The Outsourcing Week in Review (Mergers & Acquisitions): May 24, 2023

Welcome to Inside Outsourcing: The Outsourcing Week in Review

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Can you hear that? It’s the sweet sound of dealmaking 🤑 This week, we cover Accenture’s latest deal, and cover a range of exciting ventures into LatAm, Australia, and Europe. Plus, there’s an Einstein GPT collab 🤖

We begin with the latest from outsourcing giant Accenture – they’ve been busy. The firm has just completed its acquisition of Objectivity, a digital engineering firm, in a move intended to strengthen Accenture’s Cloud First capabilities. The terms of the transaction remain undisclosed. Its purchase of Objectivity follows a string of recent acquisitions, including Norwegian business consulting EINR and AI firm Flutura, among others.

Cloud-based juggernaut Salesforce and Accenture announced their collaboration to establish an acceleration hub for generative AI (artificial intelligence). The partnership aims to help organizations leverage Salesforce’s Einstein GPT, a generative AI for customer relationship management (CRM), to enhance employee productivity and transform customer experiences. Recent Salesforce research revealed that 84% of senior IT leaders believe generative AI will help their organizations better serve customers, with 67% prioritizing its deployment within the next 18 months.

Accenture is an Irish-American technology and consulting firm incorporated in Dublin. They have 721,000 staff, $61.6 billion in revenues (2022), market cap of $183 billion, and operations across 49 countries, covering five industries—Communications, Media & Technology, Financial Services, Health & Public Service, Products and Resources. The company recently topped the Time Doctor OA500 for 2023, the first index to provide objective means of analyzing, tracking, and comparing the world’s outsourcing firms.

Fun fact: Few people know that Accenture is a descendant of the disgraced Arthur Andersen, which subsequently collapsed after the Enron Scandal.  Arthur Andersen had  aconsulting arm, Andersen consulting, which rebranded to Accenture.

Some key leadership changes are happening in Accenture’s India operations. Ajay Vij steps into the newly created position of Country Managing Director, while Sandeep Dutta takes on the lead role for Accenture’s India Market Unit. The changes follow the retirement announcement of Rekha Menon, Senior Managing Director and Chairperson for Accenture in India, after a remarkable 20-year career.

In other news, Globant, a digital technology services leader which operates in 25 countries, announced a definitive agreement to acquire France-based digital transformation company, Pentalog, to strengthen its European foothold. Over the course of three decades, Pentalog has established a robust business pipeline, with a significant portion of our revenue – nearly 80% – originating from European accounts. The remaining revenue is generated from our operations in North America.

Technology solutions provider, Mudbath, announced a strategic merger with globally recognized technology firm, Endava, enhancing its global reach while reinforcing its tech capabilities. This merger marks an important phase in Mudbath’s growth journey. It aligns with Endava’s ongoing expansion strategy in the Australian market, following its entry in 2021 and a merger with Lexicon in 2022. In February this year, Endava announced it is expecting that revenues for the full fiscal year 2023 will be in the range of £812.0 million to £817.0 million, representing constant currency growth of between 19.0% and 20.0%.

New Jersey-based digital solutions company Marlabs has announced its acquisition of Monitora Soluções Tecnológicas, expanding its presence into the LATAM region. Marlabs  has serviced clients across multiple sectors, including pharma and life sciences, manufacturing, retail, banking, and insurance in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Brazil, and India. Located in São Carlos, Brazil, Monitora specializes in customer experience, infrastructure operations, and data analytics.

TDCX, a Singapore-based provider of digital customer experience (CX) solutions, continues its global expansion with the launch of its 29th campus in São Paulo, Brazil. According to Statista, the revenue in the business process outsourcing (BPO) segment in Brazil is projected to reach US$3.56bn in 2023. The São Paulo campus further expands TDCX’s support for a key gaming client, building on its global operations in Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Türkiye, and Vietnam. The gaming vertical remains a key growth area for TDCX, with revenues increasing by 71% year-on-year in fiscal year 2022.

