Grant Thornton Australia eyes potential cyber M&A activity

Professional services firm Grant Thornton Australia is set to join the Grant Thornton Advisors (GTA) multinational platform in a move that will unlock the potential to ramp up M&A activity in the technology space.

Said Jahani, CEO of Grant Thornton Australia, told the Australian Financial Review that the joining of GTA - a group of nearly 20 aligned firms spanning the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region - means that the firm will "have access to funds “in the hundreds” of millions of dollars for acquisitions", with the company "targeting smaller firms with five to 20 partners, particularly in advisory areas such as cybersecurity".

The company's national head of cyber resilience, Kate Monckton, as well as its head of cyber security, Jessica Jones, both took to LinkedIn to urge cyber consulting businesses looking to sell to get in touch.

Jones described the move as "an exciting milestone and future for GT, and an injection of capital that opens the door for growth across our cyber security delivery services", while Monckton stated the move is "opening the door to bolster our cyber capability through acquisition".

"Running a cyber consulting business and considering your next move? DM me," Monckton said.

When the deal was first announced earlier in the year, the company stated that the transaction would bring additional scale and momentum tied to the Australian firm’s annual revenues of USD $282m (AUD $392m), 1,500 employees, and six offices.

The firm also said that the transaction would significantly expand the GTA platform’s Asia Pacific presence, building on its footprint in New Zealand and opening new pathways for regional growth.

In addition to providing audit, tax, and advisory services to a diverse range of clients, Grant Thornton Australia also provides technology risk and cyber resilience services.

These services comprise of AI assurance and governance; cyber security assurance and SOC 2 audits; incident response, investigations and expert testimony; technology compliance and controls audits; and technology internal audit and risk advisory services.

The company has also crossed paths with the local IT channel over the years, most notably through signing a deal in 2019 with network security vendor NetLinkz not only to provide it with strategic advisory services, but also to actively market and sell NetLinkz products to its customers; selling off its software division in 2017 to Netsuite partner Annexa; and through buying Sydney-headquartered IT consultancy and SaaS outfit Consult Point Group in 2015.

“By joining the GTA platform, we gain accelerated access to the world-class technology, AI capabilities, and growth capital needed to build Australia's most modern, globally connected professional services firm while realising remarkable outcomes for our clients, and market-leading career pathways for our people," said Jahani.

“Grant Thornton Australia is a standout firm – with strong momentum, exceptional leadership and a culture that has earned deep respect in its market,” said Jim Peko, CEO of Grant Thornton Advisors LLC and leader of its multinational platform.

“Its agreement to join our platform reflects a shared ambition: to build something more connected, more capable and more forward-looking for our clients and for our people.

“Together, we can accelerate growth across the Asia Pacific region while strengthening how we serve clients seamlessly across borders. This is exactly the kind of partnership we seek as we continue to build a differentiated platform with scale and purpose."

Completion is expected later this month, subject to standard regulatory conditions.