CGE-backed Enhesa acquires Chemical Watch

Enhesa, the global environmental, health and safety (“EHS”) compliance intelligence platform backed by CGE Partners (“CGE”), has completed the acquisition of Chemical Watch. The deal marks the first add-on acquisition for Enhesa since CGE backed the company in July 2020 and is a further boost to CGE’s rapidly growing investment portfolio of high-growth European tech-enabled businesses.

Chemical Watch is the leading global provider of independent intelligence and insights for product safety professionals managing chemicals. Headquartered in Shrewsbury, UK, Chemical Watch supports businesses, regulators, service providers and non-governmental organisations to create safer products by providing essential and in-depth knowledge, sophisticated compliance tools, and access to a network of industry and regulatory expertise. Distinguished by its journalistic approach, the company is a trusted partner to businesses around the world making complex chemicals management decisions. Since 2007, Chemical Watch has helped customers by providing a one-stop source of chemical management intelligence for product safety professionals, including practical insights, timely quality news, superior tools, bespoke analyst services and networking programmes.

Chemical Watch has a highly experienced team with deep expertise in the chemical management space. This expertise, along with the company’s global reach and premium client base across multiple verticals, is highly complementary to Enhesa’s existing platform which provides mission-critical information services and actionable regulatory content to many of the world’s biggest companies, helping them to understand, act on and comply with local EHS regulation. Chemical Watch will provide Enhesa with an attractive entry point into the fast-growing compliance market for global chemicals production, trade and use which is forecast to double by 2030.

The team at CGE commented: “The acquisition of Chemical Watch represents an important step in Enhesa’s ambitious growth plans, as it broadens the company’s offering and strengthens its standing as a market-leading platform in the compliance content space. We look forward to supporting Enhesa and Chemical Watch on their exciting journey ahead.”

Peter Schramme, CEO at Enhesa, remarked: “We are delighted to acquire such a high-quality company as part of our ambitious plans to take Enhesa’s growth to the next level. The Chemical Watch team’s focus on providing essential knowledge, perspectives, and support in the pursuit of safer products complements Enhesa’s approach of helping global corporations comply with a multitude of regulations across different jurisdictions. Together, we can strive to build a better world through making both ‘operations’ and ‘product’ compliance easier, allowing our clients to stay ahead of the ever-changing curve.”

Stuart Foxon, Managing Director at Chemical Watch, concluded: “With Enhesa and CGE, we have found partners where there is a strong alignment of values. We share a similar culture and work ethic, always putting our customers first. Together, we will be able to offer a one-stop-shop for all matters related to chemicals and EHS regulatory intelligence, and continue our innovation path, helping to transform the future of compliance.”

About CGE Partners – cge-partners.com

CGE Partners launched its €440mn European mid-market buyout fund in 2019. CGE targets strongly performing assets in Western and Northern Europe, but with a global reach. CGE seeks high margin businesses with strong growth potential, backing ambitious management teams with a proven track record and a clear vision. CGE invests principally in majority buyouts of established businesses with an enterprise value of up to €200mn, with a focus on Business & Technology Services. CGE has a fresh approach to mid-market private equity investment through its expert Operator Panel and flexibility to hold investments for the longer term if necessary.

About Enhesa – enhesa.com

Enhesa is a partner to global multinational companies, helping them be compliant with, and stay on top of, EHS regulations wherever they operate. Over the past 25 years, Enhesa has built an extensive knowledgebase of EHS and product regulatory content in more than 300 jurisdictions with support in 30+ languages. Combining advanced expertise with the latest AI-powered technology, our team of 75 in-house legal experts translate complex regulatory data into clear, concise and standardized content and insight on current and future EHS regulatory obligations. Enhesa has offices in Brussels, Washington D.C., Toronto, Shanghai and Tokyo.

About Chemical Watch – chemicalwatch.com

Chemical Watch provides independent intelligence and insight for product safety professionals managing chemicals. Established in 2007, Chemical Watch helps businesses across value chains stay ahead of the dynamic chemicals management agenda by providing access to in-depth knowledge, tools and a network of experts. Chemical Watch’s aim is to empower its members to transform product safety management and unlock the full value of regulatory compliance within their business.