September 21, 2026 – Solganick has issued its latest mergers and acquisitions (M&A) update titled “Salesforce Consulting Partners, M&A Update YTD 2026.” The report covers the latest M&A transactions, buyer activity, and outlook for the Salesforce partner ecosystem.
You can download the full report here:
Salesforce Consulting Partners Mergers Report YTD (Sept) 2026
Dreamforce 2026 Major Announcements:
- Salesforce Unveils AIforce, Expands Agentforce combining AI, data, applications, workflows, permissions, AI agents and interfaces.
- Salesforce sets $63 billion fiscal 2030 revenue target
Report Summary:
Deal volume remains steady, led by strategic buyers
Global systems integrators and digital transformation firms continue to acquire smaller private Salesforce partners to add expertise, clients, and AI capabilities. Private equity-backed acquirers remain active but represent a minority of announced deals.
Agentforce and Data Cloud are the capabilities being bought
Nearly every announced partner acquisition since mid-2025 cites Agentforce, Data Cloud, or Revenue Cloud expertise as the rationale. Accenture (NeuraFlash), Perficient (Kelley Austin), and Accordion (A5) all framed their deals around AI delivery.
TCS set the high-water mark with the acquisition of Coastal at $700M
The December 2025 acquisition, closed January 2026, added 400+ Salesforce professionals and 3,000+ certifications. Combined with ListEngage ($72.8M), TCS is the most acquisitive buyer in the ecosystem over the period.
Salesforce is reshaping the partner program and buying aggressively
Salesforce consolidated its consulting tiers to Select and Summit in March 2026, launched a Forward Deployed Engineering Partner Network in April, and has announced more than a dozen acquisitions since 2025, including Informatica (~$8B) and Fin ($3.6B).
- $1.2B Agentforce ARR, Q1 FY27. Up 205% year over year
- 2 Consulting partner tiers: Select and Summit, replacing four tiers in March 2026
- 12+ Salesforce acquisitions since 2025. Primarily to build out Agentforce Platform
Salesforce holds the leading global market share in CRM and is expanding into data management and agentic AI. Informatica (~$8B) closed in May 2026; Fin, formerly Intercom, was announced at $3.6B in June; Contentful was announced June 1. Agentforce adoption sits near 12% of the customer base, leaving substantial implementation demand ahead.
Partner program
The March 2026 restructuring cut roughly 170 legacy credentials to 28 core competencies weighted toward Agentforce and Data Cloud. The Forward Deployed Engineering Partner Network launched in April 2026 with Accenture and Deloitte, joined by 30-plus firms including Capgemini, Cognizant, IBM Consulting, KPMG, PwC, Slalom, and TCS. Scale and AI credentials now determine partner standing.
BUYER TYPE
Global systems integrators
TCS, Accenture, NTT Data, and Perficient acquire to add certified capacity and vertical depth. Deals range from tuck-ins to TCS’s $700M purchase of Coastal.
Examples: Coastal, NeuraFlash, EXAH, Kelley Austin
BUYER TYPE
Consulting and advisory firms
ZS, Accordion, and Eigen X bought Salesforce practices to serve existing client bases in healthcare, private equity, and the mid-market. Accounting firms are both buyers and sellers of practices.
Examples: Torrent Consulting, A5, Kavaliro, Forvis Mazars practice
BUYER TYPE
PE-backed partner platforms
Sponsor-backed Salesforce partners consolidate peers to add clouds and specialties. Cloud for Good (Tailwind Capital) bought EMS Consulting and StackNexus for financial services and public sector; Kicksaw added CLM with Northbound; Summit merged with Aimpoint Technology.
Examples: StackNexus, EMS Consulting, Northbound, Aimpoint Technology
What buyers pay for:
Agentforce and Data Cloud credentials, Revenue Cloud and CPQ depth, vertical specialization, offshore delivery in India, and Summit-tier status.
NOTABLE DEAL PROFILES
Strategic: TCS acquires Coastal for $700M
Coastal is a Summit Partner and Zero Copy implementation partner for Data 360. The deal brought 400+ Salesforce professionals and 3,000+ certifications into TCS, which had acquired ListEngage two months earlier. It is the largest disclosed Salesforce partner transaction since 2020.
PE-BACKED · APR 2026
Accordion acquires A5
Accordion, a Charlesbank-backed financial consulting firm serving private equity, added A5’s CPQ, Revenue Cloud, Sales, Marketing, and Service Cloud practice with delivery teams in North America, EMEA, and India. The deal follows Accordion’s 2025 purchase of Kavaliro’s Salesforce division.
SOLGANICK ADVISED · MAR 2025
Kavaliro sells Salesforce division to Accordion
The IT staffing parent sought to divest its Salesforce consulting division and focus on its core business. Solganick ran a competitive process across IT services buyers with a focus on Salesforce partners. Accordion won on fit, valuation, and structure.
Outlook for 2027
- Agentforce implementation demand drives partner M&A. With adoption near 12% of the Salesforce customer base and $1.2B in ARR growing 205%, buyers will keep paying for certified Agentforce and Data Cloud delivery capacity.
- Valuations bifurcate between scale and boutique. Partners with $20M+ revenue, Summit status, and verifiable AI outcomes command premiums in line with application partner peers at 2x–4x revenue. Boutiques without AI proof points or vertical focus face compression.
- Program changes accelerate consolidation. The two-tier program and FDE Partner Network favor firms with scale. Sub-scale partners that lose tier standing become sellers; Summit partners become acquirers or targets.
- Practice carve-outs continue. Accounting firms, staffing companies, and diversified consultancies will keep divesting Salesforce practices to focused buyers, following Forvis Mazars and Kavaliro. Expect PE platforms and GSIs to compete for these assets.
Download Report: Salesforce Consulting Partners Mergers Report YTD (Sept) 2026
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