BrazilAccenture buys tech companies in France, Germany and UK
Global consulting and technology giant has in the past month closed three acquisitions in Europe.
France
In France, Accenture has purchased Gekko, a leading French Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud services company. Gekko has more than 100 trained cloud professionals, with more than 85 AWS certifications and a deep relationship with AWS
Founded in 2015, and led by co-founders and CEOs Roland Esnis and Julien Favre, Gekko helps French companies with the design, deployment and maintenance of their cloud infrastructure. Olivier Girard, Accenture’s managing director for France and Benelux, on the deal: “The acquisition of Gekko enhances our position as one of the leading providers of AWS expertise and cloud transformation in the French market.”
Cedric Le Yeuc’h, managing director at Accenture Technology in France and Benelux, added, “The acquisition of Gekko underscores our multi-cloud strategy and expands our AWS capabilities for clients to realise incremental business value through a cloud adoption and DevOps transformation.”
Globally, Accenture’s AWS global community now consists of more than 8,000 AWS trained professionals that hold over 5,500 AWS certification.
Germany
Meanwhile, in Germany, Accenture has completed the acquisition of ESR Labs, a Munich-based company that develops embedded software for German car brands and suppliers to the industry. The deal sees ESR Labs and its 130 software engineers and software architects join Accenture Industry X.0, the firm’s unit that provides digital technologies to companies in the industrial sector.
The move comes month after Accenture bolstered its Accenture Industry X.0 division with the bolt-ons of VanBerlo in the Netherlands and Happen in the UK. In the US, a string of deals have been closed by the unit in the past two years, including that of Nytec, Pillar Technology and Mindtribe.
Andrew Smith, a managing director for Accenture Industry X.0 in Germany, said: “Manufacturing companies need to put software at the core of their business. They also need to adopt and nurture a technology company-like ‘pure developer culture.’ ESR Labs will put us in a great position to help our clients accelerate their plans to do just this.”
Two other leaders at Accenture, Axel Schmidt and Frank Riemensperger, highlighted how the addition can both deepen and broaden the firm’s service offerings in the region.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, Accenture last month absorbed cybersecurity consultancy Context Information Security into its technology ranks.
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in London, Context is an established information security service provider to companies in financial services, government, aerospace & defense, critical infrastructure and more. The company provides cyber defense, intelligence-driven red team, vulnerability research and incident response services.
Context Information Security has more than 250 employees in the UK, Germany, the US and Australia. Kelly Bissell, the global leader of Accenture Security said: “This deal gives us a new branch of talented family members to help clients grow their business with confidence and resilience.”
Nick Taylor, the lead of Accenture Security for the UK & Ireland region, added, “We are excited to welcome this talented group of professionals that share a common vision of providing world-class cybersecurity to our clients.”
With cybersecurity risks on a steep rise, large consulting firms are investing heavily in beefing up their capabilities, with mergers & acquisition a key instrument for achieving this goal. Accenture in particular has been an aggressive buyer in recent years, previously picking up among others Symantec’s Cyber Security Services business, Deja vu Security, iDefense, Maglan, Redcore, Arismore and FusionX.
