Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) announced it has agreed to acquire Zone, one of the United Kingdom’s leading independent full-service digital agencies specializing in customer experience, digital strategy, technology and content creation. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017, subject to satisfaction of certain closing conditions. Financial details were not disclosed.
Established in 2000, Zone is headquartered in London. Recognized as Agency of the Year in 2016 by the British Interactive Marketing Association (BIMA), Zone serves well-recognized brands across industries, including: adidas, Aviva, Barratt Homes, Deutsche Telekom, Maersk, Marks & Spencer, and Unilever.
Zone’s capabilities in application development, user experience and content strategy will enhance Cognizant’s established digital interactive expertise in experience design, human science-driven insights, and analytics. With Zone, Cognizant will expand its capacity for delivering digital interactive solutions to a broader base of C-suite decision-makers throughout the UK and Europe.
Upon the close of the acquisition, Zone’s more than 220 digital agency experts will become part of the Cognizant Digital Business practice. Zone will retain its offices in London and Bristol, as well as in Cologne, Germany.
“Effective digital strategy and implementation is mission critical for business today. We are seeing unprecedented demand for digital expertise from clients across every industry and every market. By joining Cognizant, we can significantly enhance the depth and breadth of our offering to better serve the needs of both existing and future clients in the UK and beyond,” said James Freedman, Founder and Executive Chairman, Zone. “The leadership team at Cognizant shares our ambition and entrepreneurial spirit, and we are thrilled to be working with them in the next stage of Zone’s evolution.”
“The digital economy is all about content and context — the right content, to the right person, at the right time, via the right channel — to create meaningful experiences,” said Santosh Thomas, President, Global Growth Markets, Cognizant. “CMOs and CIOs everywhere see how technology is increasingly central to their marketing efforts, and they are seeking a partner who can help them innovate and transform, using digital technologies to evolve their brands, foster customer loyalties and drive growth. Combining Zone with Cognizant strengthens our end-to-end capabilities and provides more localized access for clients in the UK and across Europe. This acquisition will be another powerful step forward as we grow our capabilities in the digital interactive space. We look forward to welcoming Zone’s digital specialists and their expertise to our team.”