Global IT consulting firm Accenture expects to spend about $2.5 billion on acquisitions during the company's current 2022 fiscal year. That figure is down from a previous M&A spending estimate of about $4.0 billion for fiscal 2022.
So is Accenture drastically slashing the company's acquisition budget? Actually, no. Accenture CFO KC McClure explained the updated M&A plan this way:
"We've made investments of $2.2 billion in acquisitions, primarily attributed to 27 transactions year-to-date. And we now expect to invest about $2.5 billion in acquisitions this year, with another $1 billion that we expect to close in Q1 given required regulatory approvals."
Added Accenture CEO Julie Sweet:
"From strategic point of view, we continue to believe that the mergers and acquisitions are critical to the way we grow."
Related: See more than 100 Accenture acquisitions listed here.
Accenture Financial Performance, Acquisition History
Those statements surfaced on Accenture's June 23, 2022 earnings call. During the call, a Wall Street analyst asked Accenture for some perspectives about whether M&A valuations were easing, but the IT consulting firm didn't directly address that potion of the inquiry.
Among the upbeat data points that Accenture shared on the call:
- Revenue was $16.2 billion in Q3 of fiscal 2022, up 22% compared to Q3 of fiscal 2021;
- and net income was $1.82 billion, up 16% from the corresponding quarter last year.
- Moreover, Accenture expects its full-year revenue to grow roughly 25.5% to 26.5% — which is stronger than previously expected.
Many of the Accenture acquisitions focus on cloud services, cybersecurity, digital transformation, data and analytics, managed services, sustainability and ad agencies.
