Acquisition would strengthen Accenture Security’s presence and capabilities in France and accelerate Accenture’s growth in Europe
Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has entered into an agreement to acquire Openminded, a France-based cybersecurity services company that provides advisory, cloud & infrastructure security, cyber defense, and managed security services. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.
Founded in 2008, and powered by a security operations center, Openminded helps clients anticipate and reduce cybersecurity risks, rapidly detect and respond to cyber incidents, and implement best practices in regulatory compliance.
Once completed, the acquisition would bring approximately 100 highly skilled cybersecurity professionals to Accenture Security’s workforce of nearly 7,000 professionals globally and extend Accenture’s cybersecurity presence and capabilities in France and in Europe.
“With cyberattacks becoming more complex, constant and costly every day, companies must fully embed cybersecurity into the different layers of their organizations to ensure resilience,” said Kelly Bissell, who leads Accenture Security globally. “The acquisition of Openminded supports our commitment to leveraging technology and human ingenuity to help clients be confident and secure in the face of constant change. We look forward to welcoming Openminded’s team to Accenture and helping clients defend against cyber threats more effectively across their entire ecosystem—now and in the future.”
Olivier Girard, market unit lead for Accenture France and Benelux, said, “Our intent to acquire Openminded is aligned with our global strategy to provide differentiated robust services to our clients in their local markets. It would accelerate our growth in France and scale our cybersecurity capabilities within the market unit and across Europe. It underscores our commitment to helping clients manage the constantly changing cyber risk environment by bringing the right technology, industry understanding, and talent tailored to a company’s specific needs. We look forward to leveraging our combined expertise to help clients have the right controls in place to protect their critical assets.”
Hervé Rousseau, Openminded’s founder and CEO, said, “Joining forces with Accenture is a great opportunity for our teams and our clients. The alliance of our talent and capabilities perfectly leverages our expertise and would allow us to deliver on a global scale. Today, the fight against cyberattacks requires the implementation of the most advanced technologies, as well as the human resources to make them efficient. This is the synergy we are going to build and put at the service of our clients.”
Accenture became one of the leading global providers of managed security services as a result of its January 2020 acquisition of Symantec’s Cyber Security Services business. Accenture further strengthened its cyber defense capabilities through its acquisitions of Context Information Security and Revolutionary Security in March and April 2020, respectively, and of Real Protect in January 2021.
The acquisition requires prior consultation with the work council and would be subject to customary closing conditions.
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