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Accenture to Expand its Advanced Analytics Capabilities with Acquisition of i4C AnalyticsMILAN --(Business Wire)-- Accenture (News - Alert) (NYSE:ACN) has entered into an agreement to acquire i4C Analytics, an advanced analytics software platform provider based in Italy that specializes in helping clients solve complex business problems through easy to use analytics applications. The acquisition will strengthen Accenture's capabilities to quickly offer tailored, industry- and function-specific analytics applications that clients can use to drive business decisions and deliver positive outcomes. i4C Analytics will be integrated into Accenture Analytics, part of Accenture Digital. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. i4C's unique Application Configuration Environment (ACE) will enhance Accenture's existing advanced analytics solutions. ACE offers a scalable platform that enables the agile development of Advanced Analytics Applications (AAAs), turn-key industry- and function-specific solutions that enable accelerated time to insight, action and achieving business outcomes. The applications can be designed and built in a short amount of time, and integrate fully with clients' workflow processes to shorten the time from data intake to decision output. The applications are flexible, easily-tailored and agile, providing clients with immediate access to the tools they need to make timely analytics-based decisions to solve their complex business problems, improving customer interactions and enterprise operations along their journey towards digital transformation. Accenture will use the mature platform to start building new, advanced analytics apps across the different industries and business functions the company serves. "In a market where apps are everything, our analytics-savvy clients are looking to Accenture to help them get from data to decisions as quickly as possible. The acquisition of i4C Analytics is designed to help them do this in a fast, flexible and targeted manner," said Narendra Mulani, senior managing director of Accenture Analytics, part of Accenture Digital. "The days of bulky advanced analytics solutions that take time to create and are expensive to maintain are gone. With i4C, we will be able to build apps quickly and ensure they are as easy as possible for clients to access, understand and action insights based on relevant, timely data." Founded in 2002 and based in Italy, i4C utilizes industry and business process-specific predictive analytics applications to provide insights to multiple users throughout an organization. It currently provides industry-specific optimization and predictive solutions in vertical industries including Power & Gas, Financial Services, Retail, Manufacturing and Communications. i4C is a privately held company with over 70 employees. It is headquartered in Milan, Italy, with offices in Bologna and Rome and a presence in the UK. "I'm incredibly proud of the work we've done and the team we've built at i4C over the last 12 years," said Fabio Nalucci, co-owner and chief executive officer of i4C. "We believe that what we've built offers a uniquely accessible analytics solution for clients, and are incredibly excited that Accenture has recognized that and is investing in it. We have seen Accenture's focus on helping its clients become digital businesses. Together, we will be able to reach more industries in more countries with an advanced analytics solution that will change the way business processes operate, and speed up powerful decision making to help our clients thrive." Completion of the acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. About Accenture Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 289,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$28.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2013. Its home page is www.accenture.com. Accenture Digital, comprised of Accenture Analytics, Accenture Interactive and Accenture Mobility, offers a comprehensive portfolio of business and technology services across digital marketing, mobility and analytics. From developing digital strategies to implementing digital technologies and running digital processes on their behalf, Accenture Digital helps clients leverage connected and mobile devices; extract insights from data using analytics; and enrich end-customer experiences and interactions, delivering tangible results from the virtual world and driving growth. Learn more about Accenture Digital at www.accenture.com/digital. Accenture Analytics, part of Accenture Digital, delivers insight-driven outcomes at scale to help organizations improve their performance. With deep industry, functional, business process and technical experience, Accenture Analytics develops innovative consulting and outsourcing services for clients to help ensure they receive returns on their analytics investments. For more information follow us @ISpeakAnalytics and visit www.accenture.com/analytics. About i4C i4C is a privately held Analytics software vendor with more than 70 employees and 60 clients in the energy, finance, retail, communications and manufacturing industries across Europe. It is headquartered in Milan, Italy, with offices in Bologna and Rome and a presence in the UK. Founded in 2002, i4C is focused on Advanced Analytics. Using our Application Configuration Environment (ACE) and a series of industry-specific Advanced Analytics Applications (AAAs), i4C helps organizations solve complex problems and achieve objectives such as reducing costs, increasing revenues and maximizing margins. For more information, please visit www.i4canalytics.com. Forward-Looking Statements Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "positioned," "outlook" and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include, without limitation, risks that: the company and i4C will not be able to close the transaction in the time period anticipated, or at all, which is dependent on the parties' ability to satisfy certain closing conditions; the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for the company; the company's results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company's clients' businesses and levels of business activity; the company's business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company's services and solutions, and a significant reduction in such demand could materially affect the company's results of operations; if the company is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company's business, the utilization rate of the company's professionals and the company's results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which the company competes are highly competitive, and the company might not be able to compete effectively; the company's profitability could suffer if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful, and the company may not be able to improve its profitability through improvements to cost-management to the degree it has done in the past; the company's results of operations could materially suffer if the company is not able to obtain sufficient pricing to enable it to meet its profitability expectations; if the company's pricing estimates do not accurately anticipate the cost, risk and complexity of the company performing its work or third parties upon whom it relies do not meet their commitments, then the company's contracts could have delivery inefficiencies and be unprofitable; the company could have liability or the company's reputation could be damaged if the company fails to protect client and/or company data or information systems as obligated by law or contract or if the company's information systems are breached; the company's results of operations and ability to grow could be materially negatively affected if the company cannot adapt and expand its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings by new entrants; as a result of the company's geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue geographic expansion, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; the company's Global Delivery Network is increasingly concentrated in India and the Philippines, which may expose it to operational risks; the company might not be successful at identifying, acquiring or integrating businesses or entering into joint ventures; the company's work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; the company's business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; the company's results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company's alliance relationships may not be successful or may change, which could adversely affect the company's results of operations; outsourcing services and the continued expansion of the company's other services and solutions into new areas subject the company to different operational risks than its consulting and systems integration services; the company's services or solutions could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company might lose its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others; if the company is unable to protect its intellectual property rights from unauthorized use or infringement by third parties, its business could be adversely affected; the company's ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; many of the company's contracts include payments that link some of its fees to the attainment of performance or business targets and/or require the company to meet specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company's revenues and impact its margins; changes in the company's level of taxes, and audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in the company's treatment as an Irish company, could have a material adverse effect on the company's results of operations and financial condition; if the company is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; if the company is unable to collect its receivables or unbilled services, the company's results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected; the company's share price and results of operations could fluctuate and be difficult to predict; the company's results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; any changes to the estimates and assumptions that the company makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; the company may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" heading in Accenture plc's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture's expectations.
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