Who Is Buying Data & Analytics Firms? Top Acquirers: 2015-2025

Data and analytics services are drawing rising M&A interest as buyers race to add data engineering, BI, and AI capability. Between 2015 and 2025 we recorded 1,081 acquisitions of data and analytics firms worldwide, using proprietary counts from the Aventis Advisors deal database of more than 125,000 transactions. This article ranks the most active buyers and is part of our ranking of the top strategic acquirers of IT services companies.

This is the most fragmented line in IT services: outside Accenture there is no dominant consolidator, and the active buyers are a mix of global majors (Accenture, Atos, Capgemini), analytics-BPO players (ExlService), and data and AI consultancies (Artefact, Solita). Companies that sell data as a product rather than as a service are bought by a separate pool of acquirers and fall outside this ranking.

Who’s buying data & analytics firms: 2015-2025 in numbers

Data and analytics M&A climbed through the decade as buyers moved to add data-engineering, BI, and AI capability, and it stays busy relative to the size of the line. It is also the most fragmented: Accenture accounts for 21 of the deals we recorded, more than three times any other buyer, and no one else reaches double digits. Private equity backs analytics buy-and-build as well, with 117 of the 1,081 deals structured as buyouts. Prices are disclosed on few transactions, and most changes of hands are small consultancies bought for their teams.

The most active buyers of data & analytics firms at a glance

Deal counts cover announced acquisitions of data and analytics services firms from 2015 to 2025, families consolidated. Software product vendors (e.g. TeamSystem) are excluded.

#	Buyer	Type	Total 2015-2025
1	Accenture	Strategic	21
2	Artefact	Strategic	6
3	ExlService	Strategic	4
4	Atos	Strategic	3
5	Capgemini	Strategic	3
6	Solita	Strategic	3
7	Huron Consulting	Strategic	3
8	Applied Insight	Strategic	3
9	Logicalis	Strategic	3
10	Alten	Strategic	3

1) Accenture

Overview: Accenture is the world’s largest technology consulting and IT services firm, buying data and analytics firms to add data-engineering, AI, and analytics capability across industries.

Acquisition pace: The most active buyer in this line with 21 acquisitions: seven before 2020, nine across 2020-2022, and five in 2023-2025.

Typical target: Data-engineering, BI, and AI consultancies worldwide, from the US and Europe to Japan, Australia, India, and Brazil.

Select transactions: ALBERT (~$293m, 2022, Japan), Analytics 8 (~$17m, 2019, Australia), and Sentelis (~$15m, 2020, France).

2) Artefact

Overview: Artefact is a France-based data and AI consultancy consolidating analytics and data-marketing firms internationally.

Acquisition pace: 6 acquisitions weighted to recent years: one before 2020, one in 2020-2022, and four in 2023-2025.

Typical target: Data and AI consultancies across Europe and further afield (Switzerland, the UK, Germany, Chile, South Africa).

Select transactions: Arca Blanca (UK, 2022), Brain Food (Chile, 2024), and Effixis (Switzerland, 2024), all undisclosed.

3) ExlService

Overview: ExlService is a US-listed analytics and digital operations firm buying data-engineering and analytics capability.

Acquisition pace: 4 acquisitions: three before 2020 and one in 2020-2022.

Typical target: US-based analytics and data-engineering firms.

Select transactions: Clairvoyant (~$100m, 2021), RPM Direct (~$51m, 2015), and IQR Consulting (~$5m, 2016).

4) Atos

Overview: Atos is a French IT services major adding data and analytics capability to its digital services portfolio.

Acquisition pace: 3 acquisitions: one before 2020 and two across 2020-2022.

Typical target: US-based data-engineering and BI consultancies.

Select transactions: Visual BI Solutions (USA, 2021), Miner & Kasch (USA, 2020), and zData (USA, 2017), all undisclosed.

5) Capgemini

Overview: Capgemini is one of the largest global IT consulting and integration groups, French-headquartered, buying analytics capability for its insights and data practice.

Acquisition pace: 3 acquisitions, all across 2020-2022.

Typical target: European analytics and data consultancies (Sweden, Germany, France).

Select transactions: Advectas (Sweden, 2020), Quantmetry (France, 2022), and Braincourt (Germany, 2022), all undisclosed.

6) Solita

Overview: Solita is a Finnish data, digital, and analytics consultancy expanding across the Nordics.

Acquisition pace: 3 acquisitions: two before 2020 and one in 2020-2022.

Typical target: Nordic data and analytics consultancies (Sweden, Denmark).

Select transactions: Ferrologic (Sweden, 2019), Sparks (Sweden, 2019), and Intellishore (Denmark, 2021), all undisclosed.

7) Huron Consulting

Overview: Huron Consulting is a US management and technology consultancy adding analytics and data capability.

Acquisition pace: 3 acquisitions: two before 2020 and one in 2020-2022.

Typical target: Analytics and BI consultancies in the US and India.

Select transactions: Rittman Mead (~$1m, 2015, India), ADI Strategies (USA, 2016), and Unico Solution (USA, 2021).

8) Applied Insight

Overview: Applied Insight is a US technology services provider to government and public-sector clients, adding data and analytics capability for that market.

Acquisition pace: 3 acquisitions: two before 2020 and one in 2023-2025.

Typical target: US public-sector technology and data services firms.

Select transactions: Organizational Strategies (USA, 2018), Applied Technology Group and Stratus Solutions (USA, 2019), and Zavda Technologies (USA, 2024), all undisclosed.

9) Logicalis

Overview: Logicalis is an international IT solutions and managed services provider adding data and analytics capability.

Acquisition pace: 3 acquisitions: two before 2020 and one in 2020-2022.

Typical target: Analytics and BI firms in the UK and Spain.

Select transactions: Q Associates (UK, 2022), Lantares (Spain, 2016), and White Label Intelligence/Trovus (UK, 2015), all undisclosed.

10) Alten

Overview: Alten is a French engineering and technology consultancy extending into data and analytics services.

Acquisition pace: 3 acquisitions: one before 2020 and two across 2020-2022.

Typical target: Data and analytics consultancies in France, Italy, and Spain.

Select transactions: Lincoln (France, 2015), SDG Consulting Italia (Italy, 2020), and Clevertask Solutions (Spain, 2022), all undisclosed.

Active private equity investors in data & analytics

Repeat PE buyers include Stirling Square (3), AE Industrial Partners, Renovus, Quadrivio, Inflexion, and Aquiline (two each). See our ranking of the top private equity investors in IT services.

What data and analytics firms sell for

Across disclosed acquisitions from 2015 to 2025, data and analytics firms changed hands at a median of 2.3x revenue and 14.9x EBITDA. The quartile spread is wide, and the move up from reporting and BI into data science and applied AI largely decides where a business lands. For the full quartile tables, the factors that move the multiple and recent deals, see our data and analytics valuation multiples analysis.

What this means if you’re selling a data & analytics firm

Buyers want data-engineering talent, AI capability, and repeatable analytics services. The global majors (Accenture, Atos, Capgemini) and data and analytics specialists (Artefact, ExlService, Solita) integrate teams for capability; a set of sponsors backs analytics buy-and-build. Because the line is so fragmented, a well-run process can reach a wide set of acquirers rather than one obvious buyer. If your business is a data product rather than a service, a different (product) buyer pool applies. See strategic versus financial buyers.

About Aventis Advisors

Aventis Advisors is an M&A advisory firm focused on technology and IT services companies. We advise founders and owners on company sales, growth capital, and strategic transactions, combining sector focus with proprietary deal data such as the database behind this article. To discuss your options, get in touch.