MONTREAL, Oct. 31, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Accenture (NYSE: ACN) today announced plans to acquire PCO Innovation - a leading international consulting and systems integration group that specializes in product lifecycle management (PLM) software technologies. The acquisition will strengthen Accenture's ability to help clients organize, develop and manage new products and services throughout their lifecycle and bring them to market more quickly and efficiently.

PCO Innovation offers PLM strategy and process consultancy, application architecture, system implementation, data migration and application management. Its professionals specialize in delivering PLM industry-leading platforms including Dassault Systèmes, PTC and Siemens PLM.

The acquisition complements Accenture's deep industry capabilities and the full range of services it provides clients in the design, building and management of systems and processes essential to driving their large-scale PLM transformation programs.

"Our clients are shifting to global operating models and the complexity of their products and services is increasing," said Sergio Colella, managing director, Accenture.  "There is a greater demand to integrate product and service development processes across disciplines from innovation to manufacturing, supply chain and customer service. With the combined capabilities of PCO Innovation and Accenture, we improve our ability to address this fast-growing market which is core to our clients as they build their future offerings." 

Earlier this year, Accenture acquired PRION Group, a company also specializing in the delivery of PLM services.  With the addition of PRION Group's capabilities and the skills and experiences of PCO Innovation's professionals, Accenture has expanded its ability to help automotive, aerospace and defense, consumer goods, electronics and industrial equipment clients improve the critical processes required to deliver products to customers quickly and efficiently. PCO Innovation's employees, assets and accelerators will support the expansion of Accenture's end-to-end PLM business services.

Etienne Borgeat, PCO Innovation CEO, said:  "Having established PCO Innovation as a leading independent PLM group, we are pleased to be creating a market leader for end-to-end PLM services with Accenture, offering our clients an unparalleled set of solutions and services."

"For many of our clients, competitive differentiation depends on innovation and time to market, so improving their PLM solution portfolio brings significant value to their business," said Jean-Laurent Poitou, senior managing director, Accenture. "Our research shows that PLM can get products into the market faster and more efficiently, increasing the speed of product launches by up to 55 percent and reducing operational and product development costs by 10-30 percent. PLM is also a critical lever for manufacturing companies to create profitable and sustainable business opportunities in customer service."

Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.    

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 275,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.  Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.  Through its Skills to Succeed corporate citizenship focus, Accenture is committed to equipping 500,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business.  The company generated net revenues of US$28.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2013.  Its home page is www.accenture.com  

About PCO Innovation
Founded in 2000, PCO Innovation is the largest independent international service group specializing in the field of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). PCO Innovation counts over 600 consultants and experts within its ranks serving 150 clients in 30 countries, of which some are world leaders in a wide range of industries. Combining its experience with advanced technologies and industrial processes, PCO Innovation offers value-added consulting, integration, maintenance and project management services to its clients throughout the world.

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: the company and PCO Innovation 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 for the company; the company's results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company's clients' businesses and levels of business activity; the company's business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company's services and solutions, and a significant reduction in such demand could materially affect the company's results of operations; if the company is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company's business, the utilization rate of the company's professionals and the company's results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which the company competes are highly competitive, and the company might not be able to compete effectively; the company could have liability or the company's reputation could be damaged if the company fails to protect client and/or company data or information systems as obligated by law or contract or if the company's information systems are breached; the company's results of operations and ability to grow could be materially negatively affected if the company cannot adapt and expand its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings by new entrants; as a result of the company's geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue geographic expansion, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; the company's Global Delivery Network is increasingly concentrated in India and the Philippines, which may expose it to operational risks; the company's results of operations could materially suffer if the company is not able to obtain sufficient pricing to enable it to meet its profitability expectations; if the company's pricing estimates do not accurately anticipate the cost, risk and complexity of the company performing its work or third parties upon whom it relies do not meet their commitments, then the company's contracts could have delivery inefficiencies and be unprofitable; the company's work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; the company's business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; the company's results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company's alliance relationships may not be successful or may change, which could adversely affect the company's results of operations; outsourcing services and the continued expansion of the company's other services and solutions  into new areas subject the company to different operational risks than its consulting and systems integration services; the company's services or solutions could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company might lose its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others; if the company is unable to protect its intellectual property rights from unauthorized use or infringement by third parties, its business could be adversely affected; the company's ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; the company might not be successful at identifying, acquiring or integrating businesses or entering into joint ventures; the company's profitability could suffer if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful, and the company may not be able to improve its profitability through improvements to cost-management to the degree it has done in the past; many of the company's contracts include payments that link some of its fees to the attainment of performance or business targets and/or require the company to meet specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company's revenues and impact its margins; changes in the company's level of taxes, and audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in the company's treatment as an Irish company, could have a material adverse effect on the company's results of operations and financial condition; if the company is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; if the company is unable to collect its receivables or unbilled services, the company's results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected; the company's share price and results of operations could fluctuate and be difficult to predict; the company's results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; any changes to the estimates and assumptions that the company makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; the company may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland ; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" heading in Accenture plc's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture's expectations.