Environmental group swoops to expand services in latest acquisition deal
Atesta, the Warrington-based stack emissions testing contractor, has been acquired, for an undisclosed sum, by Sheffield-based Cura Terrae.
Palatine-backed Cura Terrae is a group of environmental consultancy and services providers. It said the deal will further increase its stack testing footprint.
Stack testing measures the amount of pollutants being emitted from industrial facilities into the atmosphere.
The acquisition into Cura Terrae group company, Envirocare, unites nationally renowned stack testing industry leaders and will further enhance Envirocare’s national presence.
Since its inception in 2022, Cura Terrae has built on its three founding companies with further acquisitions including the incorporation of a market leading air quality monitoring instrumentation and service provider. Atesta is the most recent business to bolster the group’s offerings.
Cura Terrae CEO, Prof Pete Skipworth, welcomed the Atesta team, saying: “We continue to seek out the highest quality providers in the market. Atesta shares Envirocare’s and our whole group’s ethos of excellence and pride in the services we provide, in the knowledge that we are contributing to environmental improvement.”
Managing Director of Envirocare, John Healey, said: “This is a significant and exciting development for Envirocare and the rest of Cura Terrae. We look forward to welcoming staff from Atesta and growing and supporting our teams. Atesta’s market reputation was a particular draw for us, aligning well with our focus on quality of service and customer care.
“For existing Envirocare customers it means we can adapt to growing demand and continue to provide reliable and high quality stack emissions and occupational hygiene testing with expanded UK coverage.”
He added: “I am excited to be working alongside Alastair Wolff and James Harmer again as I believe they are the best people in the industry for their respective roles.”
Alastair Wolff, MD of Atesta, said: “Having been at the forefront of the emissions testing industry for 30 years, I am extremely proud of what James Harmer, myself, and the whole Atesta team have accomplished in such a short space of time. We have achieved high levels of customer retention, invested heavily in the best equipment, and focused on amazing customer service.
“Having achieved so much, I was particularly keen to find a company who would genuinely value what we do, who would recognise all our achievements, and who shared our ethos. I have known John and Barry for many years, and what they have done at Envirocare is nothing short of phenomenal, so when the opportunity to work with them arose, it was literally a dream come true.”
James Gregson, Impact Fund Partner at Palatine, said: “This marks the fourth acquisition for Cura Terrae since receiving investment from our pioneering Impact Fund in March 2022.
“Combing the skills of Envirocare and Atesta adds breadth and depth to Cura Terrae’s role in supporting businesses to understand and determine their compliance with emission limits and laws.”
Cura Terrae and Envirocare were advised by Megan Atack and team at Freeths, including Corporate Partner Andy Francey. The acquisition was backed by Shawbrook Bank. Nicola Merrit and the team at Cortus Advisory carried out FDD, and Craig Hughes at Brown Butler Tax DD.
Atesta was advised by Akeel Latif, Scott Sands and team at Myerson as well as David Baggott of CN Strategic Advisory.
