Singapore's Xcelerate picks up strategic stake in governance firm Stirrup

Singapore-headquartered Xcelerate has picked up a strategic stake in India’s stakeholder communications consultancy, Stirrup. Formerly AICL Communications, Stirrup specialises in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) communications and corporate reporting. Meanwhile, Xcelerate is an integrated governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) and ESG investing platform.

“This anchor acquisition for Xcelerate is a step forward in a clearly defined roll-up strategy to bring together world-class management teams, cutting-edge technologies, and domain experts to offer comprehensive solutions on a regional basis in the GRC and ESG segments,” said the company in a release.

Promoted and led by Arvind Agrawal, Stirrup has been an active player in the corporate reporting and stakeholder communications around integrated reporting, sustainability reporting, and ESG communication. It has served as a consulting partner for over half the integrated reports published in India.

As part of the transaction, KV Ramakrishna (ex-CEO of Kotak Private Equity) and KV Ramanand, CEO of XLSure India, will join the board of Stirrup. The founder, Agrawal, will continue to lead the company as MD & CEO.

The acquisition by Xcelerate comes at a time when demand for ESG-related advisory and communication services is on the rise following increased regulatory emphasis on ESG disclosures.

Last year, the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), approved a new framework for ESG disclosures – known as Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) Core. The new framework – which tries to capture value chains under the ESG scope – has become applicable for the top 150 listed companies and will be extended to the top 1,000 listed entities by FY27. BRSR Core focuses on India-specific parameters and targets. For instance, environment-related disclosures require assurance on greenhouse gas emissions, water wastage, and waste management. While ‘social’ standards focus on measures towards the well-being of employees, safety-related incidents, and gross wages paid to women as a percentage of total wages.