Environmental data firm Trucost puts itself up for sale to sustain growth

Environmental data provider Trucost is up for sale.

The London-based firm, which provides climate-related data and research to investors including Axa Investment Managers, Generation Investment Management, Hermes and Legal & General, is currently looking for a buyer.

Trucost’s revenue grew by 8.5% in the year ending March 2015, hitting £2.8m (€3.6m) though its losses widened to £1.2m from £844,319 the previous financial year – which it attributes to a rise in administrative expenses in order to “take advantage of growth opportunities”.

“The company has experienced significant revenue growth in recent years,” Trucost said. It has strategic partnerships with around 20 organisations, including ratings agency Standard & Poor’s and FactSet, the market data organisation.

“However, in order to sustain this growth, the directors believe the company would benefit from the access to markets that a larger organisation can provide…. The board believes that under new ownership, Trucost may be able to develop and grow its revenues more quickly than the company is able to do on a standalone basis.”Existing shareholders in Trucost – which in 2015 raised capital via convertible bonds – include philanthropist Ben Goldsmith, former Deutsche Bank executive Pavan Sukhdev, Rothschild Group and a firm called BP-PE1 Cayman Limited.

RAM Equity Partners – the family trust of corporate governance pioneer and founder of proxy firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) Bob Monks – is also a shareholder. So too is Richard Bennett, CEO of shareholder engagement company ValueEdge Advisors and former chairman of corporate governance research house GovernanceMetrics International (GMI), which was acquired in 2014 by MSCI.

Monks originally took a 25% stake in Trucost in 2004, taking the role of deputy chairman.

Although Monks is no longer on the board, Bennett and John Higgins, a consultant with Monks’ Lens Governance Advisors and a partner of Ram Equity Partners, are still directors.

Prospective buyers are exempt from being publicly identified, Trucost said. Link