Accenture Acquires Storm Digital To Boost Dutch Presence

Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) announced on Friday that it has acquired Amsterdam-based data-driven digital marketing agency — Storm Digital. Financial terms have been kept under wraps.

Founded in 2006, Storm Digital specializes in data collection, audience analytics, media planning and buying, content creation, search, social and programmatic advertising, dynamic creative services as well as digital business services. The 90-person agency’s client list includes leading Dutch Brands such as ABN AMRO (AS:ABNd), KLM, Exact, Transavia and Rituals. It will be incorporated under Accenture Interactive.

We observe that Accenture shares have gained 18% year to date, outperforming the 16% rally of the industry it belongs to.

Eyes on Netherlands

The move marks Accenture’s second acquisition to boost presence in the Dutch market. The first one is the 2016 acquisition of Amsterdam-based mobile specialist, Mobgen. The addition of Storm digital will enhance Accenture Interactive’s programmatic advertising capabilities in Europe.

“The Storm Digital team and their robust capabilities will complement and enhance our presence in the Netherlands and inject a greater level of data-driven media experiences that we can deliver to our clients,” stated Ron Vrijmoet, head of Accenture Interactive, Netherlands.

Wrapping Up

Accenture has been strengthening its digital marketing capabilities through acquisitions. Notable buyouts include that of Adaptly, Reactive Media, Acquity Group, dgroup and OCTO Technology.

Considering the growing need for digital marketing, we expect the company’s investment in digital and marketing capabilities to boost long-term growth. This will also help the company to effectively compete with other digital marketing service providers such as International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) , Dell and Deloitte.

Zacks Rank and Other Key Picks

Currently, Accenture has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Business Services sector are Omnicom (NYSE:OMC) and Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) , each carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Long-term expected EPS (three to five years) growth rate for Omnicom and Paychex is 4.7% and 8.8%, respectively.

Is Your Investment Advisor Fumbling Your Financial Future?

See how you can more effectively safeguard your retirement with a new Special Report, “4 Warning Signs Your Investment Advisor Might Be Sabotaging Your Financial Future.”

Click to get it free >>