- Transaction marks Permira’s first Energy Transition investment following the appointment of a dedicated investing team
- CDP to become two organisations – CDP Foundation, an independent charitable entity, and CDP, a standalone commercial business backed by Permira and the CDP Foundation
- Permira to support CDP’s strategic transformation and growth ambitions through increased investment in people, technology and innovation
LONDON – 11 June 2026 – Permira, the global investment firm, today announced a significant investment in CDP, the global environmental disclosure system.
As part of the transaction, CDP will become two organisations working in close partnership: CDP Foundation, an independent charitable entity focused on advancing science-led environmental disclosure; and CDP, a standalone commercial business backed by Permira, which will continue to provide leading environmental data and disclosure services to companies worldwide. CDP Foundation will remain a shareholder in CDP, with board representation, and both organisations will continue to share their ambition to support trusted, science-led environmental disclosure.
For 25 years, CDP has been at the forefront of environmental disclosure. Today, its platform provides unique environmental data and insights for over 22,000 companies and is used by corporates, investors and financial institutions representing over a quarter of the world’s institutional assets, as well as public organisations globally. The new corporate structure is intended to sharpen organisational focus and provide investment while preserving CDP’s founding ambition.
Both organisations will work in close alignment, including collaboration on emerging areas and methodologies. CDP Foundation will drive strategic principles and methodologies for disclosure evolution in alignment with environmental science and in advancement of its charitable objects, while CDP will focus on deploying the world’s most comprehensive disclosure system and delivering world-class data products.
Permira will support CDP’s strategic transformation and growth ambitions through a significant capital injection to drive investment in people, technology and innovation. This will include meaningful enhancements to the disclosure experience for corporates as well as material improvements to the insights drawn from the data to inform environmental risk and resiliency, investment decisions and sustainability strategy worldwide.
CDP Foundation will use proceeds received from the transaction to invest in ambitious, science-led innovation, including developing new frameworks to manage risks and opportunities in emerging areas such as ocean health and plastics, in advancement of its charitable objects. CDP Foundