BrazilTechnology consultancy Globant picks up Latin player Avanxo
Buenos Aires headquartered Globant has acquired Avanxo, a technology consultancy with a strong regional foothold in Latin America. The bolt-on adds a team of around 300 digital consultants and IT professionals across offices in Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Argentina and the United States.
"Avanxo shares our vision on how to deliver digital and cognitive transformations,” said Martin Migoya, Globant’s chief executive and co-founder. "Avanxo’s team complements our model, and we are confident that this acquisition will help us propel our positioning as leaders in the digital and cognitive arena.”
Founded in 2003, Globant is one of South America’s largest success stories in the technology professional services space. After a decade of growth in Argentina and the US, the company launched an international expansion drive. M&A played an integral part of the firm’s buy-and-build strategy, with Avanxo being the seventh major acquisition since 2011. In that year, the stock-listed company (New York Stock Exchange) acquired San Francisco-based Nextive, and in subsequent years TerraForum (Brazil), Huddle Group (Latin America, US and UK), Clarice Technologies (US and India), PointSource (US) and Ratio (US) were all integrated into the firm’s ranks.
In Globant’s latest merger & acquisition chapter, Avanxo both broadens and deepens the firm’s suite of digital transformation services. “Avanxo holds key partnerships with Salesforce, Amazon Web Services, Google and Informatica,” explained Globant co-founder Martín Umaran, “expanding our cloud-based working service offering.” Since inception, Avanxo has implemented over 450 cloud projects, and in the process the IT consultancy has received several recognitions for its work, including being named a platinum Salesforce consulting partner, a Salesforce partner of the year for Latin America in 2016, and a winner of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Deliver award.
Clients that Avanxo has served include large brands such as ABInBev, Allianz, Audi, Samsung, as well as major regional companies such as Sulamerica, Ecopetrol, Sika, Terpel, La Meridional and Sodimac.
Commenting on the joining of forces, Avanxo’s founder and chief executive Diego Maldonado said: "We are thrilled to become part of the Globant team. Globant is a leader in digital and cognitive transformations, recognized worldwide for its ability to incorporate cloud into its deliverables to enhance customer experience and success. Together, we will be able to expand our capabilities.” The leader added that the blending of both organizations will also offer growth opportunities for the firm’s employees. “Globant shares our core values focused on talent development and employee satisfaction.”
Following the integration of Avanxo, which is expected to close next month, Globant will have over 6,500 employees generating more than $420 million in fees.
In other recent deals in Latin America’s professional services industry, Brazilian risk management consultancy GoOn was acquired by US-based FICO, and last year, Accenture completed the purchase of Brazilian marketing agency New Content. In Argentina, Goldemberg Saladino Hermida Rolando & Asociados, a Buenos Aires based firm with over 100 staff, joined the international network of Andersen Global.
