Accenture Acquiring Zenta

""Accenture"":http://www.accenture.com/us-en/Pages/index.aspx is planning to acquire ""Zenta"":http://zenta.com/ as part of the company's ongoing efforts to bolster its mortgage lending and servicing operations. The terms of the transaction have not been released, but Accenture has confirmed its intention to debut a new division targeting consulting, technology, and BPO offerings.

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Accenture, a major entity in process outsourcing, is seeking to streamline and enhance customer experience and engagement through its purchase of Zenta, a company known for its mortgage servicing provisions among lenders.

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Accenture's deal with Zenta will facilitate the launch of ""Accenture Credit Services"":http://www.accenture.com/us-en/Pages/service-banking-credit-services.aspx, which will support the company's residential mortgage, commercial real estate, leasing, and automobile financing clients.

Identifying the acquisition as part of Accenture's response to new regulations in the U.S. housing sector, the company's global managing director of Accenture Credit Services, Terry Moore, said, ""The wave of regulations and a changing credit environment are redefining the competitive landscape of the mortgage industry.

""In the residential mortgage business, low customer satisfaction, rising fulfillment costs, and falling pull-through rates - coupled with slower refinancing and purchase activity - are undercutting profitability. On the servicing side, regulatory changes are forcing operational transformation,"" he said.

Zenta is based in Dallas, Texas, and the planned merger will convert all of its 3,700 employees to Accenture, maintaining Zenta's presence as a leading mortgage processor throughout the country.

Both Accenture and Zenta also provide customer services for real estate investment trusts, a finance sector in which the collaboration between the two companies should be beneficial to both entities.