Mergers and Acquisitions, Mergers and Acquisitions

Ernst & Young (EY) Acquires ESG Consultancy AFARA

Ernst & Young (EY) Canada has acquired AFARA, a sustainability consulting firm with expertise in environmental, social and governance (ESG) services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This is technology M&A deal number 793 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2022. See more than 2,000 technology M&A deals involving MSPs, MSSPs & IT service providers listed here.

EY Acquires ESG Consultancy AFARA

Ernst & Young, founded in 1989, is headquartered in London, England. The company has 355,764 employees listed on LinkedIn. EY’s areas of expertise include advisory, assurance, tax, transactions, audit, mergers, M&A, financial services, accounting, professional services, law, technology, consulting, data, transformation, strategy, legal, digital transformation, legal, growth and managed services.

AFARA, founded in 2014, is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The company has 14 employees listed on LinkedIn. AFARA's areas of expertise include sustainability and ESG services and solutions.

AFARA will be tucked into the EY-Parthenon practice and expand the firms' ESG services for a wider customer base, the companies said.

Kent Kaufield, EY
Kent Kaufield, chief sustainability officer and ESG markets leader, EY Canada
Dan Zilnik, president, AFARA

Kent Kaufield, chief sustainability officer and ESG markets leader at EY Canada, commented on the news:

“Businesses around the world are now embracing societal change and sustainable development as road maps to long-term success — and we are excited to play a role in that journey. At the end of the day, sustainability is everybody’s business. With AFARA, we look forward to helping clients build resilient, sustainable companies and economies, while furthering the energy transition.”

Dan Zilnik, president at AFARA, added:

“It’s incredible to be joining an organization so focused on culture, values and solving some of the world's most meaningful, complex problems."

Accenture also is acquiring sustainability consultancies. In April, Accenture acquired sustainability consultancy Greenfish and  Avieco, a sustainability consultancy in the United Kingdom. In May 2022, Accenture acquired akzente, a German sustainability consultancy.

EY’s Continued Growth

Ernst & Young (EY) has been active in the M&A market, acquiring multiple MSP, MSSP and IT consulting firms worldwide. EY plans to continue its growth initiatives both organically and through continued acquisitions, the company has indicated. Key EY acquisitions have also involved application, cybersecurity and managed services expertise, as well as digital and customer experience expertise.

Sharon Florentine

Sharon is a master technology storyteller and editor with omnichannel experience: books and print magazines, digital, webcast, blogging, podcast, live events and video and associated brand-specific social media content. From 1999 to 2003, she acquired and edited technology books and certification exam prep guides.

After a year spent in publicity and editorial at mass-market book publishers, she returned to tech publishing and, since 2004, explored B2C and B2B news, issues and trends in consumer, lifestyle, software, software development, AI, ML, networks, big data, hardware, security, storage, cloud, equity, inclusion, diversity, women in tech, career development, IT management, H-1B visa issues and immigration, education, training and learning.

Her previous role was as the managing editor at Techstrong Group in charge of Cloud Native Now, DevOps.com, Security Boulevard and Techstrong ITSM and their brand-specific social media. She currently serves as editorial director for CyberRisk Alliance’s channel brands, ChannelE2E and MSSP Alert and acting editorial director for SC Media UK. Drop me a note and let’s talk!

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