$71 MILLION INVESTMENT FUELS GLOBAL LAUNCH OF AKQA

As expected, Citron Haligman Bedecarre, San Francisco, Magnet Interactive, The AdInc and AKQA, Europe's largest independent Internet development and consulting firm, announced on March 20 the global launch of AKQA Inc., a new marketing and technology services company.

The four companies involved in the venture hope it will provide marketing solutions for growing global clients who are "demanding effective, compelling and consistent communications across a myriad and ever-increasing number of customer contact channels," said Rick Hadala, AKQA's CEO. A $71 million investment from Francisco Partner and, Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) went into AKQA's launch. Accenture will also provide consulting and integration expertise for the new company. -- Bonnie Tsui

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