Accenture will acquire Australian cyber security company CyberCX in what will be its largest deal in the sector. The Australian Financial Review valued the transaction at more than A$1 billion.
Private equity firm BGH Capital, which is selling CyberCX, did not disclose terms. Accenture also declined to provide details, while BGH did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the valuation.
CyberCX was created in 2019 through the merger of 12 firms backed by BGH Capital. The Melbourne-based company employs around 1,400 staff and operates security centres across Australia and New Zealand, with offices in London and New York.
The firm is led by John Paitaridis, former Optus Business managing director, and Alastair MacGibbon, Australia’s former national cyber security coordinator.
The deal highlights rising demand for cyber defence services as global businesses face frequent and costly attacks. Australia has seen a series of breaches in recent years, including Optus and Medibank in 2022, and more recently Qantas, which disclosed in July that attackers accessed personal data of six million customers.
Accenture has completed 20 security acquisitions since 2015, including Morphus in Brazil, MNEMO in Mexico, and Spain-based Innotec Security. Earlier this year, it also entered a A$700 million collaboration with Telstra to bring AI into the telecom firm’s operations.