Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has agreed to acquire AOX, a German company specializing in embedded software for carmakers and their suppliers. The acquisition will enhance Accenture's capabilities to help automotive clients solve challenges they are facing in their transition to software-defined vehicles.

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Accenture has agreed to acquire embedded software company AOX in Germany to help automotive companies and their suppliers develop software-defined vehicles (Graphic: Business Wire)

AOX designs and develops the complex system architectures and high-performance software that increasingly enable and define the performance and features of todays’ vehicles. The company has built a reputation for helping carmakers and suppliers master the shift from traditional software engineering to developing highly integrated scalable architectures. This shift is crucial for carmakers and suppliers to stay competitive, leading to a faster go-to-market strategy, with improved and less fault-prone software features and products.

“Software expertise is becoming the dominating factor in the auto market,” said Christof Horn, who leads the automotive practice of Accenture’s digital engineering and manufacturing service, Industry X, in Europe. “This is where AOX excels. The company’s expertise in high-performance computing, real-time operating systems and the entire software development process makes them an ideal addition to Accenture. The AOX team will become another pillar of the automotive technology powerhouse Accenture has been building over the past years.”

Christina Raab, market unit lead for Accenture in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, added: “Automotive companies are looking for new types of providers that bring deep software architecture expertise and the ability to execute projects across the entire product lifecycle, cost-efficiently and at scale. In combining AOX’s and Accenture’s capabilities we will form a strong player that develops software from the chip to the cloud, covering the complete life cycle from architecture design to maintenance. This acquisition demonstrates our commitment to build long-lasting strategic relationships with our clients and support them along the complex Automotive Software value chain.”

AOX’s clients are major German car manufacturers and large automotive suppliers. The company is headquartered in Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany, and has offices in Karlsruhe, Rosenheim, and Wetzlar. Its team of more than 50 highly skilled professionals will become part of Accenture’s Industry X engineering team.

Rainer Oder, co-founder and CEO of AOX, commented: “As part of Accenture, we can create exciting new opportunities for our employees and provide the expertise and talent our clients need for major transformation projects. This will help them tackle complex software challenges in the concept phase of products and drive innovation throughout the entire lifecycle. Accenture’s scale and service portfolio will enable us to deliver software solutions to clients globally in the automotive industry and other embedded software-heavy sectors such as medical technology.”

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

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,” “aspires,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “positioned,” “outlook,” “goal,” “target” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance nor promises that goals or targets will be met, and involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These risks include, without limitation, risks that: Accenture and AOX 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 geopolitical conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company’s clients’ businesses and levels of business activity; Accenture’s business depends on generating and maintaining 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; risks and uncertainties related to the development and use of AI could harm the company’s business, damage its reputation or give rise to legal or regulatory action; if Accenture is unable to match people and their skills 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; Accenture faces legal, reputational and financial risks from any failure to protect client and/or company data from security incidents or cyberattacks; the markets in which Accenture operates are highly competitive, and Accenture might not be able to compete effectively; Accenture’s ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if Accenture does not successfully manage and develop its relationships with key ecosystem partners or fails to anticipate and establish new alliances in new technologies, the company’s results of operations could be adversely affected; Accenture’s profitability could materially suffer due to pricing pressure, if the company is unable to remain competitive, if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if it experiences delivery inefficiencies or fail to satisfy certain agreed-upon targets or specific service levels; changes in Accenture’s level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, could have a material adverse effect on the company’s effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition; Accenture’s results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; Accenture’s debt obligations could adversely affect its business and financial condition; changes to accounting standards or in the estimates and assumptions Accenture makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; as a result of Accenture’s geographically diverse operations and strategy to continue to grow in key markets around the world, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; if Accenture is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; Accenture might not be successful at acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; Accenture’s business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; Accenture’s global operations expose the company to numerous and sometimes conflicting legal and regulatory requirements; Accenture’s work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; if Accenture is unable to protect or enforce its intellectual property rights or if Accenture's services or solutions infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company loses its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others, its business could be adversely affected; 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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