Australia Barriers INVESTMENT
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Enviros, a well-known name in UK environmental consultancy, when it was up for sale in 2007. Enviros was snapped up for £27m by ambitious Australian consultancy SKM, which recognized its need to increase its environmental expertise, including its ability to advise clients on energy effi ciency and carbon emissions reduction. Among Impax’s services investments is RPS, one of the biggest names in UK environmental consultancy, and with a considerable presence in Australia and the Netherlands. Like many multidisciplinary environmental consultancies, RPS has been aff ected by the economic downturn. But two of its three business lines, energy and environmental management, have high margins, have been growing well and are forecast for continued expansion. RPS’s 2010 revenue totalled £461.8m. Earlier this year, Swiss investment management fi rm, GAM, took
a stake in Fortune 500 company Aecom, citing its involvement in energy-effi ciency-related work for the US government and they’re looking at nuclear safety testing services in the wake of Fukushima.
Delivering energy effi ciency So where’s the money? What type of services win the biggest clients and expand most rapidly? Unsurprisingly, there is enormous variability. For example, there has been strong demand from large US corporations with extensive property portfolios for companies to assist with land and groundwater remediation. Oil giants and car companies have been prompted by regulatory pressure to clean up sites that have suff ered decades of contamination, enabling companies such as Amsterdam-based Arcadis to win lucrative multi-year contracts. But in the UK, the contaminated land remediation
market has been badly hit by recession, thanks to the near halt in property development since mid-2008, with some contaminated land consultancies and contractors going under. It’s vital to understand such market variations if investors are planning to back service companies. One area seen by many as ripe for growth is energy effi ciency services, given rising fuel prices and the
In the UK, the contaminated land remediation market has been badly hit by recession, thanks to the near halt in property development since mid-2008
WWW.CARBONWARROOM.COM ISSUE 04. SEPTEMBER 2011 ISSUE 03. JULY 2011
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