Aggregate deal value was $65.5bn including Microsoft’s $26.2bn acquisition of Linkedin. Excluding this, value was $39.3bn, up from $19.3bn in the first half of 2015.

The biggest deals were undertaken by technology companies with the marcoms giants, led by WPP and Dentsu, active with smaller acquisitions. Earlier this month Dentsu announced plans to buy a majority stake in US CRM agency Merkle, valued at a total $1.5bn.