Merkle has beefed up its capabilities in Australia with the acquisition of Aware Services, adding a team of around 120 professionals to its ranks nationally.
The deal bolster Merkle’s customer experience and data & analytics practices, with a focus on capabilities in the Salesforce and MuleSoft domains.
“In today’s environment, it has never been more important for businesses to have a strong end-to-end customer experience. This requires businesses to have a strong, in-depth understanding of who their customer is and what their motivations are. Aware Services are specialists in this space, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome them to our team,” said John Riccio, CEO of Merkle for ANZ and APAC.
Sydney-based Aware Services, which was founded in 2018, will continue to go to market under its current brand for a brief transition period, with full integration into the Merkle organisation and brand by early next year.
Paul Stewart, CEO of Aware Services, said: “We are excited to become a part of Merkle and join the broader dentsu network. Aware Services has always been committed to helping bring our clients’ futures to life, and as part of Merkle, we will be able to do this on a larger scale.”
Across its network in 50+ countries, dentsu has more than 1,500 Salesforce trained staff and almost 3,900 Salesforce certifications. The firm also is a partner of MuleSoft in a number of its larger markets.
Dealmakers
The deal was advised on by a number of M&A advisors. Merkle used its own internal team for M&A work, and tapped PwC for the financial and tax due diligence. Herbert Smith Freehills provided legal advisory.
Seller Aware Services worked with SCD Advisory for M&A advisory, and with Squire Patton Boggs on legal matters.
Commenting on the collaboration with SCD Advisory, Stewart said: “We are extremely thankful to the SCD Advisory team for their strategic guidance throughout the transaction with a large international buyer such as Dentsu. The deal was executed in a professional manner.”
Globally, US-headquartered Merkle has 12,000 employees across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific.
Sourced from Consultancy.com.au