Corporate transactions

Legal advice in relation to corporate transactions requires a commercial assessment of the target's actual or contingent environmental risks and liabilities, including:

•
potential impact on the value of assets (eg remediation or other clean-up costs)
•
operational risks (eg enforcement action for non-compliance or the transfer, suspension or revocation of an environmental permit or other necessary licence)
•
consequential costs of compliance (eg upgrades to plant and equipment)
•
reputational risks (eg pollution incidents or perception of poor environmental or sustainability performance adversely affecting share prices)

The scope and extent of environmental due diligence depends on:

•
nature of the transaction (eg share purchase, asset sale, merger or acquisition)
•
client (eg buyer, seller, lender or guarantor)
•
value of the transaction
•
amount of properties and whether freehold or leasehold
•
type of business activities (eg manufacturing or offices)
•
materiality threshold, below which risks and liabilities are not explored or reported on
•
location of the target and/or assets (eg UK or abroad)
•
type of due diligence required (eg high-level draft, full report, certificate of title)
•
timeframe
•
confidentiality/market sensitivity of the transaction

Environmental

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