Evora Global wins investment from Bridges Fund Management

Evora Global has secured new investment from Bridges Fund Management, as it looks to expand its ESG consulting offering. Alantra advised the investors on the deal with the sustainability consultancy.

Founded in 2011, by Chris Bennett, Paul Sutcliffe and Ed Gabbitas, Evora Global has rapidly grown over the past two years in particular, following the addition of key senior hires and as demand for action on sustainable finance and climate risk has risen up the agenda of corporations generally. The company has over 200 staff.

The firm helps real estate companies with their ESG strategies, sustainable finance and climate risk management and disclosure, both through advisory services and use of its software, SIERA – which currently holds ESG data for over 8,000 major buildings globally. Its clients include firms such as Deutsche Asset Management, Schroder Real Estate, Standard Life Investments, and Hines.

As it looks to drive growth across its international operations, Evora has struck a deal to fund the expansion of its technology platform in particular – for which it is encountering a surge in demand. The investment includes support from MSCI and Farview Equity which, along with Bridges Fund Management, will each take a seat on the Evora board. The mission critical decision support tools, insights and market access provided by the consortium will further aid the business’ growth and maximise the value of its ESG and climate solutions to the global real asset investment community.

Chris Bennett, Founder of Evora, said, “When we founded this business over a decade ago people didn’t want to talk about climate risk or sustainability. It was a real battle to even get a meeting. Now, we are experiencing huge demand for our services globally as the world has woken up to the risks of climate change.”

Bridges Fund Management was advised by Alantra. Richard Holden, UK Head of Business Services, and Chris J Bates, of the the global investment banking firm, supported Bridges Fund Management throughout the process.

Richard Holden commented, “The Evora team have successfully managed to productise the key outcomes of their advisory business into a software tool that delivers improved and more automated ESG data retrieval and reporting to real estate funds. The business has only scratched the surface of its potential as institutional investors demand more visibility of important ESG performance data.”

The Alantra Business Services team’s expertise in working with different advisory businesses was a significant factor in being asked to advise on the deal. Emma Thorne, Partner at Bridges Fund Management, added that Alantra played an “integral” role in proceedings, praising the team’s “wise counsel about the overall deal at every step and displayed phenomenal commitment throughout the process.”