Global professional services firm EY announced the acquisition of Austria-based sustainability consulting company Denskatt in a move described by firm as aimed at enabling it to provide companies with comprehensive support on sustainability issues.

Founded in 1993 in Vienna, Denskatt provides consulting services aimed at helping clients to improve their sustainability performance, with 170 employees across 5 countries including Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. The firm’s offerings include CSRD and EU taxonomy consulting, sustainability assessments, circular economy and climate and ESG strategies.

Commenting on the acquisition, Denkstatt Co-founder and Managing Partner Christian Plas said:

“I expect a new level of advice from the pool of knowledge that we represent together: holistically, going beyond strategy and regulatory issues, and in-depth, both technically and industry-specific. Our shared expertise, our strong connection to science as well as 30 years of experience and know-how buildup should bring our customers long-term success.”

The firm will join the EY network in its current operating countries under the EY denkstatt Österreich brand, with its professionals supplemented with EY’s specialists in areas including tax, strategy, technology and legal advice. According to EY, the acquisition will enable the company to provide consulting services ranging from the sustainable orientation of business and offering technical and scientific expertise to sustainability-related regulatory issues and reviewing of sustainability reports. The company also pointed to synergies in key megatrend areas including artificial intelligence, blockchain and data science.

Gunther Reimoser, Country Managing Partner of EY Austria, said:

“The common goal is to make effective contributions to the sustainable development of companies. In this constellation, we can mirror our customers’ corporate structures one-to-one, accompany them along their entire value chain and offer end-2-end solutions for their problems and also specialized in their industry. Selective joint customer projects in the past have shown that we can achieve more together.”

The acquisition comes as part of a series of moves by EY to boost its sustainability capabilities and expertise. As part of its sustainability goals announced in 2021, EY pledged to invest in services and solutions that help its clients profitably decarbonize their businesses and provide solutions to other sustainability challenges and opportunities. According to EY’s statement announcing the new acquisition, since 2021, it has more closely integrated sustainability consulting with its other service areas including tax consulting, management consulting as well as strategy and transaction consulting.”

Stefan Uher, Head of Auditing at EY Austria, said:

“With this merger, we are broadening our consulting portfolio and significantly expanding both our expertise and capacity in the area of ​​sustainability consulting.”