Consulting sector M&A deals (March 21st – April 4th)

Wilmington Acquires Life Science, Healthcare Specialist Evantage Consulting
Deal Size: GBP 6m Industry: Healthcare Consulting Date: March 29, 2016
UK-based consulting firm Wilmington plc (LSE: WIL) has acquired UK-based specialist healthcare and pharmaceutical analytics solutions provider Evantage Consulting Ltd, the firm said. Wilmington is paying an initial GBP 1.4m (USD 2m), with a deferred cash consideration of up to GBP 4.6m (USD 6.57m) by 2020 based on stretching profit based targets. The transaction will be financed out of the group’s existing GBP 65.0m multi-currency debt facility.
Evantage will strengthen analytics offerings across Wilmington’s healthcare business. Wilmington, through its healthcare analytics subsidiary NHiS, a provider of business intelligence and data analysis to the pharmaceutical industry, said it has partnered with Evantage for over five years. The acquisition will sit within Wilmington’s Insight division and will enhance its healthcare analytics offer to UK and overseas clients; areas in which Wilmington said it has been seeing strong growth.
Evantage brings specialist knowledge and experience in the analysis of healthcare admissions, pathway and treatment data as well as industry-leading competence in customer engagement and optimisation solutions for the life sciences sector. Wilmington expects the deal to be earnings enhancing in the first full year of ownership. Evantage was established in 2001 by Julian Snape and Chris Wiggins to provide outsourced analytics and resource optimisation solutions for the UK pharmaceutical industry. Currently, it also delivers solutions to international clients in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Snape and Wiggins will continue in the business post acquisition. In the year to 31 October 2015, Evantage reported revenues of GBP 1.1m and profits before tax of GBP 0.9m. Gross assets were GBP 1.2m. Wilmington provides information, compliance, and education services for professional markets in the United Kingdom and internationally.
(http://www.bloomberg.com) 

NTT DATA to Acquire Dell Services’ IT Consulting Division for More Than $3B
Deal Size: $3 billion Industry: IT Consulting Date: March 29, 2016
NTT DATA Inc. and Dell Inc. announced March 28 that the two companies have entered into a definitive agreement for NTT DATA to acquire Dell Services’ IT consulting division for more than $3 billion. “NTT DATA is pleased with the unique opportunity to acquire such high-caliber talent, and a corporate culture that shares common values with NTT DATA, with emphasis on ‘Clients First,’ ‘Foresight,’ ‘Teamwork’ and a commitment to innovation,” NTT DATA Corporation President and CEO Toshio Iwamoto said. “Welcoming Dell Services to NTT DATA is expected to strengthen our leadership position in the IT services market and initiates an important business relationship with Dell.” “I’m extremely proud of Dell Services’ solid growth, broad capabilities and deep domain expertise in Healthcare & Life Sciences, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance,” Dell Inc. Chairman and CEO Michael Dell said. “Our investments in digital services, application modernization, tools, automation and ‘as-a-service’ models, have enabled Dell Services customers to simplify their IT environment, empower their workforce, engage their customers and grow. Together, NTT DATA and Dell Services will be a winning combination for Dell Services customers, team members and partners.”
NTT DATA Inc. CEO John McCain led this transaction and will have overall responsibility for leading the combined business. “There are few acquisition targets in our market that provide this type of unique opportunity to increase our competitiveness and the depth of our market offerings,” McCain said. “Dell Services is a very well-run business and we believe its employee base, long-standing client relationships, and the mix of long term and project-based work will enhance our portfolio. We are confident this transaction will be positive for clients, employees, and shareholders, and will advance our collective vision to be an innovative partner for our clients.” Dell Services will continue to operate under the leadership of Suresh Vaswani, president of Dell Services, reporting to Dell, until the transaction closes. “I’m proud of the job the Services leadership team has done in driving and modernizing the business, achieving industry-leading customer satisfaction scores, and winning marquee deals with global companies across industries,” Vaswani said. “This acquisition will create even more value for customers and will benefit employees as they become part of a top ten global IT services business.” “This deal illustrates the continued evolution of the technology market into more pure-play product and services-oriented firms,” KippsDeSanto & Co. Managing Director Bob Kipps said. “For Dell Services, this deal provides market clarity to its customers and partners. For NTT, it is another big move for them up the IT Services’ league tables and moves them solidly into the mid-tier of the Federal market.” (http://www.washingtonexec.com)

St Ives Plc Acquires Solstice Consulting LLC
Size: Undisclosed Industry: Digital Marketing Date: March 29, 2016
St Ives plc (St Ives Group), a provider of marketing solutions and book publishing services based in the UK, has acquired Solstice Consulting LLC (trading as Solstice Mobile), a provider of digital consultancy in mobile-first digital product design and engineering services based in the US. Solstice Mobile has employs approximately 200 staff across three offices in Chicago, New York and Buenos Aires. As of December 31, 2014, Solstice Mobile generated adjusted EBITDA of GBP2.7 million (USD4.19 million) on revenue of GBP16.5 million (USD25.62 million) and gross assets were GBP5.1 million (USD7.92 million). Under the transaction, St Ives has agreed to acquire Solstice Mobile, on a cash and debt free basis, for GBP24.7 million (USD34.9 million), to be satisfied by approximately GBP20 million (USD28.26 million) in cash and approximately 2.6 million St Ives shares. Further consideration of up to GBP25.3 million (USD35.75 million) may be payable (to be satisfied 80% in cash and 20% in shares) dependent on incremental profit performance for the years ending December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Following the transaction, Solstice Mobile will operate as a subsidiary of St Ives and will continue to be managed from its current locations by its existing management team, which includes J Schwan, the vendor. J Schwan is the CEO of Solstice Mobile. (http://www.4-traders.com)

