Planned acquisition will expand Accenture’s Industry X.0 capabilities
and continue Accenture’s investment in Ireland

NEW YORK & DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has agreed to acquire Enterprise
System Partners (ESP), a consulting and manufacturing services
provider for the life sciences industry that is headquartered in Cork,
Ireland, serving clients around the globe. Upon close, ESP will join Accenture
Industry X.0, which helps clients master the digital reinvention of
industry, strengthening Accenture’s capabilities to transform
manufacturing for pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device clients
globally.

ESP has long-standing industry experience in planning and implementing
manufacturing solutions, with niche expertise in manufacturing execution
systems (MES) and serialization. MES digitally track and document the
production process, providing the groundwork for more automated and
analytics-driven manufacturing and supply chains. Serialization allows
life science companies to digitally track each saleable unit from the
packaging line all the way to the patient.

Ben Salama, a managing director who leads Accenture Industry X.0 in the
United Kingdom & Ireland, said, “Digital technologies are fundamentally
transforming the factory floor. With ESP’s manufacturing solutions and
our Industry X.0 capabilities, we can help clients take advantage of
engineering and product lifecycle management, advanced analytics, and
artificial intelligence for a flexible, efficient, and cost-effective
production process.”

ESP will be the latest of several acquisitions Accenture has made
recently to expand Accenture Industry X.0 in Europe and North America,
including embedded software company Pillar
Technology (US), hardware engineering firm Mindtribe
(US), and strategic design consultancy designaffairs.

The acquisition will complement others in life sciences that Accenture
has made in recent years. This includes the acquisition of LabAnswer in
2017, now the Accenture
Scientific Informatics Services (ASIS) business, which helps
capture, manage, and analyze complex laboratory and scientific data.

Anne Marie O’Halloran, a managing director and lead of Accenture’s Life
Sciences Industry X.0 group, said, “New digital technologies and
scientific advances are combining and changing how therapies can be
developed and delivered to patients. There is significant opportunity
for us to help clients drive greater efficiencies in how they
manufacture essential medicines for patients around the world with the
combination of ESP’s and our life sciences expertise.”

Founded in 2003, ESP will bring a team of 200 professionals with deep
manufacturing, process and IT knowledge, who will work closely with
Accenture’s Life
Sciences group. It currently services 17 of the top 20 global
pharmaceutical and biotech companies from offices in Ireland, France,
the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Turkey and the United States.

Liam O’Brien, managing director of ESP, said, “As part of Accenture
Industry X.0, we will be able to offer enhanced services to transform
our clients’ operations by streamlining processes from early-stage
research through development to manufacturing and distribution. It will
expand our capabilities to new regions and provide our team with new
career opportunities in a truly global organization.”

Alastair Blair, country managing director for Accenture in Ireland,
said: “The planned acquisition of ESP underscores our commitment to one
of Ireland’s most important and growing industries – life sciences. We
continue to invest in Ireland to grow our talent and increase our
capabilities to help our clients apply the very latest digital
technologies and drive innovation, further strengthening the position of
Ireland as a leader in this industry.”

In February 2018, Accenture acquired Rothco,
an award-winning, full service creative agency in Dublin with more than
170 employees. In February 2017, Accenture opened The
Dock, Accenture’s global innovation hub, which now employees over
300 people in Dublin.

Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing
conditions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a
broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital,
technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and
specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business
functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network –
Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help
clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their
stakeholders. With 469,000 people serving clients in more than 120
countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world
works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Accenture Industry X.0 helps businesses master the digital reinvention
of industry when they use advanced digital technologies to transform
core operations and unlock new revenue streams and business models. We
support every aspect of our clients’ multi-phase transformation
including workforce, customer experience, R&D, engineering,
manufacturing, business support and ecosystems. Visit https://www.accenture.com/industry-x0.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein,
statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely,”
“anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,”
“estimates,” “positioned,” “outlook” and similar expressions are used to
identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a
number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These
include, without limitation, risks that: Accenture and ESP will not be
able to close the transaction in the time period anticipated, or at all,
which is dependent on the parties’ ability to satisfy certain closing
conditions; the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits
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Contacts

Jens R. Derksen
Accenture Digital
+49 175 57 61393
[email protected]

Cameria
Granstra
Accenture Life Sciences
+1 312 693 5992
[email protected]

Caroline
Douglas
Accenture Ireland
+35 3876800074
[email protected]