Spanish multinational financial services company Banco Santander announced today the acquisition of an 80% stake in Brazil-based ESG consultancy WayCarbon.

The acquisition is aimed at enhancing Santander’s sustainability offerings, and expanding the bank’s presence into the rapidly growing voluntary carbon markets.

José M Linares, Global Head of Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, said:

“As an industry leader in ESG, WayCarbon will help us with our own objectives and our clients´ in their transition to more sustainable business models. Santander has vast experience in sustainable projects and is a global leader and pioneer in renewable energy finance. This deal will help maintain Santander at the forefront of this critical space.”

WayCarbon, with 170 employees across 18 countries, provides three core services, including ESG consultancy, management software to support the tracking and implementation of ESG strategies, and carbon credit trading.

According to Santander, the acquisition will enable the company to enhance its energy transition-focused offerings to clients, while also enabling the bank to further its own ESG objectives, which include sustainable finance goals to facilitate the mobilization of €120 billion in green finance by 2025 and €220 billion by 2030, develop green products for its customers, and to engage with customers to support them in the transition to a low carbon economy.

WayCarbon CEO Felipe Bittencourt said:

“WayCarbon, which has B-corp certification reflecting its commitment to generating profit with a purpose, is focused on catalyzing the transition to a low-carbon economy and has been growing fast in the last few years. This agreement with Santander will expand our business’s global scale, with specialized products and services for a wider range of companies in its ten core markets in Europe and the Americas, so we’ll have a greater impact.”