NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Accenture (NYSE:ACN) announced that effective immediately, Chairman and CEO Pierre Nanterme has stepped down for health reasons that were previously disclosed in July 2016. Accenture’s Board of Directors appointed David Rowland, who has been Accenture’s chief financial officer, to become interim chief executive officer, and to the board as a director of Accenture; and named lead independent director Marge Magner as the company’s non-executive chair of the board. The company also appointed KC McClure, who currently leads Accenture’s finance operations, as chief financial officer. Nanterme will continue at Accenture as advisor to the CEO.
“It has been my honor and privilege to serve Accenture’s people and our clients for my entire 36-year career, and I’ve never been more confident in our business strategy, leadership team and people,” said Nanterme. “I know that David’s significant involvement in developing and delivering our growth strategy to rotate our business to new, high-growth areas of digital, cloud and security — and his tenure as a highly respected senior leader and developer of talent — will make this transition seamless. This is the right decision for my family and me, so I can focus on my health.”
“Pierre is stepping down after a remarkable career at Accenture,” said Magner. “On behalf of the board, we thank Pierre for his leadership and visionary role in transforming the company to lead in a digital world. As chairman and CEO, Pierre demonstrated exceptional commitment to clients and a passion for developing a deep bench of extraordinary leaders and has been an outstanding advocate for creating a culture of equality at Accenture. He has had and will continue to have the board’s full support.
“Looking ahead, David is the right choice to serve as interim CEO. David brings deep knowledge of Accenture’s business, the global marketplace and the competitive environment — coupled with his unparalleled commitment to driving value for our clients, our people and our shareholders. I have personally worked with David for more than a decade, and he has the full support of the board.”
Rowland has served as Accenture’s chief financial officer since July 2013. Throughout his 35-year career with the company, he has held significant leadership roles and played a lead role shaping Accenture’s growth strategy. Rowland is a longstanding member of Accenture’s Global Management Committee and has served on the board and as Audit Committee chair for Avanade, a joint venture of Accenture and Microsoft. Prior to being named CFO, Rowland served for more than six years as Accenture’s senior vice president of Finance and chaired Accenture’s Operations Council.
McClure brings to her new role as chief financial officer 30 years of experience with the company. Most recently, she led finance operations across the entirety of Accenture’s business. McClure has also led investor relations and was finance director for two of Accenture’s operating groups. In her new role, McClure will join Accenture’s Global Management Committee.
“I am very honored to serve as Accenture’s interim chief executive officer,” said Rowland. “I look forward to working closely with our talented, best-in-class leadership team, including KC as our new CFO, to continue building on the strong momentum in our business and strengthening our market leadership in the New. On behalf of our 469,000 Accenture people around the world, I want to thank Pierre for his inspirational leadership and stewardship of our company. He has clearly left Accenture better positioned for generations to come.”
Accenture confirmed that there is no change to the business outlook for the second quarter and full fiscal year 2019 that the company provided as part of its first quarter fiscal 2019 earnings announcement on December 20, 2018.
Nanterme Highlights as Chairman & CEO: 2011 to 2019
Nanterme became chief executive officer in January 2011 and assumed the additional position of chairman of the board in February 2013. During his tenure, Accenture has consistently delivered very strong financial results, with revenue growth well ahead of the market, excellent EPS growth, and significant total returns to shareholders. Specifically, Accenture’s net revenues grew 55 percent from $25.5 billion in fiscal 2011 to $39.6 billion in fiscal 2018 (ended Aug. 31, 2018). During his tenure as CEO, Accenture’s market cap increased approximately $70 billion to $108 billion through Aug. 31, 2018, with a total return to shareholders of 309 percent.
Nanterme transformed Accenture and was instrumental in rotating its business to high-growth areas in the New — digital, cloud and security-related services — which together account for more than 60 percent of Accenture’s total revenues. He dramatically increased Accenture’s investment in the business to enhance the company’s end-to-end capabilities and differentiation. Nanterme has been an outspoken advocate for Accenture’s commitment to inclusion and diversity, including gender equality, and set an ambitious new target of achieving a gender-balanced workforce by 2025.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions — underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network — Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 469,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.
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