Westlaw

Overview

• Westlaw completed no acquisitions during the past five years.
• Separate searches of corporate press releases, business data aggregators (e.g., Crunchbase) and media reporting during the noted time period corroborate this determination.
• However, Westlaw is a subsidiary of Thompson Reuters, which has announced nine acquisitions over the past five years: Pondera Solutions (March 2020), FC Business Intelligence (October 2019), HighQ (July 2019), Confirmation (June 2019), Integration Point (October 2018), Clarient Global (February 2017), Avox (February 2017), Redi (September 2016) and Business Integrity (October 2015).
• Among these acquisitions, Avox is the only research organization. Notably, FC Business Intelligence is a "global business-to-business events specialist" rather than a company whose core product is research-related.

Avox

• Thompson Reuters closed its acquisition of Avox in March 2017 for an undisclosed purchase price.
• Previously, Avox was known as a "leading supplier of legal entity data," including information related to hierarchies and identifiers for global financial organizations.
• According to the related press release from Thompson Reuters, Avox was acquired to further position its new parent company as a "leading, trusted provider" of legal entity data due diligence solutions.
• As such, Avox will continue to provide legal entity data as part of a "holistic set of solutions" offered by Thompson Reuters.

• Meanwhile, media coverage of the acquisition included articles published by Seeking Alpha, Finextra and Waters Technology.

CB Insights

Overview

• CB Insights made one acquisition during the past five years, with its deal to purchase VentureSource in July 2020 for an undisclosed sum.

VentureSource

• Notably, VentureSource is the "world's most comprehensive venture capital database," and provides information on over 67,000 venture-backed companies in North America, Europe, Israel, India and China as well as data on more than 20,000 private investment firms globally.
• According to a press release from CB Insights, VentureSource was acquired to strengthen CB Insight's position as a "leader in emerging technology information and private market data."
• Specifically, VentureSource will be used to expand CB Insights' private company data repository with its data on private company valuations, management team information and deal service providers going back to 1983.

• Meanwhile, the VentureSource acquisition was covered by Business Insider, RTT News and Talking Biz News, among other sources.

Boston Consulting Group

• The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has closed two deals during the past five years, both of which were design and innovation firms: AllofUs (October 2019) and MAYA Design (July 2017).

Bain & Company

• Similarly, Bain & Company completed three acquisitions in the past five years, none of which were research organizations: Pyxis (December 2019), Qvartz (December 2019), and FRWD (May 2018).

Ernest & Young

• In contrast, Ernst & Young acquired 25 organizations during the past five years: Aleron (November 2019), ElevatedPrompt (September 2019), C Centric Solutions (July 2019), Pangea3 (April 2019), Plaut IT Australia (January 2019), Adelphi Digital Consulting Group (November 2018), Halo Management Consulting (November 2018), Riverview Law (August 2018), Sonoma Partners (March 2018), ENTG (February 2018), DKM Economic Consultants (January 2018), Aspect Security (January 2018), Citizen (January 2018), etventure (July 2017), E-STET (November 2017), Applix (November 2017), Brightree Solutions (August 2017), Open Windows IDENTITY (June 2017), TaxChat (February 2017), EY Society (August 2016), Innovalue Management (July 2016), Maglan (June 2016), Tasman Consulting (April 2016), CRMWaypoint (January 2016), NorthPoint Digital (November 2015), Seren (August 2015), Mycroft (July 2015).
• Notably, none of these organizations specialize in research or related services.

Accenture

• Similarly, Accenture announced approximately 100 deals over the past five years, including the following: Sentelis (June 2020), PLM Systems (May 2020), Byte Prophecy (May 2020), Callisto Integration (May 2020), Nike Group (May 2020), Gekko (April 2020), Revolutionary Security (April 2020), Yesler (April 2020), ESR Labs (March 2020), Context Information Security (March 2020), AlphaBeta (February 2020), Mudano (February 2020) VanBerlo (February 2020), Symantec Cybersecurity Services (January 2020), Clarity Insights (December 2019), Silveo (November 2019), Bow & Arrow (October 2019), Analytics8 (August 2019), Insitum (August 2019), Fairway Technologies (August 2019), Deja vu Security (June 2019), Bridge Energy Group (June 2019), Zielpuls (April 2019), ?What If! (March 2019), Enterprise System Partners (March 2019), Orbium (January 2019), Knowledgent (December 2018), TargetST8 (October 2018), PrimeQ (December 2018), Pillar Technology (August 2018), IBB Consulting (September 2017), Verax Solutions (August 2017), Clearhead (July 2017), Intrepid (June 2017), LabAnswer (June 2017), SolutionsIQ (June 2017), The Monkeys (May 2017), First Annapolis Consulting (March 2017), SinnerSchrader (February 2017), Seabury Consulting (January 2017), solid-serVision.com GmbH (January 2017), Altitude (January 2017), InvestTech (January 2017), Allen International (October 2016), 2nd Road (October 2016), Redcore (August 2016), MobGen (July 2016), Beacon Consulting Group (December 2015), S3 TV Technology (September 2015), Cloud Sherpas (September 2015), FusionX (August 2015), Tquila (May 2015), Axia (April 2015).
• Among these many acquisitions of consultancies and niche solution providers, Insitum appeared to be the only research-centric organization.

Insitum

• Accenture completed its acquisition of Insitum in September 2019 for an undisclosed sum.
• Prior to its acquisition, Insitum functioned as a strategic research and service design company, with particular expertise in the area of innovation.
• According to The Drum, Accenture completed the deal in an effort to have a greater presence in South America as well as to compliment the offerings of its Fjord agency.
• Additionally, Accenture stated in a press release that Insitum will be leveraged to "bolster" Accenture Interactive’s ability to "design, build and run experiences that transform businesses and improve people’s lives."

