By 2000, Accenture had achieved more than a decade of tremendous growth, with net revenues exceeding US$9.5 billion and more than 70,000 professionals in 46 countries delivering to clients a broad range of consulting, technology and outsourcing services and solutions.
On Jan. 1, 2001, the company changed its name to Accenture (from Andersen Consulting) as the result of an arbitrator’s decision in August 2000 that severed the contractual ties between Accenture and Andersen Worldwide Société Coopérative (AWSC). Accenture then launched one of the largest and most successful re-branding campaigns in corporate history. The new name reinforced Accenture’s new positioning and reflected the organization’s further growth and broadened set of capabilities.
Since its inception in 1989, Accenture had operated as a group of locally owned independent partnerships or other entities in more than 40 countries. (Accenture is and has always been a global organization and has never operated under a U.S. holding company structure.) By 2001, it became apparent to Accenture’s partners that maintaining the organization’s existing partnership structure would limit the company’s ability to continue its growth. Therefore, the partners, more than half of whom were from countries other than the United States, decided to transition to corporate form, enabling Accenture to build and acquire the necessary capital to remain competitive and fuel its growth.
In April 2001, Accenture’s partners voted overwhelmingly to pursue an initial public offering, and Accenture became a public company on July 19, 2001, when it listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ACN.
Today Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 261,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$27.9 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012.
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