(Reuters) -Accenture said on Thursday it will buy Australian cybersecurity firm CyberCX in its largest-ever deal in the sector, with the Australian Financial Review valuing the transaction at more than A$1 billion ($650 million).
A wave of devastating cyberattacks has battered Australia, including a 2022 breach at telecom major Optus that exposed the personal data of up to 10 million users, and a hack on health insurer Medibank affecting nearly 10 million customers.
In July, Qantas Airways disclosed that criminals had infiltrated one of its call centres, accessing personal information of six million customers.
Private equity firm BGH Capital, which is selling CyberCX, has not disclosed any financial terms. Accenture declined to provide additional details, while BGH Capital didn't respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the reported valuation.
The deal underscores the surging demand for advanced digital security services as businesses worldwide face increasingly sophisticated cyber threats that disrupt operations and compromise sensitive data.
Melbourne-based CyberCX was formed in 2019 through the merger of 12 smaller cybersecurity firms backed by BGH Capital.
The company now employs about 1,400 people and runs security operations centres across Australia and New Zealand, with offices in London and New York.
CyberCX is led by John Paitaridis, formerly managing director of Optus Business, and Chief Strategy Officer Alastair MacGibbon, Australia's former national cybersecurity coordinator.
The leadership's ties to Optus are notable, given the telecommunications company's 2022 data breach, which exposed names, birth dates, addresses, phone numbers, email contacts and passport and driver's license numbers.
Since 2015, Accenture has completed 20 security acquisitions, including recent purchases of Brazilian cyber defense firm Morphus, MNEMO Mexico and Spain-based Innotec Security.
On the domestic front, the firm entered into a $700 million collaborative agreement with Telstra in February, aiming to implement AI capabilities across the telecommunications company.
($1 = A$1.5385)
(Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Rashmi Aich)
