Accenture ‘Well Positioned’ to Act as Strategic Partner in M&A Cycle, Independent Research Firm Reports

NEW YORK.– Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has been cited by Forrester, an independent research firm, as being “well positioned to act as a strategic partner” throughout the entire merger and acquisition (M&A) deal cycle.

Forrester’s April 2009 analysis of Accenture, titled “Accenture Provides Truly Integrated M&A Services, Backed By Strong Industry Expertise” also says: “Accenture provides true end-to-end services around M&A services… Accenture’s M&A offerings cover core elements of corporate M&A services, including strategy advice, target identification, strategic due diligence, as well as all operational and IT-related aspects of the deal.” The report also states: “With its strong executive stakeholder relationships and deep industry expertise, Accenture is acting as a key strategic partner for many clients going through major business transformations in the current market environment.”

Forrester notes that “[Accenture] already maintains a leading position within the M&A services market. But [it] is committed to further investing in its M&A services capabilities across its consulting, technology and outsourcing growth platforms to increase its footprint going forward.” Accenture’s M&A offerings cover core elements of corporate M&A services, including strategy advice, target identification, strategic due diligence, as well as all operational and IT-related aspects of the deal.

According to Forrester, “effective M&A management forms an essential part of Accenture’s underlying value proposition and recently has been positioned as one of Accenture’s C-suite imperatives for management during the economic downturn.”

Forrester also points out that:

* While other competitors only recently started to position their M&A-related services more proactively, Accenture has historically always maintained a strong position on the subject. Accenture’s M&A offerings cover core elements of corporate M&A services, including strategy advice, target identification, strategic due diligence, as well as all operational and IT-related aspects of the deal.

* Accenture leverages its strong client relationships and industry focus. Accenture benefits from its consistent global and integrated go-to-market approach, which is led by its senior executives who maintain deep operational experience around integration and carve-out scenarios. With its strong horizontal M&A expertise and deep vertical insights, the company is able to foster strategic relationships with clients typically at C levels. For projects, Accenture bundles its M&A expertise from consulting to technology and outsourcing to serve clients along the entire deal life cycle, independent of the actual entry point into the project. Thanks to its strong global reach, Accenture is also able to support customers on pan-geographic deals with local resources available across different countries.

* Maintains strong M&A delivery and execution skills. Accenture has a large catalog of standard methodologies, playbooks and tools that support its service delivery in all phases of the M&A deal cycle. These methods and tools also partly reflect industry-specific aspects of transactions and are often underpinned by Accenture’s own research into best practices of high-performance companies. Its method-driven approach allows Accenture to take on projects around large transaction and integration scenarios very diligently and quickly. In addition, Accenture has a central dedicated M&A knowledge management team that collaborates with the network of internal M&A experts and assists in building and continuously improving Accenture’s intellectual property and assets.

“We strive to help our clients create value through effective M&A management across the globe,” said Andy Tinlin, global M&A lead in Accenture’s Strategy practice. “Accenture has been engaged in more than 850 separate M&A projects for more than 500 clients over the last five years. We are pleased to receive this recognition from Forrester.”