Technology and IT services provider FPT Software is expanding its strategic partnership with IONITY, a pan-European high-power charging network for electric vehicles (EVs). Munich-based IONITY is a joint venture between several prominent car manufacturers, including BMW Group, Ford Motor Company, Hyundai Motor Group, Mercedes Benz AG, and Volkswagen Group. Headquartered in Vietnam, FPT Software is a global provider of technology and IT services. With over 27,000 employees in 27 countries, the company has achieved a revenue of US$803 million.

In a strategic move to bolster sales outsourcing capabilities across North America and Europe, Sales Focus Inc. (SFI), a trailblazer in sales outsourcing, announced a landmark partnership with Skondras, an established international sales support firm. SFI is credited with pioneering the sales outsourcing industry in the United States in 1998. Skondras has a strong outsourced sales footprint in Europe for over 20 years. Both companies will extend their influence and capabilities across international boundaries through this alliance.

TDCX, a Singapore-based provider of digital customer experience (CX) solutions, continues its global expansion with the launch of its 29th campus in São Paulo, Brazil. According to Statista, the revenue in the business process outsourcing (BPO) segment in Brazil is projected to reach US$3.56bn in 2023. The São Paulo campus further expands TDCX’s support for a key gaming client, building on its global operations in Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Türkiye, and Vietnam. The gaming vertical remains a key growth area for TDCX, with revenues increasing by 71% year-on-year in fiscal year 2022.

Technology and IT services provider FPT Software is expanding its strategic partnership with IONITY, a pan-European high-power charging network for electric vehicles (EVs). Munich-based IONITY is a joint venture between several prominent car manufacturers, including BMW Group, Ford Motor Company, Hyundai Motor Group, Mercedes Benz AG, and Volkswagen Group. Headquartered in Vietnam, FPT Software is a global provider of technology and IT services. With over 27,000 employees in 27 countries, the company has achieved a revenue of US$803 million.

In a strategic move to bolster sales outsourcing capabilities across North America and Europe, Sales Focus Inc. (SFI), a trailblazer in sales outsourcing, announced a landmark partnership with Skondras, an established international sales support firm. SFI is credited with pioneering the sales outsourcing industry in the United States in 1998. Skondras has a strong outsourced sales footprint in Europe for over 20 years. Both companies will extend their influence and capabilities across international boundaries through this alliance.

NTT DATA, a digital business and IT services provider, has launched TalentBASE to modernize employee learning. The end-to-end talent experience platform enables organizations to implement new skilling and reskilling programs at scale. TalentBASE also offers access to a large global network of premier learning partners, including EdCast by Cornerstone, Udemy, and Skillsoft. The introduction of TalentBASE follows research commissioned by NTT DATA, which revealed that leaders who invest in employee learning are more likely to have seen profitability of over 25% over the past three years, compared to their peers who didn’t.

The outsourcing world is buzzing with strategic mergers, global expansion, and AI integration. We’re keeping our eyes peeled for exciting developments ahead! 👀

The outsourcing M&A news this week​

19 May 2023

• TDCX expands into Brazil to bolster global presence – read article…
• Marlabs Acquires Monitora, boosts presence and growth in LatAm region – read article…
• Accenture announces key leadership changes in India – read article…​

18 May 2023

• Salesforce, Accenture team up to accelerate generative AI deployment for CRM – read article…
• Accenture completes acquisition of Objectivity – read article…
• Mudbath’s merger with Endava marks strategic expansion in APAC – read article…

17 May 2023

• Globant acquires Pentalog to boost European expansion – read article…
• Belvo enhances payment solutions portfolio with Skilopay acquisition – read article…
• Ramesh Ramani appointed as new RCG Global Services CEO – read article…

16 May 2023

• DialAmerica announces 2 new VPs of customer solutions – read article…
• NTT DATA unveils platform to modernize employee learning – read article…
• FPT Software, IONITY extend strategic partnership – read article…

15 May 2023

• Confie acquires Estrella Insurance – read article…
• Sales Focus, Skondras forge transatlantic partnership – read article…
• Simplr transforms AI customer service with Cognitive Paths launch – read article…

Read more Inside Outsourcing here:

1. The Outsourcing Week in Review (International): May 22, 2023
2. The Outsourcing Week in Review (Future of Work): May 26, 2023