Acuity Knowledge Partners Acquires Ascent

Permira Acquires Majority Stake in Acuity Knowledge Partners from Equistone

January 27, 2023

Professional Services

Funds advised by Permira have acquired a majority stake in Acuity Knowledge Partners from Equistone Partners Europe; Equistone will reinvest as a minority shareholder and Acuity's management remains significantly invested. Headquartered in London, Acuity is a provider of research, analytics and business intelligence to financial services firms worldwide; Permira plans to support further investment in teams, services and technology to drive growth and geographic expansion. The deal is subject to customary regulatory approvals and was expected to close in Q2 2023; financial terms were not disclosed.

Accenture Acquires Ascendient Learning

May 6, 2025

Education

Accenture has acquired Ascendient Learning, a recently formed IT-training company (an amalgamation of Accelebrate, ExitCertified and Web Age Solutions) from Alpine Investors. The acquisition—bringing nearly 75 professionals into Accenture—expands Accenture’s LearnVantage capabilities in instructor-led training, vendor certifications and customized upskilling/reskilling solutions.

Acuity Knowledge Partners Acquires Cians Analytics

September 12, 2022

Professional Services

Acuity Knowledge Partners, backed by Equistone, acquired Cians Analytics in a bolt‑on add‑on to expand its research, analytics and KPO capabilities for financial services clients. The acquisition will integrate Cians’ research, data ingestion platform (LeverData) and analytics talent into Acuity’s global offering; financial terms were not disclosed.

Edgewater Equity Partners Acquires Ascent Technologies

January 18, 2024

Cloud & SaaS

Edgewater Equity Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, has acquired Ascent Technologies, a Chicago-headquartered provider of AI-enabled compliance automation for financial services. The acquisition will support accelerated development of Ascent's regulatory compliance platform and expansion of its AI-driven capabilities for financial institutions.

Acuity Knowledge Partners Acquires PPA Group

July 1, 2024

Data & Analytics

Acuity Knowledge Partners has acquired PPA Group, a Germany- and Switzerland-based technology-enabled service provider that prepares and structures financial and ESG data for commercial lenders. The acquisition expands Acuity's automation, AI/ML and data-processing capabilities and adds direct presence in Germany and Switzerland; PPA has around 150 experts and processes over 300,000 documents annually.

UKG Acquires Ascentis Corporation

March 9, 2022

Cloud & SaaS

UKG Inc. has acquired Ascentis Corporation, a full-suite HR and workforce management software provider headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The deal brings several hundred Ascentis employees (including staff in Montevideo, Uruguay) and roughly 4,800 customers into UKG, strengthening UKG's HCM, payroll and workforce management capabilities.