Engagement — Add-on Due Diligence
Code & Co. advises LIGANOVA ahead of its acquisition of a majority stake in ESG software provider Spenoki
Businesses across Europe are facing increasing pressure from customers and regulators to understand and communicate their contribution towards ESG goals. Sustainability management, the measuring, tracking and reporting of metrics to ensure sustainable practices, is central to helping firms respond to this pressure. LIGANOVA Group has expanded its ESG management offering through the acquisition of Spenoki.
LIGANOVA Group, a portfolio company of EMH Partners, has acquired a majority stake in Spenoki, a Munich-based startup that provides its customers with a holistic ESG reporting and management software solution that is shaping the future of sustainability management.
The acquisition will grow LIGANOVA Group’s sustainable marketing offering, enabling clients to track the Co2 emissions and other sustainability-based data of their campaigns on top of traditional marketing metrics. It will also augment LIGANOVA Group’s Green Campaign Cycle, a service portfolio that specializes in sustainability solutions in retail. This will now offer a 360° sustainability solution, covering consulting, design, production and reporting.
Spenoki’s product is a cloud-based software solution that breaks down and analyzes its customers' activities in relevant environmental, social, and economic areas, enabling them to optimize and communicate their sustainability. The clear, actionable data sets the software provides will expand LIGANOVA Group’s sustainability management and ESG reporting capabilities.
“LIGANOVA Group's acquisition of Spenoki will fuel the transition of retail companies towards a more sustainable business model through the measuring and reporting of their impact. Integrating Spenoki’s software into its existing sustainability-focused offering will enable the brands LIGANOVA Group supports to fast-track their sustainability efforts,” says Lukas Ingelheim, co-founder of Code & Co.
Scope of work
Code & Co. provided Tech & Product Due Diligence to LIGANOVA Group ahead of its investment, assessing Spenoki’s architecture and infrastructure, its scalability, security, and business continuity capabilities. Code & Co. further assessed the company’s platform capabilities and product roadmap, its operational and performance metrics as well as its engineering practices including an evaluation of the company’s key contributors and software development life cycle.
Supporting LIGANOVA Group in the acquisition of Spenoki reinforces Code & Co.’s position as a leading Technology and Product Due Diligence provider on ESG management software mandates.
About LIGANOVA Group
LIGANOVA Group develops and implements seamless brand, product and service experiences for global-leading brands. It closes the gap between physical and digital, redefining the role of commercial, urban spaces in the digital age and is driven by the interaction of people, brands and products in physical and digital connected spaces. The group was founded in 1995, and has more than 400 staff in five offices across the world.
About Spenoki
Spenoki provides simple and efficient solutions for businesses to implement sustainability management. It was inspired by a project its founders undertook to pilot a digital impact platform, through which they realised how important it is to make the impact of a company measurable. Following its acquisition by the LIGANOVA Group, Spenoki will rebrand as Code Gaia later in 2022.
About EMH Partners
EMH Partners is an owner-led investment firm by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. As a next-generation private equity company and one of the leading investors in the DACH region, EMH Partners supports the growth of Mittelstand companies with capital, digitalization and expansion expertise. EMH Partners invests in market-leading, owner-managed companies to accompany them in partnership during the next growth phase. Today, EMH Partners manages more than €1 billion of committed capital.
About Code & Co.
Code & Co. is an independent advisory firm specialized in advising funds in the global alternative investment industry with modern and holistic Tech & Product Due Diligence. Code & Co’s Tech & Product Due Diligence uncovers potential risks threatening asset value and unlocks opportunities for accelerating growth.