Less than a year after announcing its first-ever acquisition, JPA Health has now completed a hat trick of buyouts.
The health-focused marketing and PR agency unveiled its latest M&A move on Monday. It’s now the proud owner of Akt Health, a London-based communications agency similarly focused on clients in the life sciences industry.
With the purchase, JPA will absorb all of Akt’s employees, and Akt’s trio of founders— Anna Radnavale, Katy Foy and Tim Cockroft—will come aboard as executive directors. The buyout also strengthens Washington, D.C.-based JPA’s foothold across the pond, as CEO Carrie Jones noted in this week’s announcement.
“While JPA Health has a strong track record supporting U.S. and global clients, we recognize the increasing importance of the European market to our clients’ businesses,” Jones said. “Akt health’s deep understanding of these market complexities will be a valuable addition, enhancing our ability to deliver impactful healthcare solutions on a global scale.”
The acquisition is the second in a row to expand JPA’s international presence. Its most recent buyout added BioCentric to the fold, complete with its offices in both New Jersey and Switzerland. In that purchase, which JPA announced at the end of May, the agency took on BioCentric’s medical expertise and gamification approach to comms; the company was rebranded as JPA’s medical communications and learning experiences arm, led by BioCentric founder Sherine Aly.
Before that, last October, JPA unveiled its first foray into M&A with the purchase of True North Solutions. The buy brought with it the Cambridge, Mass.-based consulting firm’s predictive analytics, natural language processing and other artificial intelligence-powered solutions, as well as a Google Cloud partnership.
All told, after the trio of rapid-fire buyouts, JPA Health now counts nearly 150 employees across the U.S. and Europe. Financial terms of all three acquisitions were not disclosed.