Sustainability consulting firms PE International and Five Winds International, which share clients including Kraft and Carnival Cruise Lines, have announced a merger aimed at enabling market penetration in North America.
The new combined company will provide the North American market with strategic management advisory services as well as software from PE International’s portfolio, which includes the GaBi platform for product sustainability (life cycle assessment and product footprints), and SoFi software for managing corporate sustainability.
The two companies said the merger will also bring Five Winds’ services to a global audience, rolling out its strategic consulting methodologies and processes through all PE International companies around the world. Five Winds’ services include strategy development and implementation, advanced benchmarking content and product innovation processes.
They said their merger addresses growing demands for product-level and enterprise-wide improvements in sustainability performance, including management of supply chain opportunities and risks.
“PE International and Five Winds currently share a number of client relationships like Kraft Foods, Carnival Corporation and Johnson & Johnson, demonstrating the complimentary value that we can now bring to our customers,” PE International CEO Michael Betz said. “As one organization we have the people, enterprise sustainability solutions and capabilities to enable valuable business transformations for our customers.”
PE International recently announced that it raised $10.8 million in venture capital funding from Siemens Venture Capital and European investment company Gimv. PE said the investment will fund the ambitious growth plans of the combined organization, and further develop its software plus services platform.
Long-term collaboration between the two companies began with a strategic alliance in 1998. In 2006, the companies founded a joint venture, PE Americas.
PE International has more than 1,500 customers including Allianz, Bayer, Daimler, Levi Strauss, Motorola, Deutsche Post DHL, Siemens, HP, Intel, Timberland, Toyota, Volkswagen, BP, Celanese, Cisco, Eastman Chemical, ExxonMobil, GM, Herman Miller and Kraft Foods.
Five Winds International was founded in 1998 and has seven offices in North America and Europe. Its clients include SC Johnson, DuPont, Diversey, 3M, Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal, Carnival Corporation, InterfaceFLOR, Kraft Foods, Rio Tinto, BASF, Wrigley and Armstrong World Industries.