Accenture - Ziff Davis' connectivity business

Accenture Inc. (Accenture) proposes to acquire Ziff Davis, Inc.’s (Ziff Davis) connectivity business comprising various entities and assets (the Target) (the Acquisition).

Accenture is a global professional services company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. It provides a range of professional services designed to assist public and private sectors to navigate digital transformation, optimise operations, and build advanced technological capabilities. In Australia, Accenture (through its ‘umlaut’ brand) provides network assessment services, among other services.

Ziff Davis (NASDAQ: ZD) is a digital media and internet company. The Target comprises Ziff Davis’ globally active connectivity businesses, including its “Ookla”, “Speedtest”, “Ekahau”, “RootMetrics” and “Downdetector” brands. The focus of the Target business is the collection and provision of network connectivity data, which can be used by customers for marketing purposes or by telecom operators’ engineering teams for network optimisation purposes.

In Australia, the Target supplies:

network performance measurement, monitoring, benchmarking, and diagnostic software and tools;

related data products, analytical insights and services, including the collection and analysis of network performance, experience and availability;

reliability data across fixed broadband, mobile, satellite and Wi-Fi networks; and

enterprise wireless network management, planning and optimisation solutions.

Both Accenture and the Target supply network assessment services in Australia – Accenture, through its umlaut brand, and the Target through Speedtest.