Accenture Australia spent $93.9 million on its 2017 acquisition spree

Accenture Australia shelled out $93.9 million to acquire eight companies in 2017 as part of its ongoing strategy to expand its tech and digital portfolio.

The acquisitions helped Accenture grows its Australia revenue by $180 million in the year ending 31 August 2017, according to its financial report filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

The professional services provider acquired Melbourne-based Oracle partner Redcore and subsidiaries Redcore Group Holdings and Redcore (Asia), Sydney-based consultancy 2nd Road, Simian, design firm Maud Corp, Troop Studios and creative agency The Monkeys.

According to The Australian Financial Review, The Monkeys deal cost $63 million.

Accenture has been on a major push to expand its technology portfolio through acquisitions, including its 2015 purchase of Cloud Sherpas and more recent deals for Philadelphia-based IBB Consulting, which has offices in Sydney, and Solid-serVision, one of the largest independent ServiceNow solution providers in Germany.

Accenture Australia's total 2017 revenue was $1.8 billion, up from $1.62 billion the previous year. However, its consolidated profit fell from $77 million to $56 million in 2017.

Some of the drags on the bottom line included $4.76 million for bad debts and $29 million in "amortised contract expenses".

In July, Accenture named Peter Vakkas as managing director of its 1800-staff ANZ technology business, which constitutes about 50 percent of the Australian business.

Meanwhile, Mark Engel was named Australian technology managing director in August, a predominantly sales-driven role with a particular focus on the resources sector.

At a global level, Accenture turned over US$9.5 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2018, up 12 percent year-on-year.

“Our outstanding results reflect the significant investments we have made to differentiate Accenture – especially in digital, cloud and security services, which account for more than half of our total revenues,” Accenture chief executive Pierre Nanterme said.

“Our growth strategy is clearly resonating with our clients, and we are very well-positioned to continue gaining market share, driving profitable growth and delivering value for our clients and shareholders.”