Trending in the latest news, trans-Tasman SAP and cloud solutions tech firm Zag was taken over by global consultancy giant Accenture for a staggering $45 million. Currently, the leading SAP specialist Zag employs 200 people in Australia and New Zealand,  offering consulting,  cloud migration, development, support, and testing services.

Accenture acquires Zag 

According to Ben Morgan, Accenture’s New Zealand Managing Director, the acquisition would strengthen their ability to help clients accelerate their business transformation through the use of SAP and cloud technologies and deliver more value from the new platforms. The move would demonstrate the company’s ongoing commitment to bring innovation, talent and thinking to clients across the region by combining Accenture’s global expertise along with Zag’s local talent and insight.

The CEO of Zag, Nick Mulcahy claimed the firm has grown from an idea to a thriving business which has helped over 100 organizations become safer, stronger and more prosperous through the best use of technology. He believes that since 1996, Zag has led New Zealand’s SAP market through a drive to think creatively, building close relationships with customers and a firm belief that  people are their strength. Moreover, the combination of Accenture and Zag would be a great opportunity for their clients and teams, as they look forward to offering an unrivalled SAP offering. As per the NZ Companies Office records, Mulcahy or interests associated with him own close to 30 percent of Zag through a company called Soltius. Mulcahy joined Soltius in 2003 as a Senior Consultant. 

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Accenture’s Acquisitions

Accenture’s technology lead for Australia and New Zealand, Scott Hahn, stated that Zag’s experience in delivering cloud and SAP solutions across a range of complex businesses would be crucial to the expansion of Accenture local technology offerings. He was delighted to welcome them to the team stating that Zag’s extensive knowledge and expertise further deepen our capabilities and networks to meet the anticipated growth in demand for cloud and SAP services.

Accenture’s recent acquisition of Zag follows other investments across Australia and New Zealand in the last 18 months. This includes data analytics and supply chain management company Icon Integration in February 2020; specialist government consultancy, Apis Group in December 2019; business strategy and econometrics firm AlphaBeta in February 2020; cybersecurity and technology company BCT Solutions in June 2019 as well as big data and analytics company Analytics8 in August 2019. 

Recently, Accenture announced the formation of Accenture Cloud First with a US$3 billion investment across three years. The investment aims at helping clients across all industries become cloud-first businesses and accelerate digital transformation to realize greater value at scale and speed [1]. Last month Accenture announced it was creating a hub in Adelaide in a deal expected to create over 2,000 jobs for the city over the next five years [2].

About Zag – a cloud tech firm

The company Zag, founded as Soltius in 1996, is a leading SAP specialist provider that offers services which include consulting, development, support, testing and cloud migration. Zag has offices across Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney and Wellington, with a team of over 200 professionals. While the terms of the buyout were not publicly disclosed, the sale price is reported to be $45 million. Zag’s clients include the New Zealand farmer-owned cooperative Ballance as well as Australian energy provider Hydro Tasmania.

Source

[1] Accenture Newsroom (2020) “Accenture Increases Cloud First Capabilities in Australia and New Zealand With Acquisition of SAP Specialist Provider Zag” [Online] Available from: https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/accenture-increases-cloud-first-capabilities-in-australia-and-new-zealand-with-acquisition-of-sap-specialist-provider-zag.htm [Accessed October 2020]

[2] Information Age (2020) “Accenture to bring 2,000 jobs to SA” [Online] Available from: https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2020/accenture-to-bring-2-000-jobs-to-sa.html [Accessed October 2020]

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