Accenture buys Navisite in its 4th acquisition of 2024

Accenture on Wednesday said it is acquiring digital transformation services provider Navisite in an effort to boost its cloud transformation business.

While the terms of the acquisition from private equity investment firm Madison Dearborn Partners were not disclosed, the Massachusetts-based firm is expected to bolster Accenture’s application and infrastructure-managed services capabilities in North America.

The acquisition will enhance Accenture’s ability to help US and Canadian clients modernize for AI by building a strong digital core steeped in data and cloud, the company said in a statement.  

The deal will also see Navisite’s team of 1,500 people join Accenture’s Infrastructure Engineering practice, a team that focuses on building and maintaining systems, and networks to run business software and store data.

Navisite, which has over 400 cloud engineers who hold more than 2,000 relevant certifications, claims to have deep experience across multiple cloud providers, enterprise applications, and digital technologies.

The company has served clients in sectors such as technology, business services, healthcare, life sciences and manufacturing.

The global end-user spending on public cloud services is forecast to grow 20.4% to $678.8 billion in 2024, up from $563.6 billion in 2023, according to a report from Gartner.

The spending will see a boost due to the proliferation of new technologies such as generative AI, which requires massive infrastructure that public cloud can provide, Gartner said.

Accenture on an acquisition spree

Accenture, which has been on an acquisition spree, has already acquired four companies in January, including Navisite.

On Tuesday, the professional services firm acquired Work & Co, a global digital product company that blends design, technology, and innovation, in order to help enterprises with digital products and experience transformation.

On Tuesday, the company also said it has completed the acquisition of management consultancy Vocatus, which uses behavioral economics modeling to develop pricing strategies and sales concepts for business-to-business and business-to-consumer models.

At the beginning of this week, Accenture said it had completed the acquisition of OnProcess Technology, a provider of supply chain managed services, which helps enterprises refine processes, improve the way inventory is managed, and solve complex service challenges.

The first deal of the year was announced on January 3 when Accenture said it had completed the acquisition of 6point6, a UK technology consultancy, specializing in cloud, data, and cybersecurity.

Last year in September, Accenture acquired Inspirage and Flutura to boost its supply chain software and industrial AI services.

Other notable Accenture acquisitions in 2023 included those of Jixie, Redkite, Optimind, The Shelby Group, and two Italian technology consultancy firms, namely Customer Management IT and SirfinPA. Redkite is an IT consultancy firm.

Accenture, according to data from Tracxn, has acquired a total of 287 companies. Of these, the professional services firm has acquired at least 70 IT services firms, 30 management consultancy firms, and 25 software-as-a-service firms.

A separate report from Zacks Equity Research showed that the company spent $3.4 billion on 38 acquisitions in 2022, $4.2 billion on 46 acquisitions in 2021, and more than $1.5 billion on 34 acquisitions in 2020.