Bain & Company takes minority stake in ESG specialist EcoVadis

Strategy firm Bain & Company has made a minority investment in EcoVadis, a Paris-based firm which provides business sustainability ratings, intelligence, and performance improvement tools for global supply chains.

The investment will accelerate both companies’ offerings for improving environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance for their clients.

The move acknowledges increasing demand across global industries – including private equity, consumer products, energy, finance, and technology – for solutions to help them reach "purpose" and ESG goals.

Bain & Company will integrate EcoVadis’ sustainability ratings into its approaches for corporate strategy, supply chain, and procurement, according to a release from the Boston-based consultancy. The firm will also develop a “focused approach” in specific offerings for financial investors, including funds strategy, diligence, and post-acquisition.

Founded in 2007, EcoVadis delivers a platform with easy-to-use sustainability scorecards which provide detailed insight into environmental, social, and ethical risks across 198 purchasing categories and 155 countries. The EcoVadis network includes more than 60,000 businesses.

The Paris-based company has a team of more than 600 professionals, and is a partner to procurement teams in more than 450 multinational organizations. The company has North American offices in New York and Toronto, and further global locations across Europe, Africa, and Asia.

“Recognizing that social and environmental challenges are growing, timelines for addressing them are contracting, and companies are moving quickly to adapt, Bain & Company is committed to our mission of creating value – economic, social, and environmental – for our clients,” said Jenny Davis-Peccoud, co-head of Bain & Company’s global sustainability & corporate responsibility practice.

Bain & Company’s minority investment in EcoVadis follows a recent $200 million investment from CVC Growth Fund II, which will further enable the firm to scale its growth and impact on enterprise supply chains.

“Bain & Company’s investment represents another substantial milestone for EcoVadis. The investment is a strong testament to the value and business-critical role that sustainability plays in today’s market,” said Pierre-Francois Thaler, co-CEO and co-founder of EcoVadis. “We continue to see executives from all over the world share bold plans for sustainability and ESG transformation. Collaborating with Bain & Company and CVC equips us to reach, enable and impact more organizations and communities globally.”