Accenture to buy Acquity for $316m

Consulting firm Accenture said it would buy Chicago start-up marketing firm Acquity Group for $316 million or $13 per share, more than double its share value. In after hours trading, shares of the digital marketing company shot up to $12.99 per share. The closing price Friday, however, was $5.96 per share, The Chicago Tribune reported Saturday. "The acquisition of Acquity Group will expand our capabilities in key areas of digital marketing and e-commerce, complementing our strengths in strategy, analytics, scaled technology enablement and marketing operations," said Accenture Interactive global managing director Brian Whipple in a statement. Acquity was founded in Chicago 2001 and had its public debut in April 2012, the Tribune said. It has more than 600 employees doing marketing work for Adobe, American Express, General Motors and others. It is currently based in Hong Kong, although its largest office is in Chicago, the Tribune said. Accenture is a global consulting business with revenues of $27.9 billion in 2012. It was formerly called Andersen Consulting. It is incorporated in Dublin.