Acquisitive ESG consultancy set to be sold

An acquisitive environmental and sustainability consultancy firm is set to be acquired by a private equity fund, amid growing M&A activity in the professional services and ESG spaces. The deal will see SLR Consulting acquired by Ares Management Corporation from current owner Charterhouse Capital Partners.

SLR was acquired by Charterhouse in 2018, with the owner’s investment driving transformation and rapid growth at the business. Since being taken over by Charterhouse, SLR has gone from operating as a pure-play environmental consultancy to a global business offering a range of ESG and sustainability solutions.

During this time, SLR has grown to have more than 100 offices around the world, with over 2,300 employees, while EBITDA has risen by more than 100 per cent since 2018. This growth has been underpinned by an acquisition strategy that has seen SLR complete 15 takeovers in the past four years.

Given the growing importance of ESG amid a tightening regulatory environment, as well as the ongoing wave of dealmaking in the wider professional services market, SLR looks set to continue, or potentially accelerate, its acquisitive growth strategy under Ares’ ownership.

SLR Chief Executive Neil Penhall said: "Charterhouse has been a vital partner in the successful delivery of ambitious expansion plans over the past four years and we thank them for their support. Together, we have been able to strategically evolve our business to capitalise on growing demand for a wide range of ESG and sustainability services – importantly bringing together strong strategic advisory capability with technical solutions.”

"Looking ahead, we are excited for the next stage of our continued growth journey with backing from Ares and the support of their global platform. With Ares, we have found a partner with strong experience investing behind growth companies with great cultures and a shared commitment to sustainability."

ARES partner and Head of European Private Equity Stephane Etroy added: "We are excited to support SLR in this next phase of growth. We believe that heightened focus on sustainability and the secular trends supporting the acceleration of climate transition will continue to provide strong growth opportunities for the company. With our global platform and relationship network, we believe that we will be able to support SLR in executing on additional levers of value creation in the coming years."


Read more about M&A across the professional services industry.

Find out more about the growing importance of ESG.

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