Global sustainable development consultancy Arup announced a strategic partnership and investment in Re:Co, a leading software and advisory company supporting the private equity market, to develop market-leading digital sustainability services.
Together, Re:Co and Arup will co-create a suite of tools and solutions aimed at improving performance across sustainability metrics while also achieving a high return-on-investment for funds and portfolio companies, encouraging increased green financing within the private equity sector.
Climate change demands swift action, and the way businesses operate today will undergo significant transformation in the coming decades. As the effects of climate change continue to intensify, the need to understand and manage exposure to related risks will grow. Businesses that do not anticipate and adapt to this changing landscape are likely to face increased business uncertainty and value erosion.
“Our private equity clients are experts in transforming businesses to unlock value. When it comes to ESG or sustainability strategy, many investors and portfolio companies have been able to begin their journey with compliance or reporting, but don’t have access to the tools or expertise they need to achieve higher-value performance improvements. Working with a world-leading engineering firm like Arup, we’ll enable clients to treat sustainability as a dimension of value-creating business transformation.”
Jennifer Wilson, CEO & Founder, Re:Co.
The private equity sector represents a significant component of the global economy, with an estimated $11.7 trillion USD in assets under management in 2022. Private equity firms, which focus on business transformation and unlocking the value in companies, are placing an increasing priority on sustainability yet often miss opportunities to align these efforts with value creation objectives.
They also face a fragmented sustainability service provider landscape where vendors struggle to offer a one-stop-shop with depth of service across strategy, technical and implementation capabilities. Re:Co has worked with leading private portfolios to deepen their ESG strategy, collect sustainability data on the Re:Co platform and improve portfolio performance over time.
Arup is a digital leader in the built environment and is known for its innovative research and commitment to addressing the challenge of climate change. Building on this deep technical know-how and broad real-world experience in decarbonisation, Re:Co and Arup are providing a new suite of scalable, full-spectrum sustainability software and advisory solutions for private equity firms and portfolio companies that support them from initial strategy through to implementation.
These solutions will link sustainability outcomes with value creation and provide best-in-class insights that enable clients to make smarter strategic decisions, underpinned by market-leading expertise, that lead to stronger businesses over time.
“Arup is 100% committed to sustainability and deploying the power of our digital expertise to galvanise the transition to a low carbon and sustainable future. Our partnership with Re:Co will provide investors with the robust and science-based data and indicators they need to invest with confidence in a market where we expect significant disruption. This will increase both the size and quality of investments being made in sustainability, to the benefit of people and the planet.”
Tom Wilcock, Digital Services Leader for Arup UKIMEA.
About Arup
Dedicated to sustainable development, Arup is a collective of designers, consultants and experts working globally. Founded to be humane and excellent, we collaborate with our clients and partners using imagination, technology, and rigour to shape a better world.
About Re:Co
Re:Co is a provider of SaaS-based sustainability solutions and expert advisory focused on private equity markets. We bring expertise on value creation strategy and ESG together to help make businesses stronger while improving their impact on people and planet. Based in London, the company works with the key decision-makers at the fund and portfolio company level to tailor strategies that meet clients where they are and place them on a path toward long-term improvement.