Headquartered in Melbourne and owned by private equity firm BGH Capital, CyberCX was formed in 2019 through the initial acquisition and amalgamation of twelve separate boutiques, since growing to a headcount of around 1,400 across the region. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, business media outlets have pegged it as being worth in excess of $1 billion, described as Accenture’s largest ever in the cyber space and certainly the biggest in Australia’s consulting industry in recent memory. “We are immensely proud of the business we have built,” stated John Paitaridis, who was tapped to lead the merged business from its outset. “Joining Accenture’s global cybersecurity organisation enables our exceptional people to combine forces with global capabilities and provide world-leading cybersecurity services to an even greater number of clients across Asia Pacific.” Paitaridis was last year named as CEO Magazine’s ‘CEO of the Year’ for IT and Telecommunications, with the firm becoming the country’s most prominent voice in the murky world of cyber warfare by adopting a notably public profile through tie-ups with popular TV show Hunted and sponsorship of the Australian Open and Collingwood Football Club. Cyber threats have also gained greater space in the public consciousness since the firm’s inception, due to the increased frequency, sophistication, and severity of attacks and recent hits on high-profile organisations such as Optus, Medibank and Qantas. In addition to its advisory, managed services, and other end-to-end offerings, CyberCX runs a major incident response line. “Client demand for cybersecurity services is accelerating as data and digital environments become increasingly connected and heightened threats are exposed across operational value chains, supply chains, and the enterprise,” stated Accenture A/NZ CEO Peter Burns. “The need for responsible governance is also rising as AI and Quantum technologies advance.” Burns continued; “CyberCX’s breadth of capabilities, trusted relationships with government and critical infrastructure organisations, and exceptional talent in the region (CyberCX boasts security operations centres across both Australia and New Zealand), combined with Accenture’s local and global scale and innovation, will help us meet this ever-increasing client need.” Accenture has been significantly building up its global cybersecurity capabilities over the past five or so years via a string of acquisitions (totalling twenty over the past decade), including Context Information Security (UK) and Innotec(Spain) in Europe, Symantec’s cybersecurity business in the US, and South American firms Morphus, Real Protect and MNEMO in Mexico and Brazil. Not only is CyberCX Accenture’s first significant cyber purchase in Asia Pacific however, it’s the consulting giant’s biggest ever in the space, and comes as a number of its tech advisory rivals have also been making moves in Australia; for example Fujitsu’s recent $300 million investment and the formation of Wipro’s local cyber practice under the Wipro Shelde brand. Thales also picked off another of Australia’s leading cyber outfits in Tesserent in 2023 (which is now run by ex-Accenture security director Jacquie Kernot), yet the $176 million price-tag is significantly dwarfed by Accenture’s reported $1 billion-plus outlay for CyberCX. Indeed, it’s difficult to recall any consulting sector acquisitions of this size in Australia. Recent years have seen NCS fork out $325 million for The Dialog Group and Telstra pay $267 million for Versent, selling off an inflated 75 percent stake to Infosys just one day prior to the CyberCX announcement. Dating back a decade to CSC buying UXC for $428 million to later form part of DXC Technology, the biggest recent deal appears to be Accenture’s own purchase of Partners in Performance last year, for a reported $375 million. Source: https://www.consultancy.com.au/news/11507/accenture-buys-australias-cybercx-for-a-reported-1-billion-plus
