Accenture plc (ACN Quick QuoteACN - Free Report) today announced its plan to snap up BENEXT, a France-based full-stack, product consulting company. Financial terms have been kept under wraps.

Established in 2014, BENEXT specializes in cloud-based development and data science, product management and agile coaching. The company’s 160 professionals will join Accenture’s OCTO Technology, a technology consultancy that specializes in digital transformation and software development.

Buyout to Boost Accenture’s Cloud First Capabilities

The acquisition is expected to boost capabilities of Accenture Cloud First at European and global scales by adding specialized skills that will enable Accenture to cater to the increasing demand for effective product management and agile methods.

“The unique combination of our product management, organizational and technology skills would generate more value to the French market in particular for our clients in the public sector, financial services, and the media industry," said Olivier Girard, market unit lead for Accenture France & Benelux.

Accenture’s shares have gained 47.6% over the past year, underperforming the 54.1% growth of the industry it belongs to but outperforming the 38.1% growth of the Zacks S&P 500 composite.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Accenture currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks worth considering in the broader Zacks Business Services sector are ManpowerGroup (MAN Quick QuoteMAN - Free Report) , Equifax (EFX Quick QuoteEFX - Free Report)  and TransUnion (TRU Quick QuoteTRU - Free Report) . All three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The long-term expected earnings per share (three to five years) growth rate for ManpowerGroup, Equifax and TransUnion is pegged at 24.2%, 15.2% and 22%, respectively.