Accenture (ACN) has announced plans to acquire Avieco, a U.K. -based sustainability consultancy firm. The terms of the transaction, subject to necessary closing conditions, have not been disclosed so far.
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With this deal, Accenture will be able to bolster its sustainability commitment by helping clients understand, manage and work on sustainability performance. The move comes amid growing awareness about the importance of sustainability, along with the introduction of laws for the same.
The addition of Avieco will build Accenture’s expertise in environmental, social and governance (ESG) measurement and reporting, net-zero strategy and regulation, and real-time data analytics.
Executive Comments
Toby Siddall, Accenture’s Sustainability Services lead in the U.K. and Ireland, said, “Effective data analytics and ESG measurement and reporting are vital to driving growth through truly sustainable business models and better decision making. Avieco will enhance our ability to help our clients put sustainability at the heart of their business transformations.”
“Accenture’s commitment to sustainability is strongly aligned to ours and its scale will help us expand our mission to turn sustainability promises into actions. Being part of Accenture will create new opportunities for our people and our combined expertise will help businesses become truly sustainable,” said, Ben Murray, the CEO of Avieco.
Wall Street’s Take
Last month, Robert W. Baird analyst David Koning maintained a Hold rating on Accenture with a price target of $360, implying 5.3% upside potential from current levels.
Koning said, “We think the stock could rally in coming weeks. We appreciate the demand environment and underlying margin expansion, even when wage rates are rising.”
The rest of the Street is cautiously optimistic about the stock and has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on nine Buys and five Holds. Accenture’s average price forecast of $400.93 implies 17.3% upside potential to current levels.
News Sentiment
News Sentiment for Accenture is Very Positive based on 22 articles over the past seven days. All the articles have a Bullish sentiment, compared to the sector average of 64%.
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