Zurich – PwC Switzerland has conducted a survey to determine what role sustainability plays in the financial sector. Sustainability is therefore a high priority in mergers and acquisitions.
The consulting firm PwC Switzerland has presented a survey entitled “Sustainability on the M&A Agenda” to take stock of the sustainable finance industry. The survey focused on financial service providers headquartered in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
According to a press release on the study, the trend is towards sustainable financial solutions. Almost half of the 31 financial service providers surveyed rated sustainability efforts as one of the three key drivers of corporate processes, alongside organic growth and digitalization. “In recent years, numerous players in the financial sector have worked hard to integrate sustainability aspects into their business activities and to make their products – be it loans, investment products or insurance solutions – more environmentally friendly,” it says.
The survey results also show that sustainability plays an important role in transactions for 59 percent of respondents. 45 percent of participants see corporate values as the main driver for the integration of sustainability aspects in mergers and acquisitions (M&A area). The focus is on due diligence for sustainable issues, which deals with risk assessment in transactions. The data also shows that integration should take place throughout the M&A process, both in the selection of the target and during due diligence, valuation analysis and post-transaction value creation. ce/heg
