LONDON — ERM has completed the acquisition of SustainAbility Ltd (SA). SA is a think tank and advisory firm that inspires businesses to lead the way to a sustainable economy with offices in London, New York, and the San Francisco bay area.

Founded in 1987, SA has helped define and evolve the sustainable development agenda and the role of business within it. Throughout its history, it has worked with business and stakeholders to enable a more just and sustainable economy. It offers consulting services to help clients make better decisions through integrating sustainability into their business and by creating innovative solutions. SA's Think Tank is an independent, agenda-shaping research and advocacy capability that enables companies to transform how they think and do business by identifying critical trends and providing actionable insights and building new ideas and strategies. Like ERM, SA works with worldwide organizations, such as Brown-Forman, Interface, Nestlé, Nike, Novartis, RBS, and Shell.

SA is the second in a series of acquisitions to bolster its presence in the sustainability advisory services market. As the market shifts its focus from establishing why sustainability is important to developing a comprehensive understanding of how to ‘operationalize’ sustainability, SA’s insights and future-focused thinking, coupled with ERM’s global implementation capability and access to 5,000-plus subject matter experts, will provide a leading service to clients and global organizations.

“The acquisition of SustainAbility Ltd further strengthens ERM’s standing in sustainability advisory services, in the U.K. and the U.S.,” said Keryn James, group chief executive, ERM. “Its reputation and capability build our existing thought-leadership approach, and we will look to leverage the two firms’ strong alignment around clients, sectors, and services to enhance our approach to the market. The excellent alignment of both businesses will create a unique capability and service offering which can materially add value to our clients’ business.”

Rob Cameron, chief executive, SustainAbility Ltd., said, “Becoming part of the ERM Group provides us with the opportunity for geographical expansion and the scale to support our growth ambitions. As part of ERM, we can leverage ERM’s global infrastructure and networks as well as invest in new services, technologies and solutions to make an even greater impact.”

Mark Lee, SA Executive Director, added, “The backing of ERM will enable growth and development of our offering that weren’t previously possible, and we are particularly excited with the opportunity this creates to extend our thought leadership.”

For more information, visit www.erm.com.