ICR Launches ESG Due Diligence Services to Help Private Equity and Venture Capital Firms Assess ESG Risk for Portfolio Company Investments

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ICR, a leading strategic communications and advisory firm, today announced the launch of ICR ESG Diagnostics, a comprehensive Environmental, Social & Governance analysis to help private equity and venture capital firms identify and assess corporate ESG issues during the investment due diligence process.

“As limited partners focus on responsible, long-term investments, they are increasingly focused on ESG issues,” said Don Duffy, President of ICR. “With comprehensive ESG due diligence now a core part of the investment process, our Governance Solutions team developed a comprehensive Environmental, Social & Governance analysis to help financial sponsors identify risks and opportunities in potential investments.”

ICR ESG Diagnostics analyzes a target investment company’s awareness of, and commitment to, the issues material to their business utilizing the most relevant ESG frameworks. ICR’s analysis considers the views of the top asset managers, leading ESG ratings agencies and widely-accepted ESG reporting frameworks. This offering will serve as an important tool for private equity and venture capital firms to demonstrate that they are integrating ESG factors into their investment process.

“Having a commitment to ESG plays a significant role in the long-term performance of investments,” said Lyndon Park, head of ICR’s Governance Solutions practice. “Following our analysis, ICR is also able to work with both financial sponsors and portfolio companies to develop a customized ESG management approach to ensure that the management of the most material ESG issues are integrated into the business.”

ICR is already providing ESG Diagnostics for its public company clients, including advising on how best to adequately disclose and communicate, internally and externally, their ESG initiatives.

ICR’s ESG team, with direct prior experience leading ESG teams at influential asset managers like BlackRock and Dimensional Fund Advisors, works shoulder-to-shoulder with former Wall Street professionals, sell-side analysts, journalists, political consultants, and global corporate communications leaders. The result is a firm that has the unique ability to integrate ESG into the overall corporate narrative and the role it plays in determining a company’s value.

About ICR

Established in 1998, ICR partners with its clients to execute strategic communications and advisory programs that achieve business goals, build awareness and credibility, and enhance long-term enterprise value. The firm’s highly-differentiated service model, which pairs capital markets veterans with senior communications professionals, brings deep sector knowledge and relationships to more than 750 clients in approximately 20 industries. ICR’s healthcare practice operates under the Westwicke brand (www.westwicke.com). Today, ICR is one of the largest and most experienced independent communications and advisory firms in North America, maintaining offices in New York, Norwalk, Boston, Baltimore, San Francisco, San Diego and Beijing. Learn more at www.icrinc.com. Follow us on Twitter at @ICRPR.