M&A: Carbon Accounting Software Company Asuene Buys CoRocket

Asuene, a carbon accounting software provider, has acquired CoRocket and launched an associated business called Asuene Veritas. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This is M&A deal number 248 that Sustainable Tech Partner has covered so far in 2024. Related: See all M&A deals involving sustainability, climate tech and green IT services listed here.

Carbon Accounting Software and Consulting: Business Backgrounds

Asuene, founded in 2019, is based in Japan. The company offers carbon accounting software, sustainability consulting, and ESG supply chain management expertise. Asuene serves roughly 9,000 customers.

CoRocket Co., based in Tokyo, Japan, provides third-party verification services for non-financial data, climate change advisory services, and support for CSRD compliance. That acquired expertise has been relaunched as Asuene Veritas.

Among the opportunities Asuene Veritas plans to pursue: A potential regulation involving large corporations in Japan. Starting from the fiscal year ending March 2027, large corporations with a market capitalization of over JPY 3 trillion (roughly US$20 billion) may be required to disclose information related to sustainability and climate change. The result: Third-party verification and auditing of non-financial information will become an urgent issue, Asuene Veritas predicts.

Executive Perspectives

In a prepared statement about the M&A deal, CoRocket representative Toru Shiotsuki said: "We will support companies' sustainability initiatives and build trust with society by providing transparent and reliable third-party assurance of non-financial information."

Added Asuene CEO Kohei Nishiwada (pictured, top of page): "We are honored to announce the acquisition of CoRocket Inc. and the establishment of our new company, Asuene Veritas. This milestone allows us to enhance ASUENE’s one-stop decarbonization solutions by providing more accurate and reliable data. Our role will be to offer third-party assurance for globally significant GHG and non-financial data. Furthermore, we have formed a strong business alliance with CoRocket Inc. and Mr. Shiotsuki, and together we will challenge new industrial transformations based on the integration of non-financial and financial data."

M&A Activity: ESG and Sustainability Software

Meanwhile, M&A activity in the ESG and sustainability software markets has been steady to strong. Among the noteworthy deals in 2024

• Workiva acquired carbon accounting software startup Sustain.Life for $100 million, and the acquired software has been rebranded as Workiva Carbon.
• EQT Private Equity acquired Avetta, a developer of supply chain risk management software. Avetta's SaaS platform has enabled clients to "manage supply chain risks across health, safety, and sustainability," EQT said.

Next up, private equity firm Thoma Bravo may be seeking to sell ESG software provider Cority for roughly $2 billion, Reuters reported.