Accenture to Acquire HRC Retail Advisory to Expand Retail Strategy Capabilities

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has entered into an agreement to acquire HRC Retail Advisory, a retail-focused strategy consultancy with critical in-demand skills and solutions to help clients across the retail value chain — from customer-centric merchandising and omnichannel capabilities to the evolving store footprint and creating high-performance organizations. HRC Retail Advisory’s team of more than 30 people across North America will join Accenture’s Retail Strategy group, expanding its capabilities for helping clients leverage the power of technology to transform their businesses. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

“With new consumer habits that formed in the last year enduring into the foreseeable future, retailers need to be able to think fast and make decisions with insight,” said Jill Standish, Accenture senior managing director and global retail industry group lead. “The addition of HRC Retail Advisory will further strengthen our retail strategy and consulting services, which combine deep industry expertise, advanced analytics capabilities and human-centered approaches to enable 360° value creation for our clients.”

HRC Retail Advisory’s seasoned experts will add to Accenture’s deep bench of talented professionals who understand the key-value drivers, trends and omni-channel environment of the retail industry. With its highly focused set of skills and capabilities for strategy consulting, benchmarking, retail performance improvement, analytics and organizational design, HRC Retail Advisory has an extensive track record for helping large retailers across North America improve profitability and working capital, while better meeting growing customer, employee and investor expectations.

“Joining Accenture will give our clients access to a global set of retail strategy and performance improvement solutions to help navigate ongoing disruption,” said Antony Karabus and Farla Efros, CEO and President, HRC Retail Advisory, respectively. “We have a shared vision for helping retailers adapt their business models to meet expanding customer demands, strengthen balance sheets, modernize infrastructures and scale their digital capabilities effectively.”

“The retail landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace. With the right strategy, data and level of agility, every retailer has the opportunity to reset and refocus on growth,” said Brooks Kitchel, Accenture Strategy senior managing director and global retail strategy lead. “HRC Retail Advisory has a strong reputation for delivering transformative, measurable results based on clear, actionable strategies tailored to each client’s unique business, and we look forward to welcoming them to our team.”

Completion of the acquisition is 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 569,000 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 www.accenture.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

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