NEW YORK & HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has agreed to acquire Myrtle Consulting Group (“Myrtle”), an industrial operations consulting firm headquartered in Houston. Myrtle partners with leading companies across consumer products, life sciences, chemicals, mining and other heavy manufacturing industries to produce and distribute goods in a safer, more efficient and sustainable way.

The acquisition will expand Accenture’s manufacturing and supply chain capabilities. Specifically, it will strengthen Accenture’s ability to transform these areas for clients from initial value assessments and operating model strategies to new business processes and technology solutions. Myrtle’s team will join Accenture Industry X, which helps clients improve how they operate factories and plants.

Nigel Stacey, global lead of Accenture Industry X, said: “Cost, quality and safety remain a constant and rising challenge for manufacturing and operations leaders. They need to free untapped value across production sites and distribution centers, so they can invest in resilient and responsible operating models for manufacturing and supply chains that are future-proof and digital-enabled. This is what the combined skills of Accenture and Myrtle will help them achieve.”

Edwin Bosso, CEO and founder of Myrtle, said: “Becoming part of Accenture Industry X will allow us to pair our frontline operational expertise with Accenture’s global reach and digital capabilities to bring solutions to clients that will transform their operations from the ground up.”

Myrtle specializes in optimizing clients’ sourcing, production, supply chain operations and execution. The company also has deep expertise in change management methodology, organization design and implementation, leadership development and frontline coaching. Work examples include:

• Achieving $20 million in annual savings, decreasing overtime labor spend by 56% and improving yield by 20% for a global dairy producer that struggled with an inefficient supply chain;
• Increasing customer satisfaction and uptime while reducing employee turnover for a pharmaceutical company by improving its management operating systems and training its leaders.

Myrtle is recognized as a National Minority Supplier Development Council Corporate Plus member. The NMSDC Corporate Plus program is designed to highlight minority-owned businesses that have demonstrated their capacity to execute national and international contracts for major corporations.

Bosso, who will join Accenture as managing director, is the author of the Amazon best-selling book on business transformation, 6,000 Dreams: The Leader’s Guide To A Successful Business Transformation Journey, published by ForbesBooks.

With Myrtle, Accenture will continue to bolster its digital manufacturing, operations and supply chain capabilities, following the acquisitions of technology consultancy SALT Solutions in Germany, PLM Systems in Italy, Callisto Integration in Canada, Silveo in France and Enterprise System Partners in Ireland.

Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services in strategy and consulting, interactive, technology and operations, with digital capabilities across all of these services. We combine unmatched experience and specialized capabilities across more than 40 industries — powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. With 506,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture brings continuous innovation to help clients improve their performance and create lasting value across their enterprises. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Accenture Industry X embeds intelligence in how clients run factories and plants and design and engineer products. We use digital technologies like AI, cloud and IoT to make manufacturing and operations more efficient, effective and safe, and develop and scale connected products and services faster to drive new revenues and sustainable growth. Learn more about how Industry X transforms the way companies make things and the very things they make on https://www.accenture.com/us-en/services/industryx0-index.

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. For a discussion of risks and actions taken in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, see “Our results of operations have been significantly adversely affected and could in the future be materially adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic” under Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in Accenture plc’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended May 31, 2020. Many of the following risks, uncertainties and other factors identified below are, and will be, amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. These risks include, without limitation, risks that: Accenture and Myrtle Consulting Group 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; Accenture’s results of operations have been significantly adversely affected and could in the future be materially adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic; Accenture’s results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic and political conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company’s clients’ businesses and levels of business activity; Accenture’s business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company’s services and solutions including through the adaptation and expansion of its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the evolving technological environment could materially affect the company’s results of operations; if Accenture 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; Accenture could face legal, reputational and financial risks if the company fails to protect client and/or company data from security breaches or cyberattacks; the markets in which Accenture operates are highly competitive, and Accenture might not be able to compete effectively; changes in Accenture’s level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, could have a material adverse effect on the company’s effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition; Accenture’s profitability could materially suffer if the company is unable to obtain favorable pricing for its services and solutions, if the company is unable to remain competitive, if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if it experiences delivery inefficiencies; Accenture’s results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; as a result of Accenture’s geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue to expand in its key markets around the world, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; Accenture’s business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; Accenture’s work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; if Accenture is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; Accenture’s ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if Accenture does not successfully manage and develop its relationships with key alliance partners or fails to anticipate and establish new alliances in new technologies, the company’s results of operations could be adversely affected; Accenture might not be successful at acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; if Accenture is unable to protect or enforce its intellectual property rights or if Accenture’s services or solutions infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company loses its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others, its business could be adversely affected; Accenture’s results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; changes to accounting standards or in the estimates and assumptions Accenture makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; many of Accenture’s contracts include fees subject to the attainment of targets or specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company’s revenues and impact its margins; Accenture might be unable to access additional capital on favorable terms or at all and if the company raises equity capital, it may dilute its shareholders’ ownership interest in the company; 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, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q 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.