Apr 21: 10 M&A transactions in consulting and IT including an SCD Advisory deal

2. Grant Thornton divests private wealth business to Oreana

Accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton has divested its private wealth business to Oreana Group, a Melbourne headquartered investment and wealth management company. The decision to sell the unit follows pressure from Grant Thornton’s global management team, which is working diligently on ensuring that its member firms avoid potential conflicts of interests. Grant Thornton’s private wealth business advises wealthy entities – business owners, family offices and high net worths – on all aspects of their private wealth including asset management, superannuation and retirement planning.

3. Deloitte ramps up Salesforce prowess with Soda Strategic acquisition

Professional services firm Deloitte has acquired Canberra-founded Salesforce implementation specialist Soda Strategic to bolster its skills with the cloud-based software vendor’s solutions. The local consultancy, which has offices in Canberra and Melbourne, was founded in 2016 by CEO Angelo Paonne, specializing in digital strategy and consulting, experience design, mobile and web development, integration and customization services, marketing automation and managed services. While terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, the deal sees Soda’s 30-strong staff integrated into teams in Deloitte and Deloitte Digital from 1 May, primarily in Canberra, as well as Melbourne. In addition, Paonne will become a Deloitte Digital partner.

4. Woolworths to take control of Quantium for $223m

Woolworths will take a controlling stake in data business Quantium for $223 million and intends to combine the business with its own data science and advanced analytics teams. The retailer said in a financial filing that the investment would lift its stake in Quantium from 47 percent to 75 percent, with the remaining 25 percent remaining in the hands of Quantium founders and staff members.

5. Indec joins Egis to further strengthen expertise and profile in the Australian infrastructure market

It has been announced today that Indec has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Egis, a €1.07bn turnover construction engineering and mobility services group that operates worldwide and has a global workforce of 16,000 employees. Building on its 30 years of sound experience in road tunnel maintenance and architecture in Australia, Egis has recently expanded its rail engineering and consultancy services in both Australia and New Zealand. The acquisition of Indec enables Egis to accelerate its ambition to become a key player in the Australian infrastructure market as well as to strengthen its Australian presence in transportation and mobility, built environment, defence and water markets.

6. Stantec signs letter of intent to acquire Engenium

Stantec signs letter of intent to acquire Engenium, deepening sustainable mining project delivery and advisory service capabilities in Australia. Global engineering and design firm Stantec has signed a letter of intent (set to close in Q2 2021) to acquire Engenium, a project delivery consultancy specializing in the delivery of mining, resources, and industrial infrastructure projects. The acquisition of Engenium comes on the heels of Stantec’s recent addition of Australia-based transportation planning and engineering firm GTA Consultants, further expanding Stantec’s footprint in Australia. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

7. FTS Group acquires ESAM Consulting in higher education push

Australian IT service provider FTS Group has acquired Brisbane-headquartered ESAM Consulting to accelerate its growth in the higher education sector. ESAM Consulting offers IT services and solutions to higher education and vocational education training (VET) providers, with an emphasis on TechnologyOne Student Management. The deal will see all of ESAM Consulting’s assets integrated into Galaxy42, an IT consultancy that FTS acquired in December 2019. When Galaxy42 was acquired, its proficiency with TechnologyOne was also highlighted.

8. Data science specialist Versor joins Fujitsu Consulting

Versor – a Melbourne-based management consultancy specialised in data science – is set to join the Australian arm of global IT major Fujitsu. Versor’s team and leadership will integrate into the data analytics vertical of Fujitsu Consulting. Fujitsu is a Japanese-origin global IT firm with a full suite of cloud, software and digital transformation offerings. The firm has been active in Australia for nearly four decades, and is now looking to strengthen its data science offering in an increasingly data-driven business environment.

9. Melbourne-headquartered Ampion acquired by Wipro in US$117M deal 

Wipro has acquired engineering-focused technology services provider Ampion for US$117 million to reinforce its efforts in the Australian and New Zealand market. Acquired for an unknown sum, the to-be-acquired provider formed through a merger between Australian IT service providers Revolution IT and Shelde in September 2020, which in addition to having its headquarters in Melbourne, also has offices in Sydney, Brisbane and a zone 3 facility in Canberra. The acquisition, which is expected to close in the three months ending June 30, is in line with Wipro’s current operational strategy, which emphasises strategic investments in focus geographies, proximity to customers, agility, scale and localisation.

10. Deloitte buys 25-strong actuarial consulting firm Rice Warner

Four firm Deloitte has snapped up Rice Warner, one of Australia’s leading specialist actuarial firms. The bolt-on adds a team of 25 professionals to Deloitte’s Financial Advisory business, including Andrew Boal, CEO of Rice Warner; Stephen Freeborn, Head of Superannuation; and Jennifer Baxter, Executive General Manager, who have all been appointed a partner. Rice Warner’s founder and former CEO Michael Rice will join Deloitte in an advisory role. Michael Rice – described by AFR as “Australia’s top actuary” – founded Rice Warner in 1987. Over the past three decades the firm has according to the founder himself built “an unrivalled reputation as a leading Australian superannuation consultancy and research firms.”