• Meanwhile, media coverage of the transaction included articles published by The Drum, Marketing Dive and Global Legal Chronicle.

International Data Group

• International Data Group has acquired one company in the last five years, with its deal for Triblio (June 2020), an account-based marketing platform.
• Although International Data Group was acquired by IDG Capital in January 2017, International Data Group is serving as a portfolio company for the investment firm, and IDG Capital's other technology sector acquisitions are therefore less relevant for this purpose of this analysis.

IDC

• IDC completed no acquisitions during the past five years.
• Separate searches of corporate press releases, business data aggregators (e.g., Crunchbase) and media reporting during the noted time period corroborate this determination.

Forrester Research

Overview

• Forrester Research acquired three organizations over the past five years: SiriusDecisions (November 2018), Glimpzit (July 2018) and FeedbackNow (July 2018).
• Among these acquisitions, SiriusDecisions is the only research organization.

SeriusDecisions

• Forrester Research closed its acquisition of SeriusDecisions in January 2019 for $245 million.
• At the time, SeriusDecisions was the "leading global business-to-business research and advisory firm."
• According to a press release by Forrester Research, SeriusDecisions was acquired for its "operational capabilities" and associated opportunities for both the cross-selling of services and international growth in partnership with existing Forrester offerings.
• Not only will SeriusDecisions' existing capabilities in the areas of marketing, sales and product be leveraged, but Forrester Research intends to expand these offers to include IT and customer experience, as well as introduce the subsidiary's services to new industries including "financial services, retail, healthcare, energy and utilities."
• Meanwhile, Forrester Research's acquisition of SeriusDecisions was covered by ZDNet, The Drum, and Demand Gen Report, among other outlets.

451 Research

Overview

• 451 Research has completed no acquisitions during the past five years.
• Notably, the company's purchase of technology research firm Yankee Group occurred in January 2013.
• Since then, 451 Research was acquired by S&P Global (December 2019), which has closed three deals over the last five years: Kensho (March 2018), Panjiva (February 2018) and SNL Financial (September 2015).
• Notably, all three of these acquisitions have strong offerings in the area of research.

Kensho

• S&P Global completed its acquisition of Kensho in April 2018 for $550 million.
• At the time, Kensho was a "leading edge provider" of analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and data visualization systems in support of the research and insight needs of global banks, investment institutions and security organizations.
• According to the S&P Global press release at the time of deal announcement, the company acquired Kensho for the following reasons: "Kensho will strengthen S&P Global's emerging technology capabilities, enhance its ability to deliver essential, actionable insights that will transform the user experience for its clients, and accelerate efforts to improve efficiency and effectiveness of its core internal operations."
• TechCrunch adds that S&P Global intends to "mostly leave it alone" and allow Kensho to "do what it’s been doing" as an independent brand.
• As such, S&P Global will primarily leverage Kensho's capabilities as an investment and growth opportunity, wherein S&P Global will provide Kensho with the resources that are not available through conventional funding outlets.
• Meanwhile, coverage of the Kensho acquisition was provided by Forbes, TechCrunch and Global Corporate Venturing, among other publications.

Panjiva

• S&P Global finalized its acquisition of Panjiva in February 2018 for an undisclosed sum.
• Notably, Panjiva was the "first and only online information source" for overseas suppliers, and sold information from its database of over 700,000 suppliers, including "recent shipments, customer lists, credit reports, certification details, and denied parties lists."
• According to an S&P Global press release at the time of deal announcement, Panjiva was acquired to "strengthen the insights, products, and data" currently offered by S&P Global.
• As such, Panjiva's niche data resources will be leveraged as a complementary asset for S&P Global's larger portfolio of data service offerings.
• Meanwhile, relevant coverage of the transaction was provided by outlets including Zacks, American Shipper and Logistics Management.

SNL Financial

• S&P Global closed its deal for SNL Financial in September 2015 for a price of $2.3 billion.
• At the time of its acquisition, SNL Financial collected and shared corporate, financial, market and M&A data.
• Although the reasons behind the transaction were not detailed by S&P Global, later moves by the company indicated that the SNL Financial acquisition was a "strategic move" that helped to complement existing business lines.
• In particular, in February 2016, SNL Financial was merged with S&P Capital IQ under the rebranded name S&P Global Market Intelligence.
• Meanwhile, news of the deal was covered by media outlets such as Fixextra, The Daily Progress and Mergr.

Gartner

• As highlighted within the Strategy document, Gartner acquired two research organizations during the past five years: L2 and Machina Research.

L2

• As noted within the Strategy document, L2 is a "digital innovation company" that offers services including research, curated events and consulting.
• Although Gartner does not appear to have announced formal deal closure, the transaction itself was announced on March 2017 for a price of $134.2 million.
• According to Analyst Relations, Gartner purchased L2 in order to reinforce its "capabilities in marketing and digital" and thereby better compete against rivals such as Forrester Research.
• However, Gartner stated that L2 would "continue to operate independently" at least initially, as Gartner integrated other recent acquisitions.
• Meanwhile, news of the deal was covered by Reuters, Analyst Relations and Research Live, among other sources.

Machina Research

• As noted within the Strategy document, Machina Research is the "world's leading provider" of strategic advice in the areas of M2M, IoT and Big Data.
• The company's acquisition by Gartner was completed in November 2016 for $4.5 million.
• According to a Machina Research press release announcing deal closure, Gartner acquired its business as part of a "strategy of investing further" in IoT market analysis.

• Notably, Machina Research added that its team and capabilities would be subsumed and fully integrated within the larger Gartner brand.
• Meanwhile, the Machina Research transaction was covered by news outlets including Internet of Business, IoT Business News and IoT Australia.