In its first major acquisition of the year, US IT services player Accenture on Tuesday said that it will acquire Symantec’s cyber security services business from Broadcom Inc for an undisclosed amount.

In its 2019 fiscal year, Accenture invested nearly $1.2 billion globally on 33 acquisitions to acquire critical skills and capabilities in strategic, high-growth areas of the market. The acquisition will make Accenture Security one of the leading providers of managed security services, Accenture said in a statement.

Symantec’s portfolio of Cyber Security Services includes global threat monitoring and analysis through a network of security operation centres, real-time adversary and industry-specific threat intelligence and incident response services. “Cybersecurity has become one of the most critical business imperatives for all organisations regardless of industry or geographic location,” said Julie Sweet, Accenture’s Chief Executive Officer.

She added, “With the addition of Symantec’s Cyber Security Services business, Accenture Security will offer one of the most comprehensive managed services for global businesses to detect and manage cybersecurity threats aimed at their companies.” Kelly Bissell, senior Managing Director of Accenture Security, said: “Companies are facing an unprecedented volume of cyber threats that are highly-sophisticated and targeted to their businesses, and they can no longer rely solely on generic solutions. This acquisition is a game-changer and will help Accenture provide flexibility rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach to managed security services.”

He said, “With Symantec’s Cyber Security Services business, we can now bring clients our combined expertise fine-tuned to their industry with tailored global threat intelligence powered by advanced analytics, automation and machine learning.”

Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in March 2020.

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