Grant Thornton Poland acquires Polish digital studio Edisonda

Grant Thornton has acquired a large share in Edisonda, one of the leading digital, design and user experience companies in Poland.

Established in 2009 in Krakow, Edisonda currently employs about 30 people, who together generated around PLN 4.5 million of revenues in 2016. The Polish company works predominantly in Poland, serving clients such as ING Poland and energy company Tauron, although its international footprint has over the years grown to account for around 20% of its income. Among the foreign clients Edisonda serves are ABB, Goodyear and Autodesk. Services the digital agency offers span designing and optimising websites, e-commerce solutions and mobile applications, usability and eyetracking services and IT support surrounding infrastructures, business systems and intranets.

According to Tomasz Wróblewski, a partner at Grant Thornton, the deal with Edisonda marks a new chapter in the firm’s history, one that reconfirms its commitment to the digital world. “The transaction is a landmark for Grant Thornton in Poland. Up to now, we have mainly been focused on extending our footprint in the areas of finance, technology and law. By becoming a strategic investor in Edisonda, we are entering the digital world. A natural move for us as a firm, as our clients our demanding growing knowledge and expertise in order to successfully navigate through this new era.”

Grant Thornton has acquired 80% of Edisonda’s shares, allowing it to hold a majority and controlling stake. “After nearly 9 years of doing business, we started looking for a partner that would provide an impulse for further development of our design studio,” said Marcin Kręcioch, co-founder and Creative Director at Edisonda. Throughout the process, the firm talked to several potential investors, with Grant Thornton the “ideal partner” according to Kręcioch, building on the firm’s global footprint, commitment to the Polish market and the shared vision and way of working between the two parties.

Huber Turaj, the other co-founder of Edisonda, added, “The digital services market has great prospects, but it rewards primarily large teams capable of implementing ambitious, comprehensive and multidisciplinary projects. We believe that by working together with Grant Thornton we will be able to carry out even more ambitious and interesting projects in Poland and Europe.”

For Grant Thornton, the globe’s sixth largest accountancy network, the deal marks its fourth acquisition in Poland in recent years. After acquiring accounting and HR outsourcing player FPA (based in Warsaw) and consulting firm Dorfin (based in Toruń), the business advisory two weeks ago added consulting company F5 Konsulting to its ranks.

Looking ahead, Wróblewski said that he believes the acquisition will be of strategic importance to aligning the firm’s offerings with market developments. “Digitalisation is a process that constantly accelerates and sooner or later, virtually every company will have to nurture digital sales, service, management and operations. In many cases, companies are even forced to adapt business models to the challenges of the new digital reality. With Edisonda on board, we are ready to assist our clients in meeting the crucial challenge of digitalisation.”

Earlier this year, Accenture, one of Grant Thornton’s rivals in the consulting industry, acquired German digital agency SinnerSchrader.