Financial Times, Sunday, people familiar with the file: Accenture is looking at a sale of Greater China operations, for up to $1.5 billion. CNA, via Reuters: Reuters could not immediately verify. It is not a contract. It is a reported process, with sources. The company and JPMorgan, in NDTV Profit, declined to comment on that process.

NDTV, still on the FT: the bank was hired after unsolicited interest, over the past year. The unit: mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan. Possible buyers: private-equity funds and a few strategics. Accenture could keep a significant minority, so clients are not cut off. The review may not close on a deal. That is in the report. It is not a closing calendar.

Revenue, financial year ended in August: $74.2 billion. More than 120 territories. Asia-Pacific, about $10 billion, last year. Greater China is not all of Asia. We do not split $10 billion onto Shanghai. CFO Angie Park: exiting businesses and markets that miss targets remains part of the approach. She did not say, in these texts, “we sell China tomorrow”.

Why now, in the FT: the consultancy is reweighing where it puts money, against AI. Clients may spend more on implementation. Sceptics: automation cuts demand for classic consulting and outsourcing. It is not a verdict. It is the investors’ debate. Internal outlook: subdued growth for two years, then a pick-up towards the end of the decade. Shares, in the report: up 85 per cent from the June low. It is not investment advice.

Tighter rules on sensitive data, in China. Some Western professional-services firms have cut their footprint and split their systems. Cross-border integration, narrower. That is the FT’s context, not a sanctions file. Money from a sale, still there: AI acquisitions, lower client prices, buybacks, dividends. Conditional. The photograph: Accenture building, Reston, 2010. Not a Shanghai office. Not a signing.

Image: BLM Platinum, Accenture building, Reston, 16 May 2010, public domain, Wikimedia Commons. Not a Shanghai office.

Sources consulted: Accenture looks to sell Chinese operations for up to $1.5bn — Financial Times; Accenture looks to sell Chinese operations for up to $1.5 billion, FT reports — CNA / Reuters.