Accenture Announces Intent to Acquire Greenfish, an Independent, Belgium-Based Sustainability Engineering and Advisory Company

Acquisition Would Expand Sustainability Services Capabilities in Europe

BRUSSELS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has announced its intent to acquire Greenfish, an independent engineering and advisory company specializing in sustainability consultancy services. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

Founded in 2010 and based in Brussels, Greenfish provides sustainability consultancy services and engineering solutions to accelerate sustainable business transformation, from strategy to implementation. With offices in Belgium, France and the Netherlands, the company’s more than 270 highly skilled professionals would join Accenture Sustainability Services.

"Organizations are increasingly pursuing more sustainable business models and improved performance in environmental, social and governance (ESG) terms. This shift brings financial and competitive value to companies, while making sustainability and ESG a priority at all levels of the organization,” said Olivier Girard, market unit lead for Accenture France & Benelux. “Acquiring Greenfish would further enhance our deep experience in helping European clients improve their ESG performance and embed sustainability by design in their operations.”

Accenture Sustainability Services provide distinctive services and solutions for clients to become net-zero and circular businesses, leveraging digital investment to create intelligent organizations that are sustainable at their core. Along with its ecosystem partners and ventures into disruptive technologies, Accenture is driving transformations at scale with the tools, technology, and methodologies that embed sustainability data, decision-making and performance to effectively measure business value and sustainable impact for all stakeholders.

With the acquisition of Greenfish, Accenture would be able to build its sustainability skills and capabilities and scale its services faster to address the growing needs of clients. Post COP26 in particular, companies in Europe are accelerating their sustainability transformations, with evolving energy and supply-chains pressures only furthering this trend.

Peter Lacy, Accenture’s global Sustainability Services lead and chief responsibility officer, added, “The Accenture Sustainability Value Promise is to embed sustainability into everything we do, with everyone we work with, creating both business value and sustainable impact, enabled by technology and human ingenuity. Adding more than 270 deeply skilled professionals in the areas of low-carbon energy transitions, the circular economy and ESG measurement would rapidly accelerate our already-strong leadership both across Europe, and within the critical markets of France, Belgium and the Netherlands.”

Yann Louise, Co-founder of Greenfish, said, “We are motivated by this opportunity to join a leading organization to continue to drive sustainability as a top priority. Combining our respective expertise would allow us to reach a larger group of clients, and offer a whole new level of strategic counsel and services, thus accelerating the sustainability transformation of our clients and increasing our impact on society.”

The acquisition requires prior consultation with the relevant works councils and would be subject to customary closing conditions.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched experience and specialized 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 centers. Our 699,000 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 accenture.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 risks include, without limitation, risks that: Accenture and Greenfish 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 Accenture; the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Accenture’s business and operations, and the extent to which it will continue to do so and its impact on the company’s future financial results are uncertain; Accenture’s results of operations have been, and may in the future be, adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic and political conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company’s clients’ businesses and levels of business activity; Accenture’s business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company’s services and solutions including through the adaptation and expansion of its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the evolving technological environment could materially affect the company’s results of operations; if Accenture is unable to match people and skills 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; Accenture faces legal, reputational and financial risks from any failure to protect client and/or company data from security incidents or cyberattacks; the markets in which Accenture operates are highly competitive, and Accenture might not be able to compete effectively; Accenture’s ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if Accenture does not successfully manage and develop its relationships with key alliance partners or fails to anticipate and establish new alliances in new technologies, the company's results of operations could be adversely affected; Accenture’s profitability could materially suffer if the company is unable to obtain favorable pricing for its services and solutions, if the company is unable to remain competitive, if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if it experiences delivery inefficiencies or fail to satisfy certain agreed-upon targets or specific service levels; changes in Accenture’s level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, could have a material adverse effect on the company’s effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition; Accenture’s results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; changes to accounting standards or in the estimates and assumptions Accenture makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; Accenture might be unable to access additional capital on favorable terms or at all and if the company raises equity capital, it may dilute its shareholders’ ownership interest in the company; as a result of Accenture’s geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue to expand in its key markets around the world, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; if Accenture is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; Accenture might not be successful at acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; Accenture’s business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; Accenture’s global operations expose the company to numerous and sometimes conflicting legal and regulatory requirements; Accenture’s work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; if Accenture is unable to protect or enforce its intellectual property rights or if Accenture’s services or solutions infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company loses its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others, its business could be adversely affected; Accenture’s results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; Accenture 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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Alexander Aizenberg

Accenture

+1 917 452 9878

alexander.aizenberg@accenture.com

Velislava Lefevre

Accenture France

+33 1 53 23 46 18

velislava.lefevre@accenture.com

Source: Accenture