WPP acquires majority stake in Acceleration

Media giant WPP has made perhaps the least surprising announcement of the month by unveiling yet another acquisition, this time a majority stake in Acceleration Holdings in Guernsey and Acceleration eMarketing in South Africa, the holding companies of Acceleration, a marketing technology solutions group.Acceleration, which employs 148 'marketing technologist', helps its clients architect, implement and orchestrate digital marketing and publishing technologies to enhance their digital business initiatives. Acceleration's clients include Celebrity Cruises, The Economist, South African Tourism and UEFA. The firm's combined audited revenues for the year ended December 31st were $16.8m, with gross assets of $7.1m as at the same date.The investment continues WPP's strategy of investing in digital capabilities, it said. WPP's digital revenues currently total almost $4.8bn, representing over 30% of the group's total revenue of $16bn. WPP has set a target of 35-40% of revenue derived from digital in the next five years.The share price fell 3.29% to 793.50p to 15:57.NR