LRQA, a major global assurance provider, has announced it will acquire ESG and supply chain service provider ELEVATE. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but the transaction is expected to close this year following regulatory approvals. The acquisition is expected to help LRQA meet the fast-growing need for transparency and assurance regarding ESG initiatives, which are the subject of increasing regulation around the globe.
“The risk landscape is changing so fast, and our clients need a partner that can help them adapt, particularly in ESG. This agreement is a major signal of our determination to meet that need,” LRQA CEO Paul Butcher said in a news release. “We are bringing together two highly successful businesses to create something very special in the ESG field – grounded in true expertise, operating at global scale and driven by a shared belief in data to drive change. Businesses are having to rapidly re-think their approach to ESG, and I believe this deal will transform the way in which we can help our clients to respond.”
Over the past six years, ELEVATE teams have designed and implemented an end-to-end ESG service ecosystem that is built on the strong foundations of on-the-ground assessment, advisory, program management and analytics. This service ecosystem evolves the prevailing one-size-fits-all audit paradigm to one that is designed to reflect the unique needs of a customer’s risk profile and sourcing structure.
LRQA, formerly a unit of Lloyd’s Register, became a fully independent business owned by funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management in December 2021. The company is focused on enhancing its portfolio in key growth areas and capitalizing on increasing demand across its markets for assurance, inspection and cybersecurity services.
Ian Spaulding, who has led the successful growth of ELEVATE since its inception in 2013, will join the LRQA executive team.
“Working with LRQA supports our progressive, data-driven vision about the critical role of ESG in supply chains,” Spaulding said in the release. “It extends our ESG service ecosystem, connects our world-class solutions in the ‘S’ domain with LRQA’s ‘E’ expertise, and expands our global reach and sector coverage.”
