Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has acquired Electro 80, a leading provider of operational technology (OT) for resources clients in Australia, including mining, energy, engineering, construction and utilities companies. The acquisition expands Accenture’s local digital OT capabilities, which help asset-intensive companies make manufacturing and production operations safer and more efficient. The acquisition also strengthens Accenture’s local capabilities for Industry X, which helps clients digitise their manufacturing, operations and engineering.

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Ian Halse, Mike Kelly & Sergej Divkovic from Electro 80 (Photo: Business Wire)

The acquisition comes at a time when Australia’s resources industries are looking to undertake significant transformation following the operational disruption caused by the pandemic.

Founded in 1987, and headquartered in Perth, with offices in Brisbane and Melbourne, Electro 80 provides automation, electrical, instrumentation, safety, networking and industrial IT services, as well as turnkey solutions encompassing the design and support of equipment, installation and commissioning, through to operations support and client training. Electro 80 brings more than 100 employees with longstanding OT experience to Accenture.

“Resources and asset-intensive companies are increasingly looking for ways to deliver more with less and, at the same time, in a more sustainable way,” said Tara Brady, market unit lead for Accenture in Australia and New Zealand. “Digital and automation technologies will be fundamental in delivering these outcomes and we are delighted to have Electro 80 on board.”

Sergej Divkovi, Electro 80’s managing director said, “Combining our team’s deep digital and OT expertise with Accenture’s end-to-end capabilities presents immense opportunities for our employees and clients. As part of Accenture, we will bring integrated solutions at scale that transform the way capital projects are planned, managed and executed. These can help new and existing clients drive new revenue and growth.”

“We are thrilled to welcome the Electro 80 team into our resources practice, which helps clients digitise and optimise their operations at scale,” said Glenn Heppell, Accenture’s resources lead for Australia and New Zealand. “Electro 80 brings to Accenture a strong industry footprint with clients in priority industries. By working together with Electro 80, we can ensure our resources clients can better detect and address quality issues, more accurately prevent machine failure in their operations, and most importantly, innovate for the future.”

Accenture’s acquisition of Electro 80 follows other investments across Australia and New Zealand in the past 18 months, including supply chain and logistics consulting firm GRA, cloud-native solutions provider Olikka, SAP and cloud solutions technology firm Zag, data analytics and supply chain management company Icon Integration, business strategy and econometrics firm AlphaBeta and specialist government consultancy Apis Group.

Electro 80 is also the latest acquisition Accenture has made to strengthen its Industry X capabilities globally, following, for example, industrial robotics and automation service provider Pollux (Brazil), operations consultancy Myrtle (US) and technology consultancy SALT Solutions (Germany).

Terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched experience and specialised skills across more than 40 industries, we offer Strategy and Consulting, Interactive, Technology and Operations services — all powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centres. Our 537,000 people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for our clients, people, shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

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