Accenture Announces Intent to Acquire Sentelis

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has entered into an agreement to acquire Sentelis, an independent data consulting and engineering company, headquartered in France, that specializes in designing and scaling data and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. Sentelis would join Accenture Applied Intelligence and complement its focus on helping clients build the right data strategy and foundation to industrialize AI across their businesses.
 
With a strong focus on industrializing AI and big data technologies, Sentelis has more than 50 highly skilled professionals, including data and AI advisors, architects and engineers. Since its founding in 2011, Sentelis has helped numerous clients, including some of the largest French companies, architect, engineer and scale adapted and secure data-centric architecture, enabling them to accelerate business innovation.

The combination of Sentelis’s industry experience, particularly in financial services and retail, with Accenture’s expertise in global large-scale artificial intelligence and machine learning engineering initiatives would provide highly differentiated end-to-end services to the European market.
 
“The addition of the strong technical talent of Sentelis’s teams, combined with our AI and big data solutions, and deep industry expertise, would be a major opportunity to strengthen and broaden our ability to help clients scale AI across their businesses,” said Olivier Girard, market unit lead, Accenture France and Benelux. “In addition to organically growing talent, Accenture’s strategic approach to acquisitions is designed to ensure the right capabilities are in place to meet existing, as well as emerging, client needs with speed and scale. Together, we would be able to help a broader range of clients industrialize innovation in data strategy and AI.”
 
“Our research shows that a strong data foundation underpins an organization’s ability to successfully scale AI,” said Athina Kanioura, chief analytics officer and global lead for Accenture Applied Intelligence. “Strategic acquisitions — like Sentelis — are bringing greater capacity and enhanced capabilities to our data and AI client work. Sentelis’s data strategy, architecture and engineering skills align seamlessly with Accenture’s focus on industrialized, end-to-end solutions. With the addition of Sentelis, we would see even greater opportunity to accelerate how our clients gain value from data and AI across their business.”
 
“Today, smart businesses are adopting and pursuing digital transformation to balance innovation and industrialization at scale, and to allow their organizations to be seamlessly integrated with the wider ecosystem. To create an intelligent enterprise, it must be built around a mix of digital platforms, with data and AI at its core,” said Isabelle Regnier and Jean-Baptiste Ceccaldi, respectively executive director and president of Sentelis. “This is why, in today’s growing data-driven market, joining Accenture would be a unique opportunity to enlarge our approach to new sectors and help more organizations to leverage their information systems to accelerate their digital transformations.”
 
This acquisition would strengthen Accenture’s growing analytics, AI and ML/data engineering business in France. Global growth in AI client engagements has also served as a driver for Accenture’s recent acquisitions of Analytics8 in Australia, Pragsis Bidoop in Spain, Clarity Insights in North America, Mudano in the UK and Byte Prophecy in India.
 
The acquisition requires prior consultation with the relevant works councils and would be subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.
 
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services in strategy and consulting, interactive, technology and operations, with digital capabilities across all of these services. We combine unmatched experience and specialized capabilities across more than 40 industries — powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. With 509,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture brings continuous innovation to help clients improve their performance and create lasting value across their enterprises. Visit us at www.accenture.com.
 
Applied Intelligence is Accenture’s approach to scaling AI for our clients. We embed AI-powered data, analytics and automation capabilities into business workflows to accelerate time to value. Our expertise in defining end-to-end strategy, combined with deep data infrastructure capabilities, cognitive services and industrialized accelerators help smooth clients’ path to AI adoption, extending human capabilities and supporting clients in scaling AI responsibly. Recognized as a leader by industry analysts, we collaborate with a powerful global alliance, innovation and delivery network to help clients deploy and scale AI within any market and industry. Follow @AccentureAI and visit www.accenture.com/appliedintelligence.
 
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “positioned,” “outlook” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. For a discussion of risks and actions taken in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, see “Our results of operations have been adversely affected and could in the future be materially adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19)” under Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in Accenture plc’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended February 29, 2020. Many of the following risks, uncertainties and other factors identified below are, and will be, amplified by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). These risks include, without limitation, risks that: Accenture and Sentelis will not be able to close the transaction in the time period anticipated, or at all, which is dependent on the parties’ ability to satisfy certain closing conditions; the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for Accenture; Accenture’s results of operations have been adversely affected and could in the future be materially adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19); Accenture’s results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic and political conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company’s clients’ businesses and levels of business activity; Accenture’s business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company’s services and solutions including through the adaptation and expansion of its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the evolving technological environment could materially affect the company’s results of operations; if Accenture is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company’s business, the utilization rate of the company’s professionals and the company’s results of operations may be materially adversely affected; Accenture could face legal, reputational and financial risks if the company fails to protect client and/or company data from security breaches or cyberattacks; the markets in which Accenture operates are highly competitive, and Accenture might not be able to compete effectively; changes in Accenture’s level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, could have a material adverse effect on the company’s effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition; Accenture’s profitability could materially suffer if the company is unable to obtain favorable pricing for its services and solutions, if the company is unable to remain competitive, if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if it experiences delivery inefficiencies; Accenture’s results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; as a result of Accenture’s geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue to expand in its key markets around the world, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; Accenture’s business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; Accenture’s work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; if Accenture is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; Accenture’s ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if Accenture does not successfully manage and develop its relationships with key alliance partners or fails to anticipate and establish new alliances in new technologies, the company’s results of operations could be adversely affected; Accenture might not be successful at acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; if Accenture is unable to protect or enforce its intellectual property rights or if Accenture’s services or solutions infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company loses its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others, its business could be adversely affected; Accenture’s results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; changes to accounting standards or in the estimates and assumptions Accenture makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; many of Accenture’s contracts include fees subject to the attainment of targets or specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company’s revenues and impact its margins; Accenture might be unable to access additional capital on favorable terms or at all and if the company raises equity capital, it may dilute its shareholders’ ownership interest in the company; Accenture may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the “Risk Factors” heading in Accenture plc’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture’s expectations.