Accenture gets creative with Irish M&A

Rothco worked with AIB on Jeff and Kammy’s Road to Croker, which proved an internet hit

Ellie Donnelly

Consulting giant Accenture has agreed a deal to buy Irish ad agency Rothco as it increases a shift into the creative sector.

Rothco was established in 1995 by Patrick Hickey, Paul Hughes and Patrick Ronaldson.

The company's current unlimited status means it does not file accounts with the Companies Office, but the most recently filed accounts, for 2014, showed revenue of €10.7m and pre-tax profits of €882,000.

Rothco's clients include AIB, Tesco, Daintree Paper, Lyons tea, and Heineken.

The acquisition is a further investment by Accenture in the creative sector. In February this year the company opened The Dock, its global multi-disciplinary research and incubation hub, and the Fjord Dublin design studio. The Rothco deal is subject to regulatory approval. Once it completes, Rothco's 150 staff will become Accenture employees.

"Accenture Interactive is a hugely exciting brand to be a part of. It's shown tremendous leadership in moving towards a new agency model, and we're very excited to be part of that change," Patrick Hickey, Rothco CEO, said.