IBM acquires Salesforce consulting firm Bluewolf for $200m
Deal Size: $200m Industry: IT Consulting Date: March 31, 2016
International Business Machines Corp. has acquired Salesforce consulting firm Bluewolf Consulting LLC. Terms of the deal were not officially disclosed but the price is reported by Re/Code to be $200 million. Founded in 2000 and providing services to Salesforce since 2002, Bluewolf claims that their technology-driven method combines their team’s years of experience with cloud solutions that continually connect their clients with their customers. While specializing in Salesforce the company does provide support for other cloud solutions, and claims to have worked with over 9,500 clients from its offices in several countries. Post acquisition Bluewolf will join IBM Interactive Experience, Big Blue’s global services arm that provides support to customers who use platforms including Salesforce, SAP and others. IBM Interactive Experience Global Leader Paul Papas told The Wall Street Journal that Bluewolf customers will benefit from other IBM services and activities, including mobile application development with Apple, Inc. The acquisition of Bluewolf by IBM is another in a long list for the company as it continues to build out its consulting and online services business.
IBM acquired a string of creative agencies in late January (Exc.io, Aperto AG and Resource/Ammirati Inc.) along with video streaming service Ustream, The Weather Company and others, as it transforms itself from a computing hardware company to one with a focus on business software and services delivered via the cloud, with support for artificial intelligent computing power provided by IBM’s Watson platform.
(http://siliconangle.com)

Tigermed to Merge With Jyton Group
Deal Size: Undisclosed Industry: IT & Healthcare Consulting Date: March 24, 2016
Hangzhou Tigermed Consulting Co., LTD issued an official announcement that Tigermed acquired 100% of Jyton Group’s shares, turning Jyton into a subsidiary of Tigermed.
Jyton Group is a wholly-owned holding company with five consulting services companies. Jyton, established in 1995, is the oldest and largest medical device consulting company in China, focusing mainly in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and regulations consulting, clinical trials, and recruiting services.
Through this acquisition, Tigermed can effectively expands its core business, specifically in the medical device industry, and improve customer service comprehensive ability. Jyton, through complementary advantages with Tigermed, receives more supports and opportunities to expand customer volume, improves business structure, and perfects technique competency, forming a rapid collaborative development pattern.
(http://www.meddeviceonline.com)

The Freedonia Group is bought out by MarketResearch.com
Deal Size: Undisclosed Industry: IT Consulting Date: March 29, 2016
MarketResearch.com, a leader of market research solutions and services, has completed its acquisition of The Freedonia Group, a global creator of reliable and unbiased industry research reports and consulting services for more than 30 years.
The businesses’ complementary assets are being integrated, enabling existing services to be enhanced and creating huge new opportunities for clients of both services. The acquisition provides businesses, non-profit organisations and academia, a single source of authoritative market research stretching across multiple industries, from consumer goods and services to life sciences, construction and materials to chemicals and packaging. MarketResearch.com and Freedonia’s products can be found in the offices of more than 90% of Fortune 1000 companies worldwide and in the libraries of top business schools and universities.
(http://www.polymerspaintcolourjournal.com)

