August 01, 2013

Accenture Completes Acquisition of Mortgage Cadence

Accenture Credit Services Will Now Include Mortgage Origination Technology to Help Lenders Industrialize their Operations

NEW YORK; Aug. 1, 2013 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has completed its acquisition of Mortgage Cadence, a provider of loan origination software and electronic document management services in the United States. The acquisition adds an advanced technology platform to strengthen Accenture’s mortgage business process outsourcing services and enables the company to offer software to mortgage lenders looking to increase efficiencies and reduce costs.

Through the acquisition, Mortgage Cadence software will serve as the core loan-origination platform for Accenture Credit Services, a business service within Accenture’s financial services operating group that provides consulting, technology and outsourcing services to financial institutions. The platform will enable Accenture to more efficiently process mortgages on behalf of outsourcing clients. Accenture announced its agreement to acquire Mortgage Cadence from its founders and Monitor Clipper Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, on July 15, 2013.

“As the focus of mortgage lending shifts away from refinancing activity to the more complex business of home-purchase lending, the need for better technology and streamlined processes is more obvious than ever to U.S. lenders,” said Terry Moore, global managing director of Accenture Credit Services. “By using Mortgage Cadence technology to power our mortgage processing services, we can offer our clients increased processing speed, efficiency, and flexibility to reduce overall costs and improve service.”

With the acquisition, Mortgage Cadence’s approximately 190 U.S. employees -- and its full portfolio of on-premise, software-as-a-service (SaaS) and cloud-based solutions that support mortgage origination, processing, underwriting, closing, post-closing, document management and imaging -- have become part of Accenture Software. Accenture Software will provide the software to lenders on a standalone basis as part of its banking-software portfolio.

“Many U.S. lenders today rely on outdated systems to process mortgages, which creates a significant disadvantage in terms of speed, quality and compliance,” said Jim Astorian, managing director, Accenture Software. “The addition of this technology to our financial services software-portfolio – with its proven record of reducing costs and improving service-quality -- reflects Accenture’s longstanding focus on providing market leading solutions for the industry sectors we serve.”

Michael Detwiler, former CEO of Mortgage Cadence and a newly appointed managing director in Accenture Credit Services, said: “Mortgage Cadence technology innovations will gain new momentum as part of Accenture. That creates an opportunity to do more to help streamline and improve mortgage processing in the U.S.”

Accenture significantly expanded its mortgage industry capabilities in 2011 with the launch of Accenture Credit Services and its acquisition of a leading provider of residential and commercial mortgage processing services in the U.S., formerly known as Zenta.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 266,000 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$27.9 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

Accenture Credit Services supports institutions in the residential mortgage, commercial real estate, leasing and automotive finance industries. It is a leading provider of mortgage processing services in the U.S. and serves more than 100 major lending institutions worldwide. Accenture Software combines technology acumen with industry knowledge to develop differentiated software products. It offers innovative software-based solutions to enable organizations to meet their business goals and achieve high performance.

Forward-Looking Statements
Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “positioned,” “outlook” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include, without limitation, risks that: Accenture will not be able to close the transaction in the time period anticipated, or at all, which is dependent on the parties’ ability to satisfy certain closing conditions; the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for Accenture and Mortgage Cadence; Accenture’s and Mortgage Cadence’s results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on Accenture’s and Mortgage Cadence’s clients’ businesses and levels of business activity; Accenture’s and Mortgage Cadence’s businesses depend on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for Accenture’s and Mortgage Cadence’s services and solutions, and a significant reduction in such demand could materially affect Accenture’s or Mortgage Cadence’s results of operations; if Accenture or Mortgage Cadence is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, Accenture’s or Mortgage Cadence’s business, the utilization rate of Accenture’s or Mortgage Cadence’s professionals and Accenture’s or Mortgage Cadence’s results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which Accenture and Mortgage Cadence compete are highly competitive, and Accenture and Mortgage Cadence might not be able to compete effectively; Accenture or Mortgage Cadence could have liability or Accenture’s or Mortgage Cadence’s reputation could be damaged if Accenture or Mortgage Cadence fails to protect client and/or company data or information systems as obligated by law or contract or if Accenture’s or Mortgage Cadence’s information systems are breached; Accenture’s and Mortgage Cadence’s results of operations and ability to grow could be materially negatively affected if Accenture and Mortgage Cadence cannot adapt and expand their services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings by new entrants; as a result of Accenture’s geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue geographic expansion, Accenture is more susceptible to certain risks; Accenture’s Global Delivery Network is increasingly concentrated in India and the Philippines, which may expose it to operational risks; Accenture’s and Mortgage Cadence’s results of operations could materially suffer if Accenture and Mortgage Cadence are not able to obtain sufficient pricing to enable them to meet their profitability expectations; if Accenture’s pricing estimates do not accurately anticipate the cost, risk and complexity of Accenture performing its work or third parties upon whom it relies do not meet their commitments, then Accenture’s contracts could have delivery inefficiencies and be unprofitable; Accenture’s work with government clients exposes Accenture to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; Accenture’s and Mortgage Cadence’s businesses could be materially adversely affected if Accenture or Mortgage Cadence incurs legal liability in connection with providing its services and solutions; Accenture’s and Mortgage Cadence’s results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; Accenture’s alliance relationships may not be successful or may change, which could adversely affect Accenture’s results of operations; outsourcing services and the continued expansion of Accenture’s other services and solutions into new areas subject Accenture to different operational risks than its consulting and systems integration services; Accenture’s and Mortgage Cadence’s services or solutions could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or Accenture and Mortgage Cadence might lose their ability to utilize the intellectual property of others; Accenture and Mortgage Cadence have only a limited ability to protect their intellectual property rights, which may be important to Accenture’s or Mortgage Cadence’s success; Accenture’s and Mortgage Cadence’s ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on their reputations in the marketplace; Accenture might not be successful at identifying, acquiring or integrating businesses or entering into joint ventures; Accenture’s profitability could suffer if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful, and Accenture may not be able to improve its profitability through improvements to cost-management to the degree it has done in the past; many of Accenture’s contracts include payments that link some of its fees to the attainment of performance or business targets and/or require Accenture to meet specific service levels, which could increase the variability of Accenture’s revenues and impact its margins; changes in Accenture’s or Mortgage Cadence’s level of taxes, and audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in Accenture’s treatment as an Irish company, could have a material adverse effect on Accenture’s or Mortgage Cadence’s results of operations and financial condition; if Accenture is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, Accenture might be unable to achieve its business objectives; if Accenture or Mortgage Cadence is unable to collect its receivables or unbilled services, Accenture’s or Mortgage Cadence’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected; Accenture’s and Mortgage Cadence’s share price and results of operations could fluctuate and be difficult to predict; Accenture’s results of operations and Accenture’s share price could be adversely affected if Accenture or Mortgage Cadence is unable to maintain effective internal controls; Accenture may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the “Risk Factors” heading in Accenture plc’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission by Accenture. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture and Mortgage Cadence undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture’s or Mortgage Cadence’s expectations.

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Contact:

Sean Conway
Accenture
+ 917 452 6444
sean.k.conway@accenture.com