nine Entertainment Company.

EY says its acquisition of Australian and APAC consulting house, Adelphi Digital Consulting Group, is aimed at expanding its full-service digital services capabilities.

SAP’s US$8 billion acquisition of Qualtrics will help the enterprise software bolster its experience management credentials short term, but analysts are questioning the wider data integration play necessary for the vendor for long-term competitive edge.

SAP has swooped to purchase Qualtrics for US$8 billion, just as the software-as-a-service survey platform was preparing for an IPO.

RedBalloon parent company, Big Red Group (BRG), says its acquisition of extreme and adventure experiences aggregator, Adrenaline.com.au, will make it the third-largest experiences provider globally. And according to its co-founder and spokesperson, Naomi Simson, the acquisition is just the start of its plans to ensure Australian businesses successfully get a piece of the experiences pie against global competitors.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will not oppose the merger between Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media, even as it admits the deal is likely to reduce media competition.

Adobe has confirmed its acquisition of Marketo, paying US$4.75 billion to acquire the B2B marketing automation player.

Adobe is reportedly in talks to purchase best-of-breed marketing automation vendor, Marketo.

Fairfax’s chief marketing officer, Michael Laxton, will step down from the role in September after nearly four years with the ASX-listed media giant.