Partners in Performance joins Accenture Strategy following deal closure
Professional services giant Accenture has completed its acquisition of Australian-headquartered management consultancy Partners in Performance, adding 400+ staff to its team in multiple countries.
The closure sees Partners in Performance’s local and international team officially join with Accenture Strategy, although the consultancy will continue to carry its own name, with the Partners in Performance branding now featuring a ‘Part of Accenture’ byline.
The terms of the deal – which was first announced in May – remain undisclosed. However, according to the AFR, Partners in Performance pre-deal revenues sat at around $120 million.
“The acquisition of Partners in Performance will strengthen Accenture’s offering to clients in industries such as metals and mining, oil & gas, utilities, and chemicals among others, by bolstering cost and productivity reinvention and the delivery of capital projects, as well as accelerating energy transition and decarbonisation efforts,” Accenture said in a statement.
Notably, Partners in Performance managing director Skipp Williamson, who established the firm in 1996 after departing McKinsey & Company, previously told the AFR that the current economic conditions and consulting market downturn had actually been been great for business, insomuch as it being a time when companies turn to operations specialists such as Partners in Performance to deliver an immediate impact.
“This partnership expands our capabilities and gives us ways to help our clients and our people unleash their full potential,” the firm said of joining Accenture. “We are committed to supporting our clients in achieving lasting impact and with Accenture's strengths in digital transformation and strategy behind us, we are confident we can do this better than ever.”
Earlier, Williamson said there was excitement among Partners in Performance personnel – including those based beyond ANZ in the UK, South Africa, and North America and Latin America – about the fresh opportunities which would arise from joining the global consulting giant.
James Osborn, European practice co-head at Partners in Performance, stated: “Having this huge digital capability behind us will allow us to deliver more, and faster.”
Accenture has made more than a dozen acquisitions in Australia and New Zealand since the height of the Covid-19 market disruptions in the middle of 2020, with the Partners in Performers pick-up being the local consulting industry’s most significant since that time, following Ernst & Young’s purchase of fellow premier strategy and management boutique Port Jackson Partners.
