Accenture strengthens California public sector presence with acquisition of Highlands Consulting Group

Accenture strengthens California public sector presence with acquisition of Highlands Consulting Group

(IN BRIEF) Accenture has acquired Sacramento-based The Highlands Consulting Group, a leading management consulting firm with long-standing partnerships across California’s healthcare, transportation, social services, and environmental sectors. Founded in 2002, Highlands Consulting brings deep expertise in organizational change management, digital and strategic planning, and IT consulting. The acquisition strengthens Accenture’s ability to serve California’s state agencies and expands its public sector consulting capabilities nationwide. Leaders from both firms highlighted the complementary fit, with Accenture contributing global scale and resources while Highlands provides local expertise and trusted agency relationships. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

(PRESS RELEASE) DUBLIN, 20-Aug-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has announced the acquisition of The Highlands Consulting Group, a Sacramento-based management consulting firm with more than two decades of experience supporting California state agencies in areas such as healthcare, transportation, social services, and environmental programs. The acquisition deepens Accenture’s presence in California and enhances its expertise in organizational change management, strategic planning, and digital transformation.

Founded in 2002, Highlands Consulting has built strong and trusted relationships with California state government agencies, establishing a reputation for delivering high-impact strategy, business, and IT consulting services. By integrating Highlands Consulting’s team of professionals into its operations, Accenture will strengthen its ability to serve public sector clients in California while also applying these capabilities to broader national and global contexts.

“Highlands Consulting’s strong relationships and credentials with state agencies will help us better serve our clients and unlock new opportunities for reinvention that drives growth and innovation,” said Ryan Oakes, global Health & Public Services industry practices chair at Accenture. “We are confident that this acquisition will deliver greater outcomes for our clients in the State of California and beyond.”

Mike Cappelluti, President of Highlands Consulting, emphasized the complementary nature of the partnership: “This deal is a natural fit for both organizations. We are joining forces to deliver even more value to our clients. Accenture’s scale and resources will enable us to expand our services and capabilities, while our local expertise and long-standing client relationships will provide a strong foundation for Accenture’s growth in California.”

With specialized knowledge in Health & Human Services, transportation, and organizational change management, Highlands Consulting brings capabilities that align with Accenture’s long-term strategic growth plans. Together, the firms will provide expanded consulting services to state agencies and help clients navigate complex transformations with greater speed and impact.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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. 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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.

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Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world’s leading businesses, governments and other organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance citizen services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent- and innovation-led company with approximately 791,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world’s leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in technology and leadership in cloud, data and AI with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability. Our broad range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Song, together with our culture of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help our clients reinvent and build trusted, lasting relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at accenture.com.

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Accenture
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SOURCE: Accenture