Accenture to Acquire Vocatus, Expanding Its Capabilities in Behavioral Pricing Strategies

Accenture has entered into an agreement to acquire management consultancy Vocatus, which uses behavioral economics modeling to develop pricing strategies and sales concepts for business-to-business and business-to-consumer models. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

CIO INFLUENCE News: Palo Alto Networks Announces Intent to Acquire Cloud Security Start-up Dig Security

“Accenture’s scale and global presence open up exciting new perspectives for our team members and clients. Together, we can take behavioral pricing and selling to a new level in a number of industries and offer companies holistic solutions for strategic pricing, as well as tactical price execution.”

With the acquisition of Vocatus, Accenture expands its offerings for clients in Europe with greater modeling capabilities for identifying price levels and sales optimization, differentiating from competitors and communicating with customers – using behavioral economics effects to predict decision-making and align incentive systems.

Headquartered in Munich, Vocatus and its more than 50 experts will join Accenture’s Corporate Strategy, Growth and Pricing division. For nearly 25 years, the company has been supporting businesses in sectors like financial services, media and telecommunications. Vocatus developed a proprietary, comprehensive method in-house, called GRIPS, to identify purchasing behavior and buyer types for specific markets. The method has been verified in over 500 qualitative and quantitative studies for clients across 30 countries since 2008.

“Vocatus brings a differentiated approach to behavior-based pricing that will help our clients gain a competitive edge and improve their market position. The acquisition complements our offerings in implementing growth and efficiency strategies with a view toward pricing and sales optimization,” said Johannes Trenka, Accenture’s strategy, growth and pricing lead in Europe.

Christina Raab, market unit lead of Accenture in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, added: “Business and customer needs and requirements are prone to change – especially in volatile times. With their in-depth knowledge, Vocatus will expand our pricing strategies and modeling, support our clients in modernizing their sales operation and ultimately help boost profitability. Together, we can help companies build resilience and remain competitive for the long term, reinventing their business models in order to keep pace with disruption.”

Prof. Florian Bauer, member of the executive board of Vocatus, explained: “Accenture’s scale and global presence open up exciting new perspectives for our team members and clients. Together, we can take behavioral pricing and selling to a new level in a number of industries and offer companies holistic solutions for strategic pricing, as well as tactical price execution.”

CIO INFLUENCE News: AU10TIX ID Document & Biometric Verification Platform Now in Microsoft Azure Marketplace

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 Vocatus 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 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; 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 if the company is unable to obtain favorable pricing for its services and solutions, 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; 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.