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The merger and acquisition advisory firms JEGI Clarity and Leonis Partners announced a merger on Monday, creating a combined company whose area of expertise includes media, marketing, information, software, fintech, and technology.
The newly minted company, which will be called JEGI Clarity Leonis (JCL), will be headquartered in New York, with a presence in London, Sydney, and Boston. Last year, the two firms closed 35 transactions, approaching $5 billion in total deal volume.
The deal is structured as an equity swap, according to Wilma Jordan, the founder and CEO of JEGI Clarity, although she declined to provide further financial specifics.
“This is not a cost-synergy merger,” Jordan said. “This is a strategic expansion merger. It almost doubles the size of the firm, and the two organizations fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.”
While the 12-year-old firm Leonis Partners has historically focused on software, fintech, and technology transactions, JEGI Clarity has been an active figure in the media and marketing sectors throughout its 37-year history. In recent years, it has advised on deals including the 2018 sale of MediaMonks to Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital and Accenture’s 2020 acquisition of Creative Drive.
JCL will be co-led by Robert Koven, the founder and managing partner of Leonis Partners, and Scott Mozarsky, a managing director at JEGI Clarity, as co-chief executives. Jordan, meanwhile, will assume the role of executive chair.
The advisory firm will focus on transactions ranging from $50 million to $500 million, and will combine the two companies’ sector expertise into one unified offering. The transaction is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2025, though both parties declined to share financial specifics.
The merger comes at an uncertain time for the M&A ecosystem. The election of Donald Trump was heralded by the business community as a starting pistol for increased deal activity, which has slowed considerably since its 2021 peak.
The number of M&A deals in the media industry worldwide has declined every year since 2021, when 1,253 transactions occurred, according to data provider Statista. In 2024, only 639 deals were consummated, the lowest number in volume since at least 2006.
However, since President Trump took office, no blockbuster deals have transpired in the consumer media space.
In fact, one notable acquisition inked last year—Skydance’s planned purchase of Paramount—has encountered pushback under the new administration, owing to a 60 Minutes interview CBS conducted with former Vice President Kamala Harris.