Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has agreed to acquire Eclipse Automation, a provider of customized manufacturing automation and robotics solutions headquartered in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. The acquisition will allow Accenture to offer automated production lines that leverage the cloud, data and artificial intelligence (AI), making factories and plants smarter and thus, more productive, sustainable and safe. Financial terms were not disclosed.

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Accenture agreed to acquire Eclipse Automation, a provider of customized manufacturing automation and robotics solutions headquartered in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. (Photo: Business Wire)

Eclipse Automation creates automated manufacturing systems to produce sophisticated products for life sciences, industrial equipment, automotive, energy and consumer goods companies. Its technologists and engineers design, build, integrate and service advanced automation solutions for producing components and devices such as electric vehicle batteries and wearable blood-glucose monitors. Eclipse Automation’s solutions include automation control systems, production machines and robots, with critical customized tooling manufactured in-house.

Founded in 2001, Eclipse Automation has offices in Canada, the US, Hungary, Germany, Switzerland and Malaysia. Its approximately 800 professionals will join Accenture’s digital engineering and manufacturing service, Industry X.

Aaron Saint, North America lead for Industry X at Accenture, said: “Technology, data and AI are fundamentally transforming every part of a company. This includes engineering and manufacturing, our clients’ next digital frontier. With Eclipse Automation, we will combine advanced automation capabilities with our deep digital expertise. This will position Accenture better than ever to help our clients reimagine their products and how they make them.”

Jeffrey Russell, President of Accenture in Canada, said: “Many companies are bringing production back home to Canada and the US due to global supply chain disruptions. This gives them a unique opportunity to reinvent manufacturing with digital technologies and advanced automation. With Eclipse Automation, Accenture will provide technology and training capabilities that our clients need to develop a digital industrial workforce in markets where manufacturing skills are scarce.”

Steve Mai, CEO of Eclipse Automation, added: “For two decades, we have been leaders in delivering advanced automation solutions and high-tech manufacturing know-how to clients across multiple industries. By joining Accenture, we can also bring the advantages of data, AI and the cloud to our clients’ facilities at a scale that no other company can offer them.”

The acquisition marks the next milestone in Accenture’s expansion of its digital engineering and manufacturing capabilities. In 2020, Accenture bought Myrtle Consulting (US, Canada), a consultancy for strategic advisory on industrial operations, and Callisto Integration (Canada), a provider of manufacturing execution and shop-floor control systems. In 2021, Accenture added Pollux (Brazil), which engineers and deploys materials handling and autonomous mobile robots, paving its way into autonomous robotics systems. Later that year, Accenture made one of its largest acquisitions ever with international engineering services provider umlaut, headquartered in Germany, and strengthened its asset management and performance capabilities with Advoco (US) and T.A. Cook (Germany).

Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals.

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 risks include, without limitation, risks that: Accenture and Eclipse Automation 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 Accenture; Accenture’s results of operations have been, and may in the future be, adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic and political conditions, including the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the related sanctions and other measures that have been and continue to be imposed in response to this conflict, as well as the current inflationary environment, and the effects of these conditions on the company’s clients’ businesses and levels of business activity; Accenture faces legal, reputational and financial risks from any failure to protect client and/or company data from security incidents or cyberattacks; Accenture’s business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company’s services and solutions including through the adaptation and expansion of its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the evolving technological environment could materially affect the company’s results of operations; 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Accenture 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.

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