Accenture buys GRA boosting ANZ supply chain and operations capabilities

Global professional services company Accenture has acquired Australian-based supply chain and logistics consulting firm GRA. The acquisition strengthens Accenture’s supply chain and operations capabilities that help public and private sector clients address complex supply chain demands, the consultancy giant said in a statement.

Accenture country managing director in Australia & New Zealand Tara Brady said that the pandemic has accelerated the need for businesses to transform their supply chains to become more customer-focused, agile, and socially responsible with the flexibility to withstand future disruptions.

“The addition of GRA will expand our supply chain and operations capabilities to help clients with their transformation to intelligent, customer-centric supply chains supporting profitable growth,” Brady said.

Founded in 1997, GRA operates in Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane with a team of 50 professionals. The firm specialises in end-to-end supply chain and logistics strategies and operations, working in areas such as government, aerospace & defence and consumer goods to turn their supply chains into engines for growth.

In a statement, GRA founding partner Carter McNabb also commented on the acquisition.

“We are looking forward to starting a new chapter with Accenture and contributing their skills, culture and extensive supply chain capabilities to the consultancy giant’s substantive network of clients and partners,” McNavv said.

“With supply chains across sectors at a pivotal junction, we are confident that this combination will enable both our team and clients to continue to grow and innovate at an accelerated pace,” he said.

Louise May, who leads Strategy & Consulting for Accenture in Australia & New Zealand said that GRA brings deep knowledge and skills in supply chain strategy, planning and execution that complement Accenture’s existing capabilities, and they are delighted to welcome them to the team.

“Their successful track record of delivering value across a range of industries is exceptional, and we are excited about the potential and opportunity this combination presents,” May said.

Although terms of the transaction were not disclosed, Accenture’s acquisition of GRA follows other investments across ANZ in the past 18 months. These include cloud-native solutions provider Olikka in November 2020; SAP and cloud solutions technology firm Zag in October 2020; data analytics and supply chain management company Icon Integration in February 2020; business strategy and econometrics firm AlphaBeta in February 2020; specialist government consultancy Apis Group in December 2019 and big data and analytics company Analytics8 in August 2019.

Source: Accenture