The investment by CVC Growth Partners II is one of the largest to date in the ESG space.

The Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) space commands a lot of investing heft these days. That much is evident from CVC Growth Partners’ confidence in EcoVadis. The latter is a provider of sustainability ratings for global supply chains. CVC’s investment of approximately $200 million is, therefore, a validation of its view that ESG is extremely important to business success over the long term.

“The supply chain is the single greatest lever for creating real change and making an impact,” said Pierre-Francois Thaler, co-CEO and co-founder of EcoVadis. “But when left unmanaged, it becomes a breeding ground for hidden risk. These include forced labor, environmental waste, corruption, security issues and more.”

How EcoVadis does it

EcoVadis’ sustainability scorecards provide insight into environmental, social and ethical risks across 198 purchasing categories and 155 countries. Further, they cover more than 60,000 companies. The firm added over 10,000 companies in 2019 alone.

Industry leaders such as Johnson & Johnson, Verizon, L’Oréal, Subway, Nestlé, Salesforce, Michelin and BASF are among these enterprises.

Moreover, the company delivers its evidence-based assessment methodology via a cloud-based SaaS platform.

“EcoVadis’ unique assessment platform and expansive supplier network are proven to improve sustainability outcomes and accelerate business performance,” said Sebastian Kuenne, Managing Director who leads CVC Growth Partners in Europe.

“We identified ESG as a particular area of focus for best-in-class companies, and are incredibly excited about the immense opportunities that lie ahead for the Company, as it continues to establish itself as the gold standard for ESG ratings,” said Aaron Dupuis, Senior Managing Director at CVC Growth Partners.

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