Accenture to buy Ariba’s assets in $51m cash deal
TECHNOLOGY outsourcing and consulting firm Accenture said it would buy Ariba consulting services and BPO assets for $51m in cash.
Ariba, which provides procurement software and consulting services, said the businesses will account for about $40m of 2010 revenue and seven cents a share in adjusted earnings, it said in a regulatory filing.
Accenture, which will absorb 160 employees from Ariba, will enter into a four-year non-competition agreement with the latter.
The deal is expected to close in Ariba’s first quarter of fiscal 2011, ending 31 December 2010, the companies said in a statement.
Shares of Dublin, Ireland-based Accenture were trading almost flat at $45.19 yesterday morning on the New York Stock Exchange.
Ariba’s stock was down as much as 4 percent at $18.92 on Nasdaq.
At their Tuesday close of $19.65, shares of the Sunnyvale, California-based Ariba, which have climbed consistently over the last couple of years, were at the highest in more than six years.
The company press release suggests “approximately 160 Ariba employees are expected to join Accenture upon the closing of the transaction.”
The deal is not yet closed, but Ariba forecasts closing by the end of the December quarter.