FOCUS Investment Banking Represents ClearCarbon in Business Sale
Washington, DC (January 3, 2011) – FOCUS LLC, a national middle market investment banking firm providing merger, acquisition, divestiture and corporate finance services announced that ClearCarbon Consulting, Inc., of Arlington Virginia, has been acquired by Deloitte LLP. FOCUS represented ClearCarbon in the transaction.
ClearCarbon has been dedicated to enhancing competitive advantage and increasing profitability through improved carbon and energy management. ClearCarbon has been recognized as a sustainability industry leader because of the accuracy, transparency and completeness of its analyses and its record of saving money for its clients. Their solutions have helped clients understand their environmental impacts and develop strategies to reduce their carbon footprint, enabling long term financial prosperity and growth in a carbon-constrained world. ClearCarbon has measured and managed the carbon footprints for more than 25,000 locations in 128 countries, serving five Fortune 100 companies.
With ClearCarbon, Deloitte takes a significant step forward in achieving its goal of being a leading sustainability services provider. The new offerings create a hub of sustainability excellence, highlighting a combination of strategic insights and deep knowledge of complex challenges impacting organizations across all industries and sectors.
“I have participated in several sell side transactions and was most impressed with the thoroughness of the auction process and the large number of interested suitors FOCUS generated. This transaction, and our merger with Deloitte, exceeded our expectations and has resulted in the most beneficial outcome for the ClearCarbon team going forward,” said Les Rosenthal, board member and investor in ClearCarbon.
According to Rick Thomas, managing director at FOCUS, “We were pleased with the number of financially strong, highly motivated buyers in this space. There is currently a high demand for both consulting and solution-oriented companies in the sustainability industry worldwide.”
Doug Rodgers, FOCUS CEO added, “I don’t recall another transaction in this size range, in which we received such broad interest internationally; we received interest from companies in North and South America, UK, Netherlands, Australia and Japan, which is surprising given that ClearCarbon was founded in 2007 and has less than 50 employees.”
Tom O’Grady of McGuireWoods LLP, ClearCarbon’s legal counsel in the transaction noted, “ClearCarbon’s rigorous approach to sustainability services combined well with the FOCUS auction process to produce an effective and well executed outcome.”
*These testimonials may not be representative of the experience of all clients; testimonials are not a guarantee of future performance or success.
About FOCUS LLC
FOCUS LLC provides a range of middle market investment banking services with an emphasis on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and corporate finance. FOCUS is a national firm serving clients from offices in major cities across the United States. FOCUS specializes in business units with transactions or revenues in the $5-300 million range, serving entrepreneurs, corporate owners and various types of investors across a broad range of industries, throughout the U.S. and worldwide. FOCUS bankers are seasoned operating and financial executives with extensive transaction experience. Securities transactions conducted by FOCUS Securities LLC, an affiliated company, registered Broker Dealer member FINRA/SIPC. For more information on FOCUS, www.focusbankers.com.
Prior to joining FOCUS, Rick served as Vice President at VSI, a boutique investment banking firm located in Washington, DC. He led M&A activities for publicly and privately held companies in the middle market, several of which have annual revenues in excess of $1 Billion. Rick’s clients were involved in a wide array of transactions; from acquisitions and divestitures to minority interests and strategic partnerships.
In addition to his experience with clients, Rick has lectured to hundreds of senior executives on M&A best practices and has been an adjunct faculty member for The George Washington University School of Business and Public Management. His M&A teachings focused on coaching companies and senior executives in how to build an acquisition team, create a winning strategy, identify and engage not-for-sale companies, streamline company valuation, perform value added due diligence and techniques for financial modeling. Rick has also served as a U.S. representative to South African companies in the capacity of advisor and consultant on business linkages, partnering and financing for small and medium businesses.
He holds an MBA in International Business and Finance from The George Washington University. He earned a BS in Engineering from Michigan State University. After completing an undergraduate program in engineering, Rick spent several years working as a manufacturing engineer and supervisor for General Motors. In this role he was responsible for the quality and productivity of manufacturing teams. In addition to being recognized as an outstanding team leader and team builder, Rick implemented a number of process improvements which enhanced product quality and efficiency at numerous GM production facilities.
