Sustainability and M&A

From Deloitte:

As the M&A market continues to ramp up in many industries, issues of sustainability are higher on the radar for acquiring companies. Expanding government attention, growing shareholder activism, greater media exposure of sustainability issues, volatility in commodity and energy prices, and recent man-made disasters are compelling business leaders to think longer and harder about the potential sustainability implications – both positive and negative – of planned mergers or acquisitions.

In such an environment, it’s important for acquirers to ask important questions related to sustainability at each stage of the M&A life cycle – not just during due diligence. In this point of view, Deloitte describes how sustainability issues and opportunities extend across companies’ value chains – well beyond the “four walls” of the enterprise – and how acquirers should consider factoring these issues and opportunities into their M&A strategy and target screening, deal value and structure, plans for achieving strategic, financial, and operational goals of the deal, and longer term plans for disposition of the business or components of it.