Schneider Electric makes bid to acquire Atos Group's EcoAct sustainability consultancy business

Schneider Electric has entered into exclusive negotiations with Atos Group about acquiring its environmental consultancy arm, EcoAct, as part of the energy management firm’s ongoing push to build out its sustainability expertise.

Head-quartered in Europe and founded in France in 2006, EcoAct bills itself as an international climate consultancy and project developer that advises enterprises worldwide on how to achieve their net-zero goals, assess their exposure to climate risks and curb their greenhouse gas emissions.

Acquiring EcoAct will enable Schneider Electric to expand its own global sustainability consulting business, the company said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Atos Group is in the midst of a business transformation exercise that began in earnest in June 2022 and has seen it take steps to divest itself of non-core business units, which is what EcoAct is considered to be.

Incidentally, Atos Group acquired EcoAct for an undisclosed sum in October 2020, and confirmed in a separate statement that the firm generated revenue of approximately €70m during the 2022 financial year and currently employs around 400 people.

“Upon the successful closing of the acquisition, the EcoAct team would join Schneider’s Sustainability Business division,” the Schneider statement continued.

“EcoAct’s portfolio of services would complement and deepen Schneider’s Sustainability Business market-leading offers, which include climate change advisory and risk services, sustainability reporting and disclosure, renewable energy and carbon advisory, and a suite of services for energy efficiency and energy commodities management.” 

Schneider Electric said EcoAct has a portfolio of services and digital tools that will enhance and expand its existing sustainability consulting capabilities, particularly in Europe, adding: “This potential acquisition also expands Schneider’s carbon markets expertise, demand for which is expected to grow significantly as corporate commitments to decarbonisation continue.”

Schneider Electric is already more than a decade into providing sustainability focused services to clients, having expanded its business into this field through its acquisition of Summit Energy Services in 2011.

Since then, the company has embarked on a series of acquisitions to buildout its own sustainability consulting business, including its purchases of M&C Energy, Renewable Choice Energy and Zeigo.

According to Schneider Electric, this part of its business has more than 2,700 clients on its roster, across 100 countries.

“Addressing climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, yet we also know that the solutions for companies can be complex to navigate,” said Steve Wilhite, president of the sustainability business at Schneider Electric.  

“By combining forces with EcoAct, we have an opportunity to deepen our ability to serve the growing demand by our clients for consulting that drives action and impact, across new service areas and expanded geographies.”

“We are very pleased with this proposed transaction, after which we would have secured more than 100% of our divestment program and delivered on our commitment. Our transformation plan has already showed encouraging performance results, and we have further reinforced our clients’ confidence in our ability to accompany them in their digital challenges” said Diane Galbe, senior executive vice-president of Atos.

“Digitisation and decarbonisation are key for all businesses today. Thanks to this future partnership with Schneider Electric we look forward to developing leading edge offers to accelerate customers’ journeys to net-zero.”