Professional Documents
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Q3 M&A Activity
Business Consulting – Q2 2015
Q3 2017
Joel Kallett Gretchen Seay Greg Treger Bhavin Patel John Rakowski Philo Tran
Managing Director Managing Director Managing Director Director Director Director
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In last quarter’s Digital Transformation Monitor, we discussed the heightened appetite for UX Upcoming Conferences
design firms as well as e-commerce consultancies, and predicted increasing deal activity in
November 2017
these areas. As anticipated, these sectors saw a number of interesting transactions this past
quarter. In the UX design segment, Genpact acquired TandemSeven, a Boston-based provider Dreamforce
of UX design services and software. In addition, ServiceNow, a provider of cloud-based San Francisco, CA
workflow management software, acquired Telepathy, a California-based design firm with ~20
DX Summit
employees. This transaction reminds us of Salesforce acquiring Sequence (~80 person design
Chicago, IL
firm) earlier this year and reinforces the notion that the right UX design is just as critical to the
success of a product as its technology architecture and functionality. In e-commerce, Capgemini IoT Tech Expo
acquired Lyons Consulting, a Chicago-based consultancy focused on the Salesforce Commerce Santa Clara, CA
Cloud suite. We understand Lyons preferred to recapitalize with a private equity firm but
AWS re:INVENT
ultimately couldn’t turn down a premium offer from a strategic acquirer.
Las Vegas, NV
Another trend to watch for is the growing interest in nearshoring. In August, Accenture acquired
Concrete Solutions, a ~400 person agile developer of web and mobile applications-based in December 2017
Brazil. Concrete Solutions enables Accenture to expand its digital capabilities and client base in
Mobile Innovation Summit
the largest economy in Latin America. Equally if not more important, the acquisition meaningfully
San Francisco, CA
expands Accenture’s army of nearshore digital developers to better serve North American
clients seeking a different outsourced product development experience. As more companies Digital Summit
adopt agile software development, they increasingly seek consultants who are already trained in Dallas, TX
this approach and located in closer time zones to form agile teams. We believe application
development consultancies with nearshore development centers in Mexico, Costa Rica,
Columbia, Argentina, and other South American countries will be attractive acquisition
candidates over the next twelve months.
Digital Transformation
Engineering &
Digital Strategy UX Design
Development
CLEARSIGHT MONITOR | Digital Transformation | Q3 2017
DEALTALK
Genpact Acquires Digital Customer Experience Firm, TandemSeven
13.9%
10.3%
5.9%
2.1%
14.3%
2.0x 1.9x
1.6x 1.5x
11.0x
9.1x
11.1x
9.3x
125%
22.0%
120%
16.2%
115%
13.4%
110%
105%
100%
95%
90% -11.3%
85%
Sep 2016 Nov 2016 Jan 2017 Mar 2017 May 2017 Jul 2017 Sep 2017
EV / LTM Revenue – Last Two Years
Digital Technology Services IT Services Companies & BPO Providers Marketing Services Companies
5.5x
5.0x
4.5x
4.0x
3.5x
3.5x
3.0x
2.5x
2.0x
2.0x
1.5x 1.6x
1.0x
0.5x
0.0x
Sep 2015 Jan 2016 May 2016 Sep 2016 Jan 2017 May 2017 Sep 2017
Digital Technology Services IT Services Companies & BPO Providers Marketing Services Companies
35.0x
30.0x
25.0x
24.7x
20.0x
15.0x
11.1x
10.0x 9.3x
5.0x
Sep 2015 Jan 2016 May 2016 Sep 2016 Jan 2017 May 2017 Sep 2017
Source: Capital IQ, market data as of 30-Sep-2017
Syzygy AG (XTRA:SYZ)
diffferent is a strategy consulting firm focused on brand positioning and
developing innovating services in relation to digital transformation
9/25/2017 diffferent GmbH
The acquisition allows Syzygy to achieve a significant expansion and
(WPP) development of the group’s consulting and strategy capabilities
(WPP)
Fast Forward Labs is an applied research and machine learning consulting firm
9/7/2017 Fast Forward Labs Cloudera The acquisition allows Cloudera to deepen their experience in applying
machine learning to practical business problems
MATTER is a design and innovation firm focused on designing products for the
9/6/2017 MATTER Accenture connected world
The acquisition strengthens Accenture’s design and innovation unit, Fjord
AKQA
DIS/PLAY is a digital agency providing strategy, user experience, design, and
technical development solutions to clients
8/29/2017 DIS/PLAY
The acquisition builds AKQA’s European presence and capabilities while
providing DIS/PLAY with access to AKQA’s global network and resources
(WPP)
(WPP)
Next Fifteen Communications Velocity Partners is a B2B digital agency with a focus on technology clients
7/11/2017 Velocity Partners Ltd.
Group plc (AIM:NFC) The acquisition will strengthen Next 15’s data-driven marketing offerings
High 99.7 % $ 4,948 $ 4,529 3.9 x 3.5 x 2.9 x 27.1 x 22.2 x 17.3 x 14.5 % 24.2 %
Median 84.3 1,721 1,661 3.5 3.2 2.6 24.7 17.7 14.3 14.3 23.3
Mean 84.8 2,700 2,532 3.2 2.9 2.4 23.5 17.3 13.6 13.2 21.8
Low 70.4 1,430 1,406 2.0 1.9 1.6 18.6 12.2 9.2 10.9 17.9
High 99.4 % $ 92,674 $ 89,329 2.8 x 2.7 x 2.5 x 15.0 x 14.7 x 13.4 x 25.7 % 24.9 %
Median 93.9 11,128 11,499 2.0 1.9 1.8 11.1 11.0 10.1 16.7 10.3
Mean 90.0 17,884 17,329 1.9 1.9 1.8 11.5 11.2 10.3 16.8 11.4
Low 45.5 1,193 1,109 1.2 1.1 1.0 8.2 8.8 8.4 10.9 (8.5)
High 98.7 % $ 23,801 $ 30,433 1.9 x 1.8 x 1.7 x 12.6 x 11.2 x 10.6 x 19.0 % 18.4 %
Median 81.7 14,398 16,674 1.6 1.5 1.5 9.3 9.1 8.6 16.4 13.9
Mean 82.5 13,843 16,637 1.6 1.5 1.5 9.8 9.3 8.9 16.4 10.4
Low 71.8 4,682 4,776 1.3 1.3 1.2 8.5 8.7 8.2 14.2 (0.8)
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