Accenture makes three-pronged OT security acquisition for $4.17bn

The consultancy giant will take a majority stake in Dragos, and full ownership of RunZero and NetRise.

Accenture is to partially or fully acquire three companies in the area of operational technology (OT) security for critical infrastructure and industrial operations for what it called a “combined enterprise value” of approximately $4.17bn.

The consultancy giant will take a majority stake in Dragos – which Accenture said offers “industry-leading OT threat detection” alongside a “trusted vendor-neutral platform and proprietary dataset” – and full ownership of RunZero and NetRise.

Under the deal, Dragos will continue to function as an independent business while overseeing RunZero, a cybersecurity platform that offers “comprehensive exposure assessment and attack-surface intelligence”, and NetRise, which analyses software supply chains for vulnerabilities.

According to Accenture, combining the three companies, which are based in two different US states, will allow it to advance a platform “to cover the extended environment that controls physical processes” – or ‘xOT’ – at greater scale for the protection of power grids, pipelines, manufacturing operations, distribution facilities and data centres.

“Combining Dragos with RunZero and NetRise will deliver a unified solution that enhances visibility, accelerates threat detection and response, and strengthens Dragos’s ability to scale adoption of its broadened platform,” Accenture said.

Accenture said it expects the three companies to generate, in total, approximately $208m in annual recurring revenue as of June 2026, and noted that its overall cybersecurity business has current revenues of around $10bn, having made a number of OT-focused acquisitions over the past decade.

“Our clients across industries and regions are asking us how to be more proactive and integrated in their approach to cybersecurity,” said Accenture’s CEO and chair Julie Sweet.

Taking on the three companies at a time when “AI-driven cyber threats and geopolitical risk are evolving at a rapid pace … fills this important need”, she added.

Under the deal, which is expected to close in August or September, three executives from the two fully acquired companies will become executives for Dragos, which will continue to be led by its co-founder and CEO Robert M Lee.

“Our energy and water systems, manufacturing plants, data centres and other operational environments need cybersecurity built from the ground up for xOT and designed to keep pace as threats evolve. The consequences of getting it wrong become societal threats,” said Lee.

“Organisations need solutions, not a patchwork of software and services. The addition of RunZero and NetRise will allow the Dragos platform to be a unique, end-to-end platform for global defence, and Accenture will bring its decades of trusted relationships and deep expertise to help us scale and secure more critical infrastructure and physical operations globally.”

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