CBIZ Acquires Actuarial Consulting Firm The Savitz Organization
Deal Size: Undisclosed Industry: HR Consulting Date: April 01, 2016
CLEVELAND, April 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — CBIZ, Inc. (NYSE: CBZ) (the “Company”) today announced that it has acquired The Savitz Organization (“Savitz”) effective April 1, 2016.
Founded in 1968, Savitz is headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, with offices in Atlanta, GA, and Newton, MA.  Savitz is an employee retirement and health and welfare benefits firm that provides actuarial, consulting and administration outsourcing services.  Savitz has 110 employees and recorded approximately $20.0 million in revenue during 2015.
Commenting on joining CBIZ, Ed Bishop, Managing Principal of Savitz, stated, “We are very excited to join CBIZ, an organization that shares our commitment to client service and employee growth.  As part of CBIZ, we will be able to better serve our clients by offering a wider array of services and more depth to support their business needs. Our staff will also benefit from the expanded growth opportunities of a national organization.”
Jerry Grisko, President and CEO of CBIZ stated, “Savitz has an excellent reputation in the industry and we look forward to working with Ed and his team.  This acquisition will enable us to further expand our credentialed actuarial team and expertise, particularly within the municipal and Taft-Hartley markets. The addition of Savitz along with several recently completed actuarial acquisitions positions CBIZ as a leading benefits outsourcing provider that can serve virtually every need of a domestic pension plan sponsor.” “We are pleased to be able to close this acquisition early in the second quarter and remain confident in the 2016 guidance we provided in February of revenue growth within a range of 6% to 8%, diluted earnings per share growth of 9% to 12% and adjusted EBITDA of $93.0 million to $95.0 million,” concluded Grisko.
Named one of America’s 2015 Best Employers and ranked as the #1 employer in the consulting and accounting industry by Forbes magazine, CBIZ, Inc. provides professional business services that help clients better manage their finances and employees.  CBIZ provides its clients with financial services including accounting, tax, financial advisory, government health care consulting, risk advisory, real estate consulting, and valuation services.  Employee services include employee benefits consulting, property and casualty insurance, retirement plan consulting, payroll, life insurance, HR consulting, and executive recruitment.  As one of the largest accounting, insurance brokerage and valuation companies in the United States, the Company’s services are provided through more than 100 Company offices in 33 states.
Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.  Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company’s ability to adequately manage and sustain its growth; the Company’s dependence on the current trend of outsourcing business services; the Company’s dependence on the services of its CEO and other key employees; competitive pricing pressures; general business and economic conditions; and changes in governmental regulation and tax laws affecting the Company’s insurance business or its business services operations.  A more detailed description of such risks and uncertainties may be found in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. (http://www.investorpoint.com)

Grant Thornton Acquires Arryve LLC
Deal Size: Undisclosed Industry: Business Consulting Date: April 01, 2016
Grant Thornton LLP has acquired most of the assets of Arryve LLC, a business consulting firm based in Bellevue, Wash. Arryve was founded in 2007 and provides consulting services for marketing and sales, operations, human capital, finance and accounting, information technology and corporate strategy. Sixty professionals from Arryve will be joining Grant Thornton, working out of the former Arryve office. The Bellevue location will become Grant Thornton’s 59th office. GT also has an office in Seattle. “Their focus on unique, distinctive client service to organizations large and small brings tremendous value to move our clients confidently into the future,” said Grant Thornton CEO Mike McGuire in a statement.
Grant Thornton, based in Chicago, ranked 6th on Accounting Today’s 2016 list of the Top 100 Firms, with over $1.55 billion in annual revenue. Arryve partners Christopher Smith and Chris Stephenson will become principals in Grant Thornton’s advisory practice. “Throughout our time in getting to know the Grant Thornton team, we have been struck by how closely we are aligned in culture, process and commitment to excellence and integrity,” said Smith. “We look forward to collaborating with our new team members throughout the firm’s network to help businesses achieve their next level of success.
(http://www.accountingtoday.com)

Capita picks up digital design consulting studio Orange Bus
Deal Size: Undisclosed Industry: IT Consulting Date: April 01, 2016
Capita has acquired UK-based design and consulting studio Orange Bus – the business will be merged into Capita’s G2G3 Digital design agency. The deal expands Capita’s capability in the area of digital design while increasing Orange Bus’ international scope – and mirrors a trend within the professional services to add digital design capabilities to the wider professional services mix. Orange Bus design studio opened in 2006 is headquartered in Newcastle-Upon-Tyn. The studio creates strategies, software and customer and citizen experiences for brands and the UK Government. The creative agency has a range of high profile brands as clients, including Philips Aston Martin Racing and Pearson, as well as public sector organisations including HM Revenue and Customs and the NHS. The studio has a further office in London, which is focused on facilitating engagement with clients internationally. The organisation employs 75 people across its UK offices. It was recently announced that Capita has acquired Orange Bus. The deal will see G2G3 Digital, the acquirer’s digital design agency, merge with Orange Bus. Through the acquisition Capita strengthens its digital development capability, and extends its ability to deliver complex client projects. For Orange Bus the deal means that it gains access to Capita’s existing expertise as well as its wide ranging international client base. The transaction will allow the firms to synergise their strengths, creating additional value to existing clients, and the respective contracts, of both firms – as well as create the impetus for new innovative propositions for prospective clients and new markets.
Craig Rodgerson, Chief Executive of Capita Digital and Software Solutions, says that the firm is “thrilled” about bringing Orange Bus on board. He adds: “We are always looking to extend our capability and reach in the digital arena, and the acquisition of a specialist digital solutions agency like Orange Bus will enable us to increase our scale and reach to design and deliver ever more innovative projects for our clients. They have been delivering some incredible work for their clients – including Capita – and we look forward to working with them more closely.” Julian Leighton, Chief Executive of Orange Bus, says: “Joining Capita is the ideal next step for the team at Orange Bus, giving us the scope to continue to grow. As part of Capita we’ll be able to offer a broader range of services to our clients – and its track record of nurturing the many businesses it acquires speaks for itself.” Professional services firms have been pushing strongly into the digital space in recent months, spurred by the growing integration between design, technology and traditional consulting. Examples of major deals include Deloitte’s purchase of Heat, IBM’s acquisition of Resource/Ammirati and the deal between Capgemini Consulting and Fahrenheit 212. (http://www.consultancy.uk)