Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s installment of consulting M&A news. This week in the world of mergers and acquisitions in consulting, there were a few deals that made headlines, especially with PwC making a hat-trick of deals. Here’s a look at some of the notable transactions that took place…
#1. BearingPoint acquires strategic sustainability consultancy I Care
BearingPoint, a multinational management and technology consulting firm has acquired I Care, a sustainability consultancy with over 80 consultants in France and Brazil. This happens to be BearingPoint’s second acquisition this month.
I Care was founded in 2008 and assists public organizations, nonprofits, commercial corporations, and financial institutions in reducing their carbon impact. I Care is renowned in its field for its strategic competence in carbon and biodiversity planning and public policy formulation. Beyond sustainability, the consulting firm also provides services centered on the S and G elements of ESG.
The deal will help in developing compelling new value propositions for existing clients, and at the same time, will significantly expand BearingPoint’s sustainability capabilities, at a time of booming demand for the service.
#2. Argano acquires Oracle specialist NorthPoint Group
Argano, a technology consulting firm based in Plano, Texas, has purchased NorthPoint Group, an Oracle consulting firm based in Boise, Idaho that has more than 60 employees across the US and Mexico.
NorthPoint was founded in 2006 and offers road-mapping, implementation, and managed support for Oracle ERP Cloud (core finance, planning and budgeting, procurement, project financial management, and inventory optimization) and HCM Cloud software (human resources, payroll, time and labor, talent management, benefits and compensation, and talent acquisition). Oracle platform-as-a-service technologies, such as Fusion Analytics Warehouse, are also supported by the company.
The acquisition of NorthPoint by Argano will bolster its Oracle team, which collaborates with clients to enhance goods and services while migrating to the cloud.
#3. Deloitte Canada buys AE Cloud Consultants
Deloitte Canada, one of the big 4 consulting firms in the world, has acquired AE Cloud Consultants (AECC), a Montreal-based NetSuite consulting firm that has about 20 employees, according to LinkedIn.
AECC, a company dedicated to small and mid-sized businesses, was founded in 2015 and specializes in implementing and integrating Oracle NetSuite. Financial management, order management, production management, supply chain management, warehouse and fulfilment, procurement, capital management, project management, and customer relationship management are among the backend and frontend solutions that AECC assists clients across industries in deploying. Celigo, an integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) for NetSuite, is additionally supported by the company.
By acquiring AECC, Deloitte will increase its exposure to mid-market clients in Quebec and fortify its NetSuite practice. Moreover, Ayman El Khashab, the creator of AECC, will work as a director at Deloitte Consulting as part of the agreement, the details of which were not made public.
#4. PwC US acquires Netrovert’s cloud business
A Hicksville, New York-based IT consultancy called Netrovert that specializes in business integration has sold its cloud consulting assets to PwC US. Moreover, Netrovert has over 100 employees across offices in the US, Brazil, Hungary, India, and Australia.
Netrovert, which was established in 1996, aids Fortune 500 companies in integrating their expanding assortment of apps and systems. integrating processes, data, and cloud services for a connected user experience. The company primarily focuses on MuleSoft engagements, including as a subcontractor to the professional services sector of the software platform. MuleSoft, a well-known integration tool that is owned by Salesforce, employs application programming interfaces (APIs) to link various applications, data, and gadgets.
With this acquisition, PwC will be better able to provide cloud integration services and grow its MuleSoft practice.
#5. PwC takes stake in homegrown AWS consulting partner Zero&One
PwC, one of the Big 4 firms across the globe has acquired an undisclosed share in Zero&One, one of the top Amazon Web Services (AWS) Premier Consulting Partners.
In just five years since its founding in 2017 by the Lebanese Ali El Kontar, Zero&One has developed into the first domestic AWS Consulting Partner to attain Premier Tier in the MENA area. Moreover, Zero&One won the MENA region’s AWS Consulting Partner of the Year and AWS Migration Partner of the Year awards in 2021.
This deal for PwC will act as an investment and add to its growing ecosystem of ventures and alliances in the cloud ecosystem, and deepen its AWS capabilities at a time when Amazon is ramping up its presence in the UAE.
#6. PwC expands Salesforce capabilities with acquisition of Venerate
PwC has expanded its technology consulting expertise in India with the acquisition of Venerate, a Salesforce platinum partner with roughly 150 workers.
Bangalore-based Venerate, which was founded in 2016, develops and implements bespoke solutions on the Salesforce platform across numerous clouds, such as Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Vlocity Industry Cloud, and various integration tools. Throughout its history, the company has earned many Salesforce distinctions and is currently a platinum partner.
Acquiring Venerate happens to be PwC’s inaugural technology acquisition in India. Moreover, this deal will augment PwC’s salesforce consulting practice with significant end-to-end capabilities in the areas of platform engineering, and cloud and managed services.
#7. Other consulting M&A deals
- SLR Consulting enters next chapter with investor Ares.
- EisnerAmper buys Raich Ende Malter & Company.
Closing Thoughts
That’s all for this week’s mergers and acquisitions consulting news. If we missed any news, please write to us and let us know. Moreover, be sure to check back next week for more updates on the latest deals in the consulting industry. We’ll see you all in a bit!
