This is what we know:

• PwC is behind its peers such as Deloitte, Accenture, and EY globally in building out its services from customer experience and design through to data, analytics and communications.
• Accenture has made at least two dozen acquisitions worldwide in recent years. Deloitte and EY another 15 each, at least. PwC has made bit-part plays, including a small stake in Australia's Thinkerbell.
• WPP shareprice is cheap on a price-to-earnings ratio - it's trading around 11x at present, versus Omnicom at 13, IPG at 14.
• WPP's market cap is circa £12bn and its shareprice is trading at a 25% discount to market. 
• There are questions around whether the partnership model at PwC could allow such a deal. Accenture is not a partnership model but some who say WPP and PwC are talking think an alternative financial mechanism could be created such as a venture or investment fund. 
• "The conversations are really happening," said one holding company executive who did not want to be named. "PwC is behind compared to Deloitte or Accenture. WPP is still a market leader and they usually take the first big hits. WPP led the charge in growth. No-one did it like them. And they've now taken the biggest hit. WPP's shareprice has unfairly been crucified. It's cheap. PwC and WPP is a 1+1=5 equation."
• In the end it's a long shot. Possible but not probable, however advanced the alleged talks between the two parties may be.  

So how's Accenture going then?

• There's been ongoing speculation that The Monkeys creative co-founders are ready to leave but not CEO Mark Green. Scott Knowles says: "I don't know where that's coming from. There's absolutely no plan to leave at this stage. I just don't know where else would be better. You are exposed to such great skillsets The people from Fjord are doing amazing CX stuff. Accenture Interactive can build a global e-commerce site for Samsung. When you sit in the agency world you don't have access to those skills and resources. It's great talking to clients."
• Accenture Interactive managing director Michael Buckley says "a majority" of the work being done by Accenture Interactive, Fjord and The Monkeys is "completely unified". He wouldn't give a percentage but blended teams from across the various units are the norm.
• "Our vision is to unify the brand promise and customer experience. That's what clients are really resonating with," says Buckley. "Now, the thing is, clients don't buy the whole ocean on day one. They may come through a Monkeys door, they may come through a Fjord door or a customer experience door to build a platform on Adobe, Salesforce and so-on. But the thing that they know is that we're all connected and thinking about growing that experience across all three. 
• "If you're talking about growth, which the modern CMO needs, you really have to think about  growth strategies. You have brand and marketing. You have digital marketing. You have customer experience and you have data and analytics. These are all things we brought together within Accenture because we believe this is what organisations need."

A global timeline of consulting group acquisitions:

Accenture deals

May 2013: Design agency Fjord (UK)

July 2013: Ecommerce firm Acquity Group (US)

February 2015: Digital agency Reactive Media (ANZ)

June 2015: Digital content/commerce consultancy Brightstep (Sweden)

July 2015: Group of independent digital agencies Pacific Link (Hong Kong)

July 2015: Tech design studio Chaotic Moon (US)

August 2015: Digital agency AD.Dialeto (Brazil)

June 2016: management and digital consultancy dgroup (Germany)

July 2016: Digital agency IMJ (Japan)

July 2016: Digital agency Mobgen (Netherlands)

November 2016: Creative agency Karmarama (UK)

February 2017: Digital agency SinnerSchrader (Germany) 

April 2017: Communications agency Kunstmaan (Belgium)

May 2017: Ecommerce specialist Media Hive (US)

June 2017: Mobile design and development agency Intrepid (US)

May 2017: Creative and design agencies The Monkeys and Maud (ANZ)

July 2017: Digital optimization provider Clearhead (US)

August 2017: Marketing agency Wire Stone (US)

September 2017: Design agency Matter (US)

October 2017: Digital commerce agency Altima (France)

February 2018: Creative agency Rothco (Ireland)

January 2018: CGI and 3D producer Mackevision (Germany)

March 2018: Digital agency MXM (US)

July 2018: Digital agency HO Communication (China)

November 2018: CRM specialist Kaplan (Sweden)

November 2018: Digital agency Kolle Rebbe (Germany)

December 2018: Branded content specialist New Content (Brazil)

December 2018: adtech/digital media services company Adaptly (US)

March 2019: Digital agency Storm Digital (Netherlands)

March 2019: Creative agency Hjaltelin Stahl (Denmark)

April 2019: Creative agency Droga5 (US)

April 2019: Brand communications agency Shackleton (Spain)

Deloitte deals

January 2012: Mobile app maker Ubermind (US)

October 2013: Digital agency Banyan Tree (US)

February 2015: Creative agency heat (US)

May 2015: Digital agency Mobiento (Sweden)

June 2016: UX/CX consultancy Uselab (Poland)

June 2017: Design consultancy Market Gravity (UK)

February 2017: Digital marketing and analytics firm Cornerstone Group (Canada)

August 2017: Creative agency Acne (Sweden)

February 2018: Interactive marketing agency Brandfirst (Belgium)

June 2018: Cloud-based CRM firm Third Wave Consulting (Canada)

September 2018: buys AI-driven audience platform business from Magnetic Media (US)

November 2018: marketing automation firm CloudinIT (New Zealand)

May 2019: Digital agency Pervorm (Netherlands)

EY

July 2015: Cross platform identity management firm Microft

August 2015: Digital consultancy Seren (UK)

October 2015: Big data and analytics specialist Bluestone Consulting 

November 2015: Digital solutions provider Northpoint Digital (US)

December 2015: Digital design studio Intuitive Company (US)

August 2016: Digital analytics specialist Society Consulting (US)

November 2017: Mobile app developer Applix (Italy)

January 2018: Digital design firm Citizen (US)

February 2018: Digital marketing agency ENTG (Croatia)

March 2018: CRM specialist Sonoma partners

November 2018: Digital consultancy Adelphi Digital (Australia)

December 2018: User experience design firm Fortune Cookie UX Design (India)

PwC

2013: Intunity

March 2014: User experience firm Optimal Experience

February 2014: User experience specialists Stamford Interactive (Australia)

February 2016: Design and creative agency Fluid (Hong Kong)

May 2017: Design agency Pond (Sweden)