Environmental Due Diligence

Increased public and regulatory attention on the potential environmental liabilities associated with industrial and commercial activity have created a growing demand for environmental liability assessments - on behalf of potential buyers, sellers, and lenders, as well as those involved in the ongoing stewardship of assets.

ENVIRON has completed thousands of assessments for a variety of purposes, including due diligence reviews as part of mergers and acquisitions, environmental assessments, and assessments in conjunction with a company's purchase of environmental impairment liability insurance. Many of these assignments have been performed under extremely tight time pressures to meet regulatory deadlines or constraints imposed by closure requirements on real estate transactions. We have completed engagements for transactions ranging in size from small, single-site greenfields to multibillion-dollar deals involving worldwide industrial facilities. Last year alone, the total transactional value of our engagements exceeded $5 billion.

While the particular type of transaction and the nature of the properties determine the scope of work for these assessments, they may include:

• identifying and evaluating historical, current, and potential future on-site and off-site environmental conditions that could result in potentially significant liabilities;
• identifying and evaluating potential environmental, health, and safety regulatory compliance issues associated with current environmental practices; and
• estimating costs required to comply with applicable environmental laws and regulations or to address potentially significant liabilities.

Our due diligence capabilities are enhanced by our extensive experience investigating the nature and extent of contamination at industrial sites, Superfund sites, and hazardous waste management facilities; designing and estimating the cost of remediation; and presenting the results to regulatory agencies and the general public.

Addressing the Client's Needs

ENVIRON understands that the results of our work may be material to the structure and financing of the associated transactions. We therefore carefully tailor the scope and detail of an environmental assessment to the particular concerns at the facilities, the stage of the transaction, the financial resources available for the assessment, and the desired threshold value at which environmental liabilities or compliance costs are considered significant for purposes of the transaction. For example, in many cases we go beyond ASTM standards; in other cases we do data room review only. In assessing cost implications of both compliance and contamination issues, we can draw on an extensive array of real-world experience in designing pollution control systems and corrective measures for contaminated sites.

Breadth of Experience

ENVIRON has conducted thousands of assignments involving more than 10,000 environmental assessments of industrial properties, commercial and residential developments, undeveloped properties, and hazardous waste sites in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Our network of U.S., U.K., and European offices, as well as our relationships with consulting partners in Asia and Australia, provides us the global reach to accommodate the needs of our trans-national clients.

The facilities and sites assessed have ranged from green fields to the most complex manufacturing and industrial operations in almost every SIC category.

We have conducted environmental assessments:

• for potential purchasers of companies and properties as part of due diligence reviews;
• for purchasers and owners to satisfy the requirements of lending institutions;
• for lending institutions to provide an independent assessment of potential environmental liabilities;
• for sellers to anticipate concerns of potential buyers and to prepare environmental disclosure statements;
• for owners purchasing environmental impairment liability insurance; and
• for owners conducting internal audits.

ENVIRON has also conducted hundreds of detailed Phase II site investigations for major industrial clients and law firms. Our Phase II work is commonly done on an expedited basis and is designed to obtain the information required for decision making cost-effectively and with full regard to reporting obligations.

For further information contact Satu Juntunen in the Helsinki office:

Tel: +358 207 41 61 51
Email: sjuntunen@environcorp.com

Click here to obtain a copy of INWARD INVESTMENT