Consulting giant Accenture has acquired UK-based cyber defense consultancy Context Information Security from Babcock International Group.
Accenture says it’s not disclosing any financial terms, but aerospace and defense company Babcock revealed that it sold Context for £107 million, or roughly $140 million.
Founded in 1998, Context provides cyber defense, red team, vulnerability research, and incident response services to organizations in the government, financial services, aerospace and defense, and critical infrastructure sectors.
The company has over 250 employees and offices in the UK, Germany, Australia and the United States. According to Babcock, Context had an operating profit of £2 million ($2.6 million) in the fiscal year that ended in March 2019, and as of September 2019 it had gross assets of £36 million ($47 million).
Accenture says its acquisition of Context will strengthen Accenture Security’s portfolio and accelerate its growth in the UK and internationally.
“This acquisition is an excellent match for us, combining a group of highly skilled cybersecurity professionals globally while providing differentiated services to clients in the U.K. market,” said Kelly Bissell, a senior managing director at Accenture, who leads Accenture Security. “The deal signals continued aggressive growth for Accenture Security and gives us a new branch of talented family members to help clients grow their business with confidence and resilience.”
Archie Bethel, CEO of Babcock, commented, “Context is an exciting business and has achieved a great deal in the area of cyber security. We wish Accenture well in taking the business forward from here. This transaction represents a further focusing of our business and supports our medium term strategy.”
Babcock shares dropped nearly 3 percent on Friday after the sale of Context was announced.
Accenture acquired several cybersecurity solutions providers in the past years, including Symantec’s Cyber Security Services business, Deja vu Security, iDefense, Maglan, Redcore, Arismore and FusionX.
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Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a contributing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.
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