Oliver Wyman has acquired LShift, a London-based software development company. The deal sees LShift's expertise integrated into Oliver Wyman Labs, further boosting the firm's ability to support clients leverage their data troves for actionable insights.
Founded in 2000, LShift is a London-based hi-tech software development company. The enterprise provides a range of technical solutions to private and public sector organisations – its client base includes corporates as Barclays, BBC, Deloitte and Honeywell, as well as (local) government institutions (LShift participates in several public sector master framework agreements, including GCloud8).
The acquisition of LShift by Oliver Wyman boosts the technology and data offering of the management consulting firm, aimed at supporting clients develop innovative approaches to unlock the potential of their data troves. The company will be integrated into ‘Oliver Wyman Labs’, the firm's technology arm (launched in 2014) focused on developing data based solutions for a variety of industries.
Prior to the acquisition, LShift and Oliver Wyman had built a joint track record, working together on numerous occasions. The software house, for instance, supported technology workstreams of clients engagements, such as conducting technical reviews of code and architecture and supporting IT roll-outs and database work.
Commenting on the deal, Paul Beswick, a Partner at the firm and Global co-Head of Oliver Wyman Labs, says, “The mission of Oliver Wyman Labs is to help clients achieve competitive advantage and sustained impact through the power of the information they have, or could capture. With the acquisition of LShift’s business we will be able to further enhance this offering, helping clients on the path to becoming knowledge-powered businesses.”
Andy Wilson, Chairman of LShift, says that joining the ranks of the global consulting firm – Oliver Wyman has more than 50 offices in 25 countries – will allow it to scale-up its services and footprint. "As one of the first companies to use agile methods and empowered engineers to successfully manage large, complex projects with small teams, we are in a unique position to work with Oliver Wyman and take our combined approach to technology to a larger market, helping clients thrive through digital innovation."
Technology appetite
The move by Oliver Wyman reflects a growing M&A appetite by consulting firms in technology and analytics. Earlier this month IBM, for instance, closed the acquisition of Promontory and Booz Allen picked up Aquilent, while last year McKinsey & Company purchased London-based QuantumBlack. The likes of Accenture and the Big Four have completed dozens of deals in the space in the past 12 months.