Mergers, Acquisitions, Partnerships in June 2023

Partnership for Co-Innovation

Henkel and SAP want to drive digital transformation at Henkel with the help of a new ecosystem.

Two major innovations will be implemented in an approach tailored to Henkel's needs: the introduction of S/4 Hana software and the complete migration to the cloud. This is a major leap for Henkel, as the company and its business units will benefit from SAP's new ecosystem, technology and software performance and will have significantly faster access to technological innovations. Under the partnership, Henkel will benefit from improved real-time, data-driven decision making and faster time-to-market through leaner and more sustainable processes along the entire value chain. Henkel and SAP have been working together for decades.

"Together, we will drive forward Henkel's digitalization by leveraging SAP's innovative strength and technology ecosystem," says Michael Nilles (left), CDO at Henkel, pictured with Jürgen Müller, CTO at SAP.

The partnership goes far beyond the mere use of software and technologies. Rather, it is about jointly developing innovations and solutions tailored to Henkel's needs and challenges in order to drive digitization and turn it into a real competitive advantage. The expanded partnership is a crucial step that takes collaboration to a new level. Carsten Knobel, Chief Executive Officer at Henkel, says: "Alongside innovation and sustainability, digital transformation is one of the most important elements of our agenda for holistic growth."

Akquinet further strengthens SAP division

South German Enghofer Koch Consulting comes on board Akquinet.

Akquinet, an IT services company headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, has acquired Enghofer Koch Consulting as part of its growth strategy. The acquisition was announced on
April 27, 2023 successfully completed. Enghofer Koch Consulting, based in Grünwald in southern Germany, employs 30 people and offers holistic SAP consulting services ranging from the design to the implementation of solutions in companies.

"This means we can advise our joint customers even more comprehensively and with even more power."

Thomas Muszal,
Managing Director, Akquinet

The technical consulting focus of Enghofer Koch Consulting lies in particular in accounting and controlling. This makes it an ideal complement to Akquinet's existing expertise. To date, Akquinet's SAP division has around 155 employees in five companies. The division has many years of experience in the SAP environment in many different industries.

Partner in data democratization

Analytics and AI company Dataiku and management and IT consultancy MHP enter into partnership.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming a key factor for the success of companies in all industries. Already, companies can use data analytics and AI to -improve business processes, make optimized strategic decisions, and increase operational efficiency. By democratizing data, companies are creating a culture of data-driven decision making. A relevant aspect of this is to sustainably empower employees to work with data and AI, promote relevant skills and knowledge, and provide access to tools and technologies.

"Companies can use data analytics and AI to realize decisive competitive advantages across the entire value chain."

Horst-Florian Jaeck,
Partner, MHP

Horst-Florian Jaeck, Partner at MHP, talks about these topics in more detail: "A key success factor is the appropriate empowerment of the organization and the 'democratization' of inherently complex analytical processes and algorithms. In our experience, the change to consistent data-based thinking and action often fails because the knowledge of how to deal with data, analytics and AI lies with a few people in a company - for example, the Data Scientists. That's why Dataiku's and our central concern is to ensure data democratization. Our ideal is a company where every employee can access data and analytics according to their own role."

CargWise service partner

The q.beyond subsidiary Logineer was launched two years ago as an IT specialist for logistics companies and supports small and medium-sized enterprises in their transition to a digital business model. Logineer takes over the CargoWise consultants team from IT provider Akquinet. Logistics companies use the CargoWise transport management system to digitize their process landscape. This enables them to move faster in the market and optimize their supply chains worldwide. In addition to CargoWise consulting, this includes the fully equipped digital logistics workplace including the necessary apps, SAP Finance, and comprehensive cyber security services.

Logineer is able to provide IT services for logistics companies worldwide and in 24/7 operation. With the takeover of the CargoWise consultants, customers with ongoing CargoWise projects will also be transferred to Logineer. There will be no change to the service they have received to date: All services will continue to be provided in the usual quality. 

Joining forces for transformation

By bundling their competencies, the two companies are further driving cloud transformation for their customers.

IT and consulting company msg has announced the signing of the Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA) with Amazon Web Services (AWS). As a result of this agreement, msg and AWS will join forces and bring together their respective technological expertise and industry competence. In this way, they intend to jointly meet the demand for cloud migration, modernization and cloud-based solutions. msg and AWS will work with companies of all sizes in the Insurance, Banking, Automotive & Manufacturing, Travel, Logistics, Network Industries and Consumer Products sectors to enable them to successfully transform their business to the cloud using AWS technologies.

"Our aim is to be able to meet the challenges faced by many companies with SaaS solutions, cloud strategy and industry-specific cloud consulting.“

Jürgen Zehetmaier,
Chairman of the Management Board, msg

msg will offer end-to-end cloud services, including cloud migration, development and FinOps, to customers in highly regulated industries. The expanded collaboration comes at a time when many enterprises are planning cloud migration of their core systems and applications, so msg and AWS will combine their experience and expertise to accelerate transformation for their customers.