Accenture Invests $200 Million In Design Business

Accenture disclosed Tuesday that it has invested about $200 million to build and strengthen the design capabilities of the company's Interactive business unit, which includes the 2013 acquisition of Fjord, and Chaotic Moon.

The investments made within the past two years will open additional design and innovation studios in the U.S and overseas. The company also will step up a recruiting program for design professionals, training new and existing design professionals, in various arenas: Web sites to campaigns to devices.

Fjord also will enhance collaborate with digital companies like Fitbug, which focuses on wearables and proactive health and wellness. Fjord designed Kiqplan, a digital fitness service that works in tandem with a variety of smartphones, smartwatches and activity trackers.

The industry will continue to see more acquisitions around technology, which in Q2 2015 drove mergers and acquisitions, according to EY, formally known as Ernst & Young. EY estimates in its Global Technology M&A update: April-June 2015 released Tuesday that technology from companies similar to Fitbug pushed deals during second-quarter 2015 to a record $127.2 billion, up 65% compared with the previous quarter, and higher than any other since 2000.

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In the second quarter, 15 deals topped $1 billion, including three above $10 billion. The average value per deal rose to a new all-time high of $563 million. Companies also sought cross-border deals valued in aggregate of $43.6 billion, up 257% YOY and 35% sequentially. EY's report also predicts more big-ticket transformative transactions to come.

EY's global report reports that at $127.2 billion, only one deal stands between 2Q15 and the all-time quarterly record for technology M&A aggregate value: the $160 billion AOL–Time Warner deal announced in 1Q 2000.

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