Bates Wells, the first UK law firm to certify as a B Corp, has advised the shareholders of Vivid Economics Ltd, a strategic economics consultancy with broad sustainability and macroeconomics capabilities, and Planetrics Ltd, a climate analytics suite that helps, quantify, report and manage claim risks, on the sale of the entire issued share capital of both companies to management consulting giant McKinsey & Company.
The acquisition of Vivid Economics is intended to accelerate McKinsey’s existing Sustainability and Risk & Resilience capabilities and talent, whilst Planetrics will help McKinsey’s clients generate detailed company and business models that depict the impact of decarbonisation and other moves related to climate risk.
Commenting on the acquisition, McKinsey senior partner Dickon Pinner said:“While progress has been made, the majority of stakeholders are unprepared for the physical and financial impact to their businesses and to society. This acquisition will enable us to help clients across all sectors and geographies transform themselves to successfully navigate the risks and opportunities presented by the economy-wide transition to a more sustainable future.”
Jason Eis, CEO of Vivid Economics and Chairman of Planetrics commented: “McKinsey has been a leading voice in sustainability and climate change. We are looking forward to combining our collective experience, technology, and our analytical and creative thinking in the pursuit of tackling such critical global challenges.”
On working with Bates Wells, Jason Eis said: “Bates Wells provided us with overall legal support throughout the deal, effectively manging a variety of issues that arose throughout the negotiations. They were flexible to the changing circumstances, and diligent and committed to ensuring we met deadlines. Overall, they met a high professional standard and were responsive to our particular requirements throughout.”
Impact and sustainability and technology are two of Bates Wells’ key sectors and this transaction demonstrates our ability to close time sensitive and complex M&A transactions and highlights our position as a leading firm in these areas.
Bates Wells’ team cross departmental team was led by Stephen Callender (Corporate Partner) and comprised Matthew Gearing, David Duhig and Edward Slegg (Corporate), Laura Hobbs and Richard Stebbing (Commercial), Mark Traynor (Real Estate), Chetal Patel (Immigration) and Shadia El Dardiry (Employment).