Oracle (ORCL) has hired due diligence specialists to explore the feasibility of acquiring Accenture (ACN), according to The Resister. Accenture's market capitalization was $75.27 billion before trading began on March 29.
While it's far too soon to say if a deal will emerge, the potential synergies -- and challenges -- are immense. Accenture has a massive Oracle Business Group that helps end-customers with a range of IaaS, SaaS, PaaS and managed services efforts. Acquiring Accenture and that group could help Larry Ellison and Co. to accelerate corporate IT migrations into Oracle's cloud -- potentially keeping business away from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.
Oracle Buying Accenture?: Potential Complications
Still, buying Accenture would involve plenty of complications. The database giant has relationships with multiple global systems integrators -- including Capgemini, Deloitte, Dimension Data and many more. Swallowing Accenture could strain relationships with all those players.
Meanwhile, Accenture has been buying up IT consulting firms that focus on multiple SaaS and cloud technologies. The buyouts have included cloud consulting firms that address Salesforce, ServiceNow, WorkDay, and more.
Also, an Oracle-Accenture marriage could rock the boat with plenty of channel partners. While the database giant largely sells direct to large enterprises, there are thousands of Oracle Partner Network (OPN) members that support midmarket businesses. An Accenture M&A deal could strain some of those relationships.
Deal or No Deal?
Our best guess: This 'deal' won't happen simply because it's like too big a fish for Chairman Larry Ellison and team to swallow. But then again... we've underestimated Ellison's appetite for IT world dominance before.
Update - April 3, 2017: An Oracle spokesperson says the company has absolutely no plans to acquire Accenture.
