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our expertise

overview

We are leaders in the provision of strategic advice and due diligence services to support M&A and project finance in the energy transition, infrastructure and chemicals industries.

A team with 50+ years of combined experience advising corporate and private equity clients on both commercial and technical due diligence as well as ESG advisory.
Our expertise is spread across our three different areas of expertise including commercial, technical and ESG.

explore our expertise

Commercial advisory

Commercial advisory

etasca’s commercial due diligence is underpinned by a deep understanding of the energy and chemicals value chains. In addition, the etasca team closely monitors regulations and policies which are driving the energy transition. Our consultants have many years of advisory and in-house corporate experience across these industries so can quickly identify the value drivers and risks of an investment – this is critical considering the often time-pressured transaction processes our clients face.

 

etasca will test an investment hypothesis and identify the value creation opportunities through a rigorous review of a target’s:

Business model​

Business model – value chain position, sales and marketing capabilities​

Sales

Revenue drivers (volumes and pricing)
Route to market, pricing and sales strategy

Market

Independent market analysis – product supply, demand and market price and margin forecasts

Regulation

Policy and regulatory environment and impact on future earnings / business strategy​

Competition​

Competitive landscape and strength of the target’s market proposition​
Cost of production benchmarking

Value creation​

Growth strategy and upside opportunities – modelling EBITDA growth levers ​

Financial projections

Business plan assessment, financial modelling and economic evaluation​

Technical advisory

Technical advisory

etasca’s technical due diligence is led by chartered chemical engineers who have both prior operational experience managing plants as well as advisory experience where they have visited and benchmarked many operations. This extensive operational experience means that we can effectively assess a plant’s condition, operating performance and cost structure to identify future value creation potential and to assess site risks.

 

Typically, an etasca technical due diligence would include:​

Site Visit

Site visit to comment on a plant’s condition and to interview and evaluate operational management​

Plant reliability and performance​

Review of historical operating data to assess a plant’s reliability, throughput, yields etc.
To identify the root causes of any underperformance or past disruptions to production

Technology evaluation

Process technology benchmarking (techno-economics, reliability, cost of production competitiveness)​

Financial projections / Business plan

Review of operational and cost assumptions underpinning the business plan​ including opex and capex assumptions

Opex

Analysis of operating costs – considering comparable plants to identify opportunities for opex improvements​

Capex (maintenance & growth)

Assessment of historical maintenance and growth capex spend, and assessment of future investment requirements​

Environment, Health and Safety​

E&HS performance – environmental impact, carbon footprint and decarbonisation opportunities as well as health and safety performance

ESG advisory

ESG advisory

The Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) performance of a business is increasingly recognised as a key determinant of future value. Regulators, investors, lenders and other stakeholders now demand robust ESG performance and credentials and therefore a rigorous ESG due diligence should be performed before any investment.

etasca’s ESG due diligence is underpinned by deep operational and technical knowledge of energy, infrastructure and chemicals assets as well as the policies and regulations governing these markets. Our consultants have held operational roles in industry and have direct experience monitoring E&HS performance and understand the impact of non-compliance and can identify actions and costs to improve performance. We will analyse both past performance – benchmarking a target against its peers as well as a target’s ability to meet future and ever increasing ESG standards.​

 

etasca’s ESG due diligence will provide comfort on:​

E&HS​

E&HS management (procedures, controls and organisational capabilities)​
E&HS KPI results against industry best practice (including safety performance benchmarking)​
E&HS liabilities (carbon emissions exposure, future decommissioning and soil contamination remediation costs)​

Environment​

Environmental conformance (air, water and soil compliance to quality standards, COMAH and SEVESO compliance)​

Capex and opex

Assessment of investments (capex and opex) needed to adhere to current and future E&HS requirements​ and decarbonisation targets

Stakeholders and community​

Local and site specific ESG considerations (community stakeholder management, government authority and permitting considerations)​

Project finance​

For Project Finance engagements, etasca aligns with the Equator Principles Guidelines (EP4) which provides a common benchmark for environmental and social risk management​

Energy transition​

At its core, etasca’s ESG due diligence includes energy transition and decarbonisation assessments – reviewing a company’s own strategic plans and providing an independent assessment of viable actions, technologies and costing