(By Balaseshan) Accenture Plc (NYSE: ACN) said it has been selected by Germany's transmission system operator, Amprion Ltd., to help optimize its procurement function and improve its competitive positioning in a rapidly changing market.
Accenture will be responsible for managing the purchase of all goods and services for Amprion, from negotiations with suppliers to the review and settlement of invoices, in order to improve processes and lower total costs.
Accenture will also provide a procurement help desk capability. Terms of the 5-year outsourcing agreement were not disclosed.
Accenture will run and maintain the procurement function from Dortmund and its Delivery Centers in Prague and Bratislava.
Under the European Union's third common energy market directive and the German energy act, Amprion and RWE, which holds a 25.1% share in Amprion, are required to completely unbundle their procurement processes, which until now were shared by the two companies.
"Accenture looks forward to working with Amprion to further optimize its procurement processes. This agreement should enable Amprion to focus more on its core business: the upgrading and operation of its high voltage network," said Andreas Wisser, a senior executive in Accenture's Utilities industry group.
ACN closed Wednesday's regular session up 1.40% at $67.56. The stock has been trading between $51.08 and $71.79 for the past 52 weeks.