Environmental & Social Due Diligence

Environmental & Social Due Diligence

Portfolio of International Educational Facilities, Thailand

 

SLP Environmental Co., Ltd (hereafter ‘SLP’) was appointed by a Multi National Investment Fund, as part of the business transaction due diligence process, to perform environmental and social due diligence (ESDD) on a Company which operates multiple international educational institutions in Thailand. The Company operates several large campuses in Thailand with others under construction and planned for development. The Reference Framework (RF) for the assignment included:

  • National regulatory requirements pertaining to Environmental and Social performance;
  • IFC Performance Standards 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8;
  • WBG Environmental, General Health and Safety Guidelines;
  • Keeping Children Safe, Child Safeguarding Standards (2001); and
  • Food Hygiene, International Good Practice.

The primary objective of the Assignment was to identify gaps in the Company’s performance relative to the E&S benchmarks adopted for the study, and where such were identified, to prepare a clear and succinct Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) with the aim of aligning the Target Company’s E&S performance with the Reference Framework requirements and good international industry practice (GIIP).

As part of study scope, SLP conducted a corporate ESMS audit, onsite E&S audits at multiple operational campuses, reviewed relevant environmental and social (E&S) documentation and conducted interviews with direct and indirect workers. The ESDD study was supplemented with an assessment of the Company’s performance and practices against international child safeguarding and food hygiene guidelines.

A compliance review/ gap analysis was performed, and the identified non–compliances with Reference Framework requirements were assigned a risk ranking of Low, Medium or High. Findings with a risk ranking of Medium or High were taken forward into the Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) developed for the Assignment with the objective of bridging the identified gaps and aligning the Company’s E&S performance with Reference Framework requirements .

SLP specialises in performing ESDD on behalf of project Lenders, Investors and Sponsors  and has completed over one hundred due diligence assignments across multiple business sectors and ASEAN jurisdictions.