The Indie Hustle

The Indie Hustle

M&A in 2026: An insider’s view on the coming year

Helion Partners’ Tom Manwaring reveals how to find your way in M&A and where the market is heading

Tara Conlan 📺's avatar
Tara Conlan 📺
Oct 27, 2025
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The Dry, Element Pictures for ITVX (and RTÉ) in Ireland & UK

M&A activity is hotting up again.

All3Media CEO Jane Turton said at the Royal Television Society Cambridge convention she is hopeful the indie giant will do more deals and Channel 4 kicked off its new Creative Investment Fund by acquiring Scottish Indie Firecrest Films.

The advisers on that sale were Helion Partners; so this week we spoke with Tom Manwaring about the sector’s prospects, what investors are looking for and how you can get yourself match fit for a sale or investment.

Read on to find out:

  • What investors are looking for

  • How the market is changing

  • Why America’s pod structure is over here and changing the game

  • Readiness is key

  • How Rachel Reeves’ budget might affect M&A

Subscribe for the full story.

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Tara Conlan 📺's avatar
A guest post by
Tara Conlan 📺
Media morsels from a journalist writing about media for The Guardian & others since all this was just Gracie Fields. Back catalogue on taraconlan.com
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