Accenture to Enhance Sourcing and Procurement Services with Acquisition of Ariba’s Sourcing Services and Business Process Outsourcing Assets

NEW YORK and SUNNYVALE, Calif.; – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) is enhancing its sourcing and procurement services by agreeing to acquire the sourcing services and business process outsourcing (BPO) services assets of Ariba, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARBA), the leading provider of collaborative business commerce solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, upon the closing of the acquisition, Accenture will take ownership of these assets, which include Ariba’s category expertise, sourcing process expertise and strategic sourcing execution resources, strengthening Accenture’s position as a leading provider of sourcing and procurement consulting and outsourcing services.

Approximately 160 Ariba employees are expected to join Accenture upon the closing of the transaction. The acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close within Ariba’s quarter ended December. The purchase price is $51 million, $12 million of which is subject to escrow to be released based on the assignment and performance of certain assets.

“Ariba is a leader in spend management and this acquisition will extend and strengthen Accenture’s existing sourcing and procurement services by adding deeper category expertise, highly scalable global sourcing service delivery operations and proprietary sourcing databases, benchmarks and technologies,” said Mike Salvino, group chief executive, BPO, Accenture. “We continue to invest in our core BPO business by adding new capabilities that combine both our BPO and Management Consulting offerings to create value for the Ariba customer base and all of our clients"

Ariba will retain its sourcing technology and the resources within its Global Services organization that are dedicated to software implementation and will continue to provide customers with services that enable them to maximize their use of Ariba’s solutions and the results that they deliver.

“In divesting our sourcing services and BPO assets and expanding our partner ecosystem to include world-class organizations like Accenture, Ariba can deliver on its strategy to provide companies with access to network-based solutions that allow them to more efficiently and effectively buy, sell and manage their cash,” said Kevin Costello, president, Ariba. “We remain committed to delivering innovative technologies – including sourcing applications – that enhance the entire commerce process.”

Learn more about Accenture’s Sourcing and Procurement BPO services.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 204,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$21.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2010. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

About Ariba, Inc.
Ariba, Inc. is the leading provider of collaborative business commerce solutions. Ariba combines industry-leading software as a service (SaaS) technology to optimize the complete commerce lifecycle with the world’s largest web-based community to discover, connect and collaborate with a global network of trading partners, delivering everything needed to control costs, minimize risk, improve profits and enhance cash flow and operations – all in a cloud-based environment. Whether you’re buying, selling or managing cash, you can do it more efficiently and effectively in the Ariba® Commerce Cloud. Over 300,000 companies, including more than 90 percent of the Fortune 100, use Ariba’s solutions to drive more efficient inter-enterprise commerce. Why not join them? For more information on Ariba commerce solutions and the results they deliver, visit www.ariba.com