September 15, 2015

Accenture to Acquire Cloud Sherpas, Accelerating Its Cloud First Agenda



Acquisition will significantly expand Accenture’s talent and capabilities in enterprise cloud services

SAN FRANCISCO; Sept. 15, 2015 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has entered into an agreement to acquire Cloud Sherpas, a leader in cloud advisory and technology services specializing in Google, Salesforce and ServiceNow. The move will further strengthen Accenture’s position as the leading enterprise cloud services provider and enhance its ability to provide clients with unparalleled cloud strategy, technology consulting, and cloud application implementation, integration and management services.

Following the completion of the acquisition, more than 1,100 professionals from Cloud Sherpas are expected to join the newly created Accenture Cloud First Applications team, which delivers cloud services for Google, NetSuite, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Workday and other “pure play” technologies. Combining with Cloud Sherpas will further expand Accenture’s ability to create differentiated cloud services across leading and emerging application platforms.

“We’ve reached a tipping point in cloud as our clients rapidly adopt cloud solutions,” said Paul Daugherty, Accenture’s chief technology officer. “Accenture’s Cloud First agenda is a game-changer that offers transformational cloud services to help clients move their businesses to the cloud and achieve significant business results more quickly. I look forward to welcoming the talented professionals of Cloud Sherpas to Accenture.”

David Northington, Cloud Sherpas’ chief executive officer, said, “We are thrilled to be joining forces with Accenture. Cloud Sherpas was born in the cloud and we are perfectly aligned with Accenture’s Cloud First agenda. The combination of our capabilities and experience with Accenture’s scale, broad industry expertise and global cloud application capabilities represents a unique and compelling opportunity for our clients, for our people and for the future of cloud technology.”

“The combination of two strategic partners is exciting for our ecosystem and proof positive of momentum around our Customer Success Platform,” said Keith Block, vice chairman and president, Salesforce. “This move further highlights how our world-class platform is helping ecosystem partners like Accenture and Cloud Sherpas innovate and deliver phenomenal levels of transformation and success for our customers.”

Founded in 2007, Cloud Sherpas has grown from start-up to a global cloud advisory and technology services leader, providing cloud strategy, implementation and integration services to thousands of clients around the globe. Today, Cloud Sherpas is one of the top cloud service providers for Google, Salesforce and ServiceNow. They are a Salesforce Global Strategic Consulting Partner, one of only four ServiceNow Master Partners and a four-time Google for Work Partner of the Year.

Accenture was one of the first global companies to establish a strategic alliance partnership with Salesforce and today has leading capabilities in Salesforce with more than 2,700 unique certified professionals. After combining with Cloud Sherpas, Accenture will add another 500 certified professionals to its team.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Completion of the acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Goldman Sachs & Co. is acting as financial adviser to Accenture with regard to the transaction.

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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.

Accenture is a leader in helping organizations move to the cloud to take advantage of a new era of service delivery and flexibility, where applications, infrastructure and business processes are brought together and delivered As-a-Service. Accenture’s Cloud First agenda offers comprehensive, industry-focused cloud services including strategy, implementation, migration and managed services, and assets including the Accenture Cloud Platform, that can drive broader transformational programs for clients. Accenture has worked on more than 13,000 cloud computing projects for clients, including three-quarters of the Fortune Global 100, and has more than 17,000 professionals trained in cloud computing.

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 company and Cloud Sherpas 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 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:

Oriana Branon
Accenture
+ 1 415 537 5032
oriana.branon@accenture.com

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