November 29, 2016

Accenture Acquires Creative Agency Karmarama to Expand its Brand Strategy, Mobile Experience Capabilities in the UK

Acquisition will integrate creative excellence and digital customer experience delivery within Accenture Interactive to offer connected creativity to brands

LONDON; November 29, 2016 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has acquired Karmarama, one of the UK’s largest independent agencies renowned for blending creativity, digital and data to develop campaigns that help brands better engage with consumers. The acquisition strengthens the ability of Accenture Interactive, part of Accenture Digital, to create and deliver integrated customer experiences to brands in the UK and beyond. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Based in London, Karmarama develops advertising campaigns, data-driven content and mobile platforms to build immersive consumer experiences, ensuring that creativity is embedded across all aspects of a brand. Notable clients include the BBC, Confused.com, Honda, Just Eat and Unilever. Karmarama has a team of 250 employees spanning creatives, digital strategists and data practitioners.

London-based agency Karmarama blends creativity, digital and data

The acquisition bolsters the full suite of customer transformation services Accenture Interactive provides to brands, from customer insights to creative conception and omnichannel delivery of meaningful human experiences. It also contributes to the growth of Accenture Interactive’s UK team of marketing professionals and creatives.

Karmarama’s Jon Wilkins (Executive Chairman), Ben Bilboul (Chief Executive Officer), Sid McGrath (Chief Strategy Officer) and Nik Studzinski (Chief Creative Officer) will continue in their current roles and take on additional Accenture Interactive leadership positions to drive brand strategy and creativity in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America (EALA).

“Good karma this way” – the entrance to Karmarama in London

“Acquiring a creative agency in London, where some of the world’s most iconic creative work is produced, will help us reshape how brands imagine, create, and deliver customer experiences,” said Brian Whipple, head of Accenture Interactive. “Karmarama will become part of the world’s largest digital agency, expanding our global capabilities across experience, marketing, content and commerce with excellence in creative and mobile. This will contribute to further differentiate Accenture Interactive as a new breed of agency – experience architects – which helps brands connect disconnected experiences and shares accountability with clients for their business outcomes.”

“Karmarama is a pioneer of modern creativity that CMOs want – a big ideas agency with a deep understanding of how to connect people with brands,” said Anatoly Roytman, head of Accenture Interactive Europe, Africa, Middle East and Latin America (EALA). “Together, we have created a new industry powerhouse and one of the largest homes for digital creativity in the UK. This acquisition will help Accenture Interactive to meet growing client demand in the UK market and beyond, and will enable us more than ever to push the boundaries when it comes to creating remarkable brand experiences.”

“As part of Accenture Interactive, we will dramatically enhance our ability to offer best-in-class creativity and digital delivery,” said Ben Bilboul, CEO at Karmarama. “We look forward to extending our creative ideas across the entire customer experience, offering clients consistent and connected creativity. We believe this is a genuinely game-changing moment for clients and for our team, who will now have even greater opportunity to work with leading global brands across international markets.”

Karmarama was founded in 2000 and received backing from Phoenix Equity Partners in 2011. Karmarama is the latest in a series of acquisitions Accenture has made to rapidly scale Accenture Interactive’s end-to-end customer experience transformation solutions for brands globally. In April this year, Accenture acquired a majority stake in IMJ Corporation (IMJ), a full-service digital agency in Japan. Prior to that, Accenture acquired AD.Dialeto, an independent Brazilian digital agency; Pacific Link, a set of independent digital agencies serving Greater China; Chaotic Moon, an Austin, Texas-based creative technology studio; and Brightstep, a Swedish provider of digital content and commerce solutions.

About Accenture
Accenture (NYSE: ACN) is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 384,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Accenture Interactive, part of Accenture Digital, helps the world’s leading brands drive superior marketing performance across the full multichannel customer experience. Accenture Interactive offers integrated, industrialized and industry-driven digital transformation and marketing solutions. It was recently named by Ad Age as the world’s largest and fastest-growing digital agency. To learn more follow us @Accenture Social and visit www.accenture.com/interactive.

Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “positioned,” “outlook” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include, without limitation, risks that: the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for the company; the company’s results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company’s clients’ businesses and levels of business activity; the company’s business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company’s services and solutions, including through the adaptation and expansion of its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the changing technological environment could materially affect the company’s results of operations; if the company is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company’s business, the utilization rate of the company’s professionals and the company’s results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which the company competes are highly competitive, and the company might not be able to compete effectively; the company could have liability or the company’s reputation could be damaged if the company fails to protect client and/or company data from security breaches or cyberattacks; the company’s profitability could materially suffer if the company is unable to obtain favorable pricing for its services and solutions, if the company is unable to remain competitive, if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if it experiences delivery inefficiencies; changes in the company’s level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, could have a material adverse effect on the company’s effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition; the company’s results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company’s business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; the company’s work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; the company might not be successful at identifying, acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; the company’s Global Delivery Network is increasingly concentrated in India and the Philippines, which may expose it to operational risks; as a result of the company’s geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue geographic expansion, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; adverse changes to the company’s relationships with key alliance partners or in the business of its key alliance partners could adversely affect the company’s results of operations; the company’s services or solutions could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company might lose its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others; if the company is unable to protect its intellectual property rights from unauthorized use or infringement by third parties, its business could be adversely affected; the company’s ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if the company is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; any changes to the estimates and assumptions that the company makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; many of the company’s contracts include payments that link some of its fees to the attainment of performance or business targets and/or require the company to meet specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company’s revenues and impact its margins; the company’s results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; the company may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the “Risk Factors” heading in Accenture plc’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture’s expectations.

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Contact:

Meryl Hanlon
Accenture
+ 44 7810 815344
meryl.hanlon@accenture.com

Jens Derksen
Accenture
+ 49 175 57 61393
jens.derksen@accenture.com