EY buys GRC expert Integrc, 100 advisors join Advisory
Accounting and consulting giant EY has acquired Integrc, an international advisory firm that provides governance, risk and compliance (GRC) services to companies that run SAP. Roughly 100 professionals in the UK, Netherlands, Dubai and India will transfer to EY’s Advisory practice.
With over 31,000 professionals in more than 150 countries, EY Advisory is one of the largest business and technology advisory firms of the globe. According to recent research by Gartner featured earlier this week, EY can call itself the 3rd largest global advisory, trailing just Deloitte Consulting and PwC/Strategy&, although EY of late can boast with the best growth track record, outpacing its rivals for a number of years. A recent analysis from Consultancy.uk revealed that EY Advisory’s revenues have grown from $3.8 billion in 2008 to $6.5 billion last year, a growth of 71%, significantly higher than the growth realised by EY’s Tax (18%) and Assurance (4%) unit in the same period.
In the past year EY has further bolstered its Advisory business unit with nine major acquisitions, complementing organic growth, of which The Parthenon Group, Netherlands-based Centre Consulting and Australia-based Sweeney Research are among the most notable examples*. Yesterday the Big Four announced yet another deal – the purchase of Integrc, a provider of governance, risk and compliance (GRC) services to companies that run SAP. Integrc was founded in 2012 following the merger between Netherlands-based CSI and UK-based su53, and has since grown to a team of around 100 professionals, with further offices in India and the UAE. The IT advisory helps organisations using SAP to make best use of IT to manage risks better, optimise process compliance, and reduce security and control operating costs.
With the move, EY bolsters its GRC consulting capabilities, both deepening as well as broadening is offerings in the field. The firm already has a market-leading position in the domain – EY was for instance named a “leader” by IDC in its latest MarketScape for GRC services*** – and with the latest addition the firm takes a further step up the vanguard value chain. “We attribute this great result to our approach of combining risk with performance improvement, and seeking out the best talent, developing new methodologies, strengthening service delivery and having a strong go-to-market approach”, said Paul van Kessel, at that time EY’s Risk Leader.
The joining of forces with Integrc will add capabilities across the full lifecycle of GRC consultancy and support services, says EY, referring to offerings such as strategy and planning, SAP GRC operations, audit, operational control and fully managed services. The focus of the added value will however in particular benefit the technology side of EY’s practice, with an emphasis on SAP solutions. “Integrc has unique and differentiating technology and industry insight, and we look forward to welcoming their highly skilled people into EY when we complete. With this acquisition, we will be able to provide a world-class set of solutions to help our clients’ GRC operations work better”, comments Jonathan Blackmore, EY Advisory Risk Leader for the EMEA region.
Martyn Proctor and Werner van Haelst, Integrc’s Joint Managing Directors, say that with the integration into EY Advisory they now can help companies “break new ground with GRC on a much bigger stage”, adding that they are excited by the outlook of a “perfect fit”.
The acquisition is expected to be completed in August 2015. Terms and conditions have not been disclosed.
* An overview of the recent major acquisitions by EY in the consulting landscape: 8th Man Consulting (Oracle expert; based in South Africa), The Parthenon Group (strategy consultancy; based in the US), Centre Consulting (performance management in the financial sector; based in the Netherlands), Corporate Quality Consulting (IT-expert; based in Germany), Roam Consulting (analytics specialist; based in Australia), Net Balance (sustainability consulting; based in Australia), Sweeney Research (market research; based in Australia), LogiStar Solutions (SAP supply chain solutions; based in the US) and Five Point Partners (CRM application capabilities; based in the US).
** CSI was established in in 1997, su53 was founded in 2006.
*** IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Business Consulting Services for Governance, Risk and Compliance Vendor Analysis. Other leaders include among others Deloitte, Accenture, McKinsey and PwC.
