In the waning weeks of 2015, Mike Barrett, president of San Francisco agency Heat, and his partners, John Elder and Steve Stone, faced the biggest decision of their careers as they mulled acquisition options for the shop, which, true to its name, had grown to rank among the hottest independents in the business.
Global Consultancies Are Buying Up Agencies and Reshaping the Brand Marketing World
Industry watchers predict the trend will only accelerate

Accenture, Deloitte, IBM, KPMG, McKinsey and PricewaterhouseCoopers are among the most aggressive players.
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