Lloyd's Register Group acquires US climate change firm RMA
02/17/2009
The Lloyd's Register Group, has acquired RMA, one of the leading climate change verification organisations in the USA.
The Lloyd's Register Group, through Lloyd's Register Americas, Inc., has acquired Ryerson, Master and Associates, Inc. (RMA), one of the leading climate change verification organisations in the USA. The deal was officially signed on Friday, January 30 at RMA's Santa Barbara, California office.
The acquisition represents a key step in realising Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance's (LRQA) five-year business strategy, making it an instant leader in climate change verification services in the USA. LRQA is a member of the Lloyd's Register Group and is one of the world's leading assurance providers.
Richard Sadler, Chief Executive of Lloyd's Register said: "Continuing with our strategic programme of acquisitions will ensure we emerge from the current financial crisis with strength. It is our intention to ensure greater depth and breadth to support our clients across all the sectors we serve. The acquisition of RMA is intended to support our ambition of becoming the global leader in climate change services across all business sectors. Our strategy toward acquisitions is governed by our aim to be able to supply independent assurance services across complete supply chains in the energy and transport sectors and also through the lifecycle of operating assets in the same sectors."
LRQA Managing Director, Mike James, commented on the importance of the acquisition for LRQA's global climate-change services, "In Asia we have set up three climate change units in Japan, India, and China, and in Europe we are now a leading player under the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). Therefore, the acquisition of RMA not only puts us into a leading position in the USA but also completes our global network, allowing us to offer the widest range of climate-change services to clients wherever they operate globally."
Bill Master, President of RMA, believes the timing of the acquisition will help both RMA and LRQA. "RMA has enjoyed rapid growth in the greenhouse gas verification business during the last four years. We expect that third-party verification will become more widely used during the years ahead as more voluntary and mandatory climate-change programs use third-party verification as a key component for assuring the accuracy of emissions reports and emission-reduction estimates. By joining LRQA, the RMA team will be better positioned to provide our high quality services to a wider range of clients throughout North America. This is a very exciting development for RMA as the need for climate services expands."
With a strong client base in the western United States, RMA serves key client sectors including electric power and natural gas utilities, oil and gas, minerals, educational facilities, medical, agricultural, and food processing. The team also manages diesel-emissions-reduction programs within the construction, agricultural and marine sectors.
"We are all extremely pleased about RMA's joining the Lloyd's Register Group. With emerging opportunities across the US, we will be looking for a rapid expansion of the business, and we believe the next two years will be a very exciting time with lots of opportunities for development and growth," commented Andrew Smith, President of Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance, Inc. He adds, "We respect and recognise the value of RMA's reputation and brand in the US market; and have therefore agreed that RMA will retain its name but will be referred to as a member of the Lloyd's Register Group as RMA's activities become fully integrated with the rest of LRQA's global greenhousegas operations."
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Notes to editors
About the Lloyd's Register Group
The Lloyd's Register Group provides independent assurance to companies operating high-risk capital-intensive assets in energy and transportation to enhance the safety of life, property, and the environment, thereby helping our clients ensure safe, responsible, and sustainable supply chains. The Group comprises charities and noncharitable companies, with the latter supporting the charities in their main goal.
The Lloyd's Register Group's services include management systems certification across a wide range of sectors, and it's member companies are leaders in the provision of certification services worldwide. The Group's management systems business is mainly provided under the brand LRQA (Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance). LRQA is a leading business assurance company providing verification, certification, and training services to a wide range of organisations around the world. LRQA has issued over 44,000 certificates in areas including environmental, quality, health and safety, and security. Its approvals are recognised globally.
To download a photograph of Richard Sadler, Lloyd's Register's Chief Executive click here (then right click and save) or email news@lr.org This image is for use with this press release only. For a larger file size email news@lr.org
About RMA
Founded in 1994 by James M. Ryerson and William A. Master with a base in Santa Barbara, California, RMA is currently one of 15 entities accredited to verify emissions under the California Climate Action Registry (CCAR) and one of only six verification bodies to attain initial American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accreditation for The Climate Registry (GHG emissions registry comprised of 40 US States, the District of Columbia, 12 Canadian Provinces, six Mexican States, and three Native Sovereign Nations), ISO 14064-3 and ISO 14065, the global voluntary GHG quantification and qualification standard. RMA's verification services include preparing carbon footprints, carbon-reduction project development and verification, climate-action planning, sustainability programs, climate-change adaptation, and renewable-energy programs.
For more information on LRQA, Inc. and the Lloyd's Register Group of companies, visit www.lrqausa.com or www.lr.org
Contact
Michelle Larch
Regional Marketing Manager - Americas
Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance, Inc.
T +1 (1)281 646 6301
M +1 (1)832 472 4445
F +1 (1)281 398 7337
E michelle.larch@lrqa.com
Lloyd's Register
71 Fenchurch Street
London EC3M 4BS, UK
T +44 (0)20 7709 9166
F +44 (0)20 7488 4796
E news@lr.org
www.lr.org
Services are provided by members of the Lloyd's Register Group.
Lloyd's Register, Lloyd's Register EMEA and Lloyd's Register Asia are exempt charities under the UK Charities Act 1993.