July 20, 2015

Accenture Acquires Full Ownership Stake in Solium from BBVA, Expanding Its Capabilities for Delivering Hybrid Cloud Solutions to Enterprises

Solium will continue providing hybrid cloud services to BBVA for next five years

MADRID; July 20, 2015 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has strengthened its hybrid cloud and mobility capabilities in Europe by acquiring full ownership in Solium, a Madrid-based technology company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Accenture and BBVA founded Solium as a joint venture in 2001. BBVA owned 66.7 percent of the company at the time of sale. Accenture has now acquired BBVA’s ownership stake and is the sole owner of Solium. As part of the transaction, Solium will continue to provide hybrid cloud services to BBVA for the next five years.

Solium provides specific technical skills that enable a consumption-based, as-a-service cloud model including expertise in private and hybrid cloud, Cloud for SAP HANA, and Mobility Infrastructure Management. Its primary client base is in the financial services industry in Europe, and particularly Spain, but it also serves companies in other industries including natural resources, consumer products, communications and technology.

The addition of Solium’s capabilities will enable Accenture to accelerate its clients’ journeys to becoming digital businesses. This includes integration into Accenture’s multi-cloud management tool, the Accenture Cloud Platform, for faster, simpler consumption, delivery and integration of services into the broader cloud ecosystem.

“Our clients recognize that cloud is a means to an end, one that will enable them to innovate faster and create entirely new business capabilities,” said Mark Beaton, senior managing director of Infrastructure Services for Accenture in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Latin America. “This acquisition is consistent with our Intelligent Business Cloud vision, which provides a framework for helping clients accelerate their journey to an ‘everything-as-a-service’ model.”

The acquisition will also enhance Accenture’s capabilities in infrastructure optimization and operations including the implementation and management of cloud architectures, database as a service technologies, middleware, and converged infrastructure models. As a result of the acquisition, Solium’s 65 professionals are expected to transition to Accenture and will continue to be located in Madrid.

“With the increased level of regulation in many industries – including banking, insurance and utilities – companies require secure, compliant infrastructure and cloud models that provide the foundation to build an ‘as a Service’ digital business,” said Manuel López Ordoñez, managing director of Infrastructure Services for Accenture Spain. “Bringing Solium fully into Accenture reinforces our capabilities to deliver proven hybrid cloud solutions to these highly regulated enterprise clients.”

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 336,000 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$30.0 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

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: the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for the company; the company’s results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company’s clients’ businesses and levels of business activity; the company’s business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company’s services and solutions, and a significant reduction in such demand could materially affect the company’s results of operations; if the company 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, the company’s business, the utilization rate of the company’s professionals and the company’s results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which the company competes are highly competitive, and the company might not be able to compete effectively; the company could have liability or the company’s reputation could be damaged if the company fails to protect client and/or company data or information systems as obligated by law or contract or if the company’s information systems are breached; the company’s results of operations and ability to grow could be materially negatively affected if the company cannot adapt and expand its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings by new entrants; the company’s results of operations could materially suffer if the company is not able to obtain sufficient pricing to enable it to meet its profitability expectations; if the company does not accurately anticipate the cost, risk and complexity of performing its work or if the third parties upon whom it relies do not meet their commitments, then the company’s contracts could have delivery inefficiencies and be less profitable than expected or unprofitable; the company’s results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company’s profitability could suffer if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful, and the company may not be able to improve its profitability through improvements to cost-management to the degree it has done in the past; the company’s business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; the company’s work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; the company might not be successful at identifying, acquiring or integrating businesses or entering into joint ventures; the company’s Global Delivery Network is increasingly concentrated in India and the Philippines, which may expose it to operational risks; changes in the company’s level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in the company’s treatment as an Irish company, could have a material adverse effect on the company’s results of operations and financial condition; as a result of the company’s geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue geographic expansion, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; adverse changes to the company’s relationships with key alliance partners or in the business of its key alliance partners could adversely affect the company’s results of operations; the company’s services or solutions could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company might lose its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others; if the company is unable to protect its intellectual property rights from unauthorized use or infringement by third parties, its business could be adversely affected; the company’s ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; many of the company’s contracts include payments that link some of its fees to the attainment of performance or business targets and/or require the company to meet specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company’s revenues and impact its margins; if the company is unable to collect its receivables or unbilled services, the company’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected; if the company is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; the company’s share price and results of operations could fluctuate and be difficult to predict; the company’s results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; any changes to the estimates and assumptions that the company makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; the company 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. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes 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 expectations.

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Contact

Hannah Unkefer
Accenture
+ 1 415 537 4848
Hannah.m.unkefer@accenture.com

José Luis Sánchez
Accenture
+ 34 91 5966585
jose.l.sanchez@accenture.com