EPAM Acquires Emakina Group, including The Reference

19 November, 2021 | Amber Rasmussen (EPAM)
EPAM Emakina Group

Enhancing EPAM’s ability to deliver creative solutions, personalized experiences, and next generation digital products to global clients. The aim: bringing new lines of high-performance marketing and creative services to EMEA markets.

 

NEWTOWN, PA., NOV. 9, 2021 – EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE: EPAM), a leading digital transformation services and product engineering company, announces the acquisition of Emakina Group (Euronext: ALEMK), a multi-award-winning digital agency. Headquartered in Belgium with 1,100+ employees and a strong presence across Central and Western Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and North America, Emakina Group will enhance EPAM’s digital experience practice.

Together, our combined capabilities connect strategic thinking with continuous execution—fusing strategy, engineering, creativity and analytics together to better serve our customers.

Emakina Group is a leading group of independent digital agencies, with 26 offices in 18 countries. They design and deliver innovative solutions to help clients build strong relationships with their customers. Its services include digital consulting, advertising, marketing, content creation, platform development, and data science and analytics. Operating across multiple sectors, including financial services, retail, energy and automotive, the group’s line-up of global and European clients includes Nike, Honda, Intersport, Olympique Marseille, Rituals, KitchenAid and DP World.

“We’re pleased to welcome the Emakina Group to EPAM. Their teams add a layer of strategy, creativity and digital experience expertise to EPAM’s global digital and design portfolio,” said Balazs Fejes, President of EU and APAC Markets at EPAM. “Together, our combined capabilities connect strategic thinking with continuous execution—fusing strategy, engineering, creativity and analytics together to better serve our customers.”

“Our diverse workforce and talent expertise have enabled us to deliver digitally-powered transformations and experiences for our clients across multiple disciplines, including experience design, marketing strategy, CRM, transactional platforms, and database analysis,” said Karim Chouikri, CEO of Emakina Group.

“Combining with EPAM will allow us to augment and scale our future offerings—accelerating our digital design and engineering capabilities and helping our customers solve complex marketing and business challenges,” said Brice Le Blévennec, Chief Visionary Officer of Emakina Group.
Allen & Overy (Belgium) LLP served as legal counsel and PwC served as diligence advisors to EPAM in the acquisition of Emakina Group.

On November 3, 2021, EPAM announced that it now holds 98.69% of the shares in Emakina Group. EPAM will own 100% of shares after the squeeze out period is complete (30 November 2021).
To learn more about career opportunities with EPAM’s Digital Experience Practice, visit www.epam.com.

About EPAM Systems

Since 1993, EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE: EPAM) has leveraged its advanced software engineering heritage to become the foremost global digital transformation services provider – leading the industry in digital and physical product development and digital platform engineering services. Through its innovative strategy; integrated advisory, consulting and design capabilities; and unique ‘Engineering DNA,’ EPAM’s globally deployed hybrid teams help make the future real for clients and communities around the world by powering better enterprise, education and health platforms that connect people, optimize experiences, and improve people’s lives. Selected by Newsweek as a 2021 Most Loved Workplace, EPAM’s global multi-disciplinary teams serve customers in more than 40 countries across five continents. As a recognized leader, EPAM is listed among the top 15 companies in Information Technology Services on the Fortune 1000 and ranked as the top IT services company on Fortune’s 100 Fastest-Growing Companies list for the last three consecutive years. EPAM is also listed among Ad Age’s top 25 World’s Largest Agency Companies and in 2020, Consulting Magazine named EPAM Continuum a top 20 Fastest-Growing Firm. Learn more at www.epam.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Emakina Group

Emakina Group is one of the leading digital groups of independent digital agencies, with 26 offices in 18 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North America. Learn more at www.emakina.group and follow us on Twitter @EmakinaGroup.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes statements which may constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the accuracy of which are necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied include general economic conditions and the factors discussed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. EPAM undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities law.

Contact

Amber Rasmussen

Communications/Public Relations
+1-971-337-9648
Amber_Rasmussen@epam.com

EPAM Systems, Inc.
41 University Drive, Suite 202
Newtown, PA 18940 USA

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