Partner Article

Anthesis Group Announces Ambitious Expansion of Global Environmental Due Diligence and ESG Services

The Anthesis Group today has announced the expansion of its Global Transaction and Corporate Services (TCS) team with the appointment of Tim Clare and Sarah Gilby, who join a group of highly experienced practitioners located in the world’s principal financial centres.

The global team has been assembled by Anthesis from the world’s leading environmental consulting businesses, and Tim Clare will lead the UK operations specialising in M&A Due Diligence and Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) services. Tim will be supported by Sarah Gilby; both join from Ramboll Environ and are highly respected figures in these fields. Building on Anthesis’ leading position in corporate sustainability, the TCS team provides a new “future proofing” option to parties involved in mergers and acquisitions and looking to manage ESG within their organisations.

Central to the Anthesis approach is recognising that as well as the traditional risks around “end of pipe” compliance, contamination and other legacy issues, clients increasingly need to understand the environmental sustainability, social and governance risks and opportunities associated with a business’ practices, products and supply chains to better understand the future challenges they will face. Software enabled consulting services are core to the Anthesis approach using value add tools, such as Risk Horizon™, ensuring a greater range of data is evaluated at a much faster pace than the market can currently offer.

Stuart McLachlan, Group Chief Executive said: “Over the last twelve months we have made a conscious effort to recruit some of the world’s leaders in M&A Due Diligence and ESG services. With Tim and Sarah joining the business we have now aligned our services and geographical platform / footprint with that of the principal financial centres across the world. With the combination of these leaders, our professional advisory expertise and advanced data analytics software tools, we are able to rapidly provide information on risks and opportunities relating to legacy issues and future scenario planning.”

Clare is one of the leading figures in Europe specialising in environmental, health and safety due diligence and ESG, joining from Ramboll Environ where he led the Corporate Advisory practice in the UK. He has over twenty years’ experience in due diligence and EHS risk management. As a practitioner, his core role has been as the director of multi-site, multi-jurisdictional EHS due diligence projects and in developing ESG policies and management systems. Clare’s role also includes assisting in negotiations and the development of transactional solutions for clients including Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, CVC Capital, BHP Billiton and law firms such as Clifford Chance and Latham and Watkins.

On his appointment Clare said: “I am very excited to be joining Anthesis at this point in the businesses development and to work alongside the other key industry figures it has assembled to create its global TCS practice. The market for environmental due diligence services has changed. Our clients need to understand the risks and opportunities that an investment may face, and then seek to improve that business once a portfolio company, in ways that their own investors will recognise as representing best practice in responsible investment. The Anthesis proposition is built to recognise this new dynamic.”

Sarah Gilby joins the team as Associate Director, bringing with her almost twenty years’ experience in environmental consultancy with a strong track record of delivering innovative solutions for clients to minimise environmental risk, maintain compliance and maximise returns across the buy-operate-sell cycle. She is a well-recognised and respected environmental, health and safety due diligence and ESG specialist and throughout her career has provided tailored advice and support to numerous clients.

Her experience has included ESG assessment, system and policy implementation, transactional environmental due diligence and compliance, contaminated land reviews and environmental permitting involving both single site reviews to multi-site companies across many jurisdictions. Clients have included multinational manufacturing companies, investment banks, legal teams, property developers and private equity houses.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ben Hardman .