• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, February 29, 2016

Deloitte has acquired "substantially all the assets" of San Francisco-based advertising agency Heat, the consulting firm said Monday. Terms weren’t disclosed.

The shop will become part of agency/consulting unit Deloitte Digital. The acquisition is the latest in a string of shops that Deloitte and its big consultant competitors have acquired.

IBM this year has already acquired (or is in the process of acquiring) three agencies, including a Dusseldorf shop known as ecx.io, Berlin-based Aperto and U.S.-based Resource/Ammirati.  

Over the past couple of years Deloitte has purchased agencies Mobiento, Flow Interactive and Banyan Branch. Accenture and McKinsey have also bought up Adland properties.

Deloitte said that Heat will continue to operate within Deloitte Digital as a full-service advertising agency, working across traditional, digital, and social media. The acquisition, it said, would give it added creative heft to complement its digital consulting expertise.

Steve Stone, chairman and executive creative director, Heat said that selling to Deloitte “gives us a ton of opportunities. It allows us to showcase our work on a bigger stage, provides us with greater resources, and gives us access to client relationships that will allow our creatives to do the best work of their careers.”

Heat won “Breakthrough Agency of the Year” honors from Adweek for 2015.