KPMG cuts deal for Oracle implementation specialist Certus APAC
In the latest cloud-focused acquisition among Australia’s largest consultancies, KPMG has picked up local Oracle implementation specialist Certus APAC.
With the deal expected to close later this year, Certus APAC’s 40-strong team from across Melbourne, Sydney and India will be integrated in KPMG’s technology enablement teams, including managing partner Ian Wood.
Established by Wood in its current guise from 2014 (together with Richard Atkins, Rebecca Hodgson, Sumit Malhotra and Lee Martin, who are also due to cross to KPMG), Certus APAC is an Oracle implementation specialist serving clients in the financial services, utilities, retail and public sectors among others with technical build, implementation, training and support. The company brought in more than $10 million in revenues in its last financial year.
“Our rapid growth over the past four years has been fuelled by increasing demand for Oracle cloud transformation,” commented Wood, who will join KPMG as a partner. “This has accelerated significantly during the pandemic, and we have reached a stage where the resources and support of a large firm was the logical next step. Joining with KPMG will allow us to continue this growth trajectory and focus on what we do best.”
For KPMG, the deal further builds upon its strategic plan to expand into technology capabilities (previous acquisitions include Microsoft partner Hands-On Systems in 2015 and Murex software specialist IT Market the following year), with Certus APAC enhancing the Big Four firm’s enterprise resource planning and Oracle cloud services capabilities – an area KPMG states as critical at a time when business clients are navigating through Covid-19.
“The pandemic has forced organisations to re-evaluate how they interact with their customers, staff and suppliers, and determine if their current systems are fit-for-purpose,” said KPMG CEO Andrew Yates, who further noted the resultant disruptions of remote working and supply chain complexity. “Our clients are looking to us to help solve these problems, and Oracle cloud capabilities will add a further dimension to our technology enablement offering.”
The local M&A market for cloud-related capabilities is currently running hot, with a number of big deals in the past six odd weeks alone. Early last month, Accenture picked up cloud infrastructure services provider CS Technology, with Capgemini’s purchase of SAP gold partner Acclimation and the $233 million deal for cloud and data integrator Empired soon following.
A previous BCG report pegged the local cloud market to surpass $10 billion within two years.
