IT consulting is where advisory and delivery capability changes hands. Between 2015 and 2025 we recorded 1,294 acquisitions of IT and digital consultancies worldwide, using proprietary counts from the Aventis Advisors deal database of more than 125,000 transactions. Global consultancies compete here with European consulting roll-ups and offshore-heavy players moving up the value chain. This article ranks the most active buyers and is part of our ranking of the top strategic acquirers of IT services companies.
If you run an IT consultancy, expect buyers that acquire for capability and integrate the team, more than buy-and-hold roll-ups. Utilization, sector expertise, and client relationships drive value.
Who’s buying IT consulting firms: 2015-2025 in numbers
Consulting M&A was steady and, for the leaders, accelerated into 2023-2025 around AI, data, and digital advisory demand. Buyers overlap with the systems-integration line, so many acquirers appear in both, see our systems integrators cluster.
The most active buyers of IT consulting firms at a glance
Deal counts cover announced acquisitions of IT consultancies from 2015 to 2025, families consolidated. “Type” marks strategic/operating buyers versus private equity funds. Software product vendors (e.g. Visma) are excluded.
| # | Buyer | Type | 2015-2019 | 2020-2022 | 2023-2025 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Accenture |
Strategic | 5 | 8 | 8 | 21 |
| 2 |  Emagine Consulting |
Strategic | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 |  CGI |
Strategic | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 4 |  Globant |
Strategic | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 5 |  Tech Mahindra |
Strategic | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 6 |  Lutech |
Strategic | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 7 |  Sopra Steria |
Strategic | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 8 |  Alten |
Strategic | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 9 |  Selbetti |
Strategic | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 10 |  Devoteam |
Strategic | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
1) Accenture
Overview: The world’s largest technology consulting and IT services firm, domiciled in Ireland (Dublin), acquiring advisory and digital-consulting firms to add sector expertise across its consulting and technology units.
Acquisition pace: 21 consulting deals, the most in our data, accelerating over time, 5 in 2015-2019, 8 in 2020-2022, and 8 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: advisory and digital consultancies across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific.
Select transactions: BENEXT (France, ~$59m, 2021), Decho Group (UK, ~$40m, 2025), and Orbium (Switzerland, 2019).
2) Emagine Consulting
Overview: A Danish IT consulting group building a pan-European advisory and delivery footprint through acquisition.
Acquisition pace: 10 consulting deals, evenly spread from 2016 onward.
Typical target: European IT and business consultancies.
Select transactions: Aveas Partners (UK, 2025), HighTeam (France, 2025), and Quality Sourcing (Sweden, 2023).
3) CGI
Overview: A Canadian IT and business consulting major that grows through periodic large platform acquisitions alongside smaller tuck-ins.
Acquisition pace: 8 consulting deals, with the largest disclosed values in this line.
Typical target: Established consulting and IT services platforms in Europe and North America.
Select transactions: Acando (Sweden, ~$449m, 2019) and TeraThink (US, ~$102m, 2020).
4) Globant
Overview: A digitally-native engineering firm, originally Argentine and now US-listed, acquiring consultancies to add capability and geography.
Acquisition pace: 7 consulting deals, all since 2020.
Typical target: Digital and technology consultancies across Latin America, Europe, and the US.
Select transactions: Grupo ASSA (Argentina, ~$75m, 2020) and Common Management Solutions (Spain, ~$56m, 2024).
5) Tech Mahindra
Overview: An Indian IT services major buying consultancies to move up the value chain and add domain expertise.
Acquisition pace: 6 consulting deals, all in 2015-2022.
Typical target: US and European consultancies with sector or platform specialization.
Select transactions: The HCI Group / CJS Solutions (US, ~$94m, 2017) and Eventus Solutions (US, ~$44m, 2021).
6) Lutech
Overview: An Italian IT services and consulting group consolidating domestic advisory and delivery firms.
Acquisition pace: 6 consulting deals across the period.
Typical target: Italian IT consultancies and delivery specialists.
Select transactions: Atos Italia (Italy, ~$249m, 2022) and Artis Consulting (Italy, ~$6m, 2022).
7) Sopra Steria
Overview: A European IT consulting and services group, headquartered in France (Paris), acquiring consultancies to build scale across its core markets.
Acquisition pace: 5 consulting deals, weighted to 2015-2019, 3 then, 1 in 2020-2022, and 1 in 2023-2025.
Typical target: established advisory and delivery platforms in France, Germany, the UK, and the Benelux.
Select transactions: Ordina (Netherlands, ~$560m, 2023), Galitt (France, 2017), and it-economics (Germany, 2018).
8) Alten
Overview: A French engineering and technology consulting group, headquartered in Paris, growing through acquisition of consultancies and technical-services firms.
Acquisition pace: 5 consulting deals, concentrated in the earlier part of the period, 4 in 2015-2019 and 1 in 2020-2022.
Typical target: European engineering and IT consultancies, particularly in Spain, Italy, and France.
Select transactions: values undisclosed; targets include Nexse (Italy, 2016), E-Tic Sistemes (Spain, 2018), and SDOS (Spain, 2019).
9) Selbetti
Overview: A Brazilian technology and services group, headquartered in Santa Catarina, consolidating domestic consultancies to build scale across Brazil.
Acquisition pace: 5 consulting deals, all in 2023-2025.
Typical target: Brazilian IT and management-consulting firms.
Select transactions: Nexcore (Brazil, ~$14m, 2023), DNK Infotelecom (Brazil, 2024), and Unirede (Brazil, 2025).
10) Devoteam
Overview: A French IT consulting and cloud group, headquartered in Paris, acquiring consultancies and platform specialists across Europe to deepen its digital-transformation capability.
Acquisition pace: 4 consulting deals, weighted to 2015-2019, 3 then and 1 in 2020-2022.
Typical target: European advisory and technology consultancies, especially in the Nordics, Germany, and Iberia.
Select transactions: values undisclosed; targets include Alegri International Service (Germany, 2018), BOLDINT (Portugal, 2018), and Inviso (Denmark, 2020).
Active private equity investors in IT consulting
Repeat PE buyers of IT consultancies include VIA Equity (4), Andera Partners (3), Polaris (3), Gemspring (2), Renovus (2), and One Equity Partners (2). See our ranking of the top private equity investors in IT services.
What IT consultancies sell for
Across disclosed acquisitions from 2015 to 2025, IT consultancies changed hands at a median of 1.2x revenue and 10.7x EBITDA. The quartile spread is wide, and where a firm sits between senior advisory work and staff augmentation largely decides where a business lands. For the full quartile tables, the factors that move the multiple and recent deals, see our IT consulting valuation multiples analysis.
What this means if you’re selling an IT consulting firm
Consulting buyers integrate rather than hold, so brand and team continuity is less likely than in an MSP sale, but capability and client relationships can command a strong multiple. Global majors (Accenture, CGI, Tech Mahindra) buy for capability and scale; European roll-ups (Emagine, Lutech) build regional advisory platforms; and a set of sponsors backs consulting buy-and-build. Utilization, sector niche, and low client concentration matter most. See strategic versus financial buyers.
Thinking about selling your consultancy?
Aventis Advisors advises IT services founders on M&A. We help you identify the realistic buyers, position the business, and run a competitive process. Talk to our team.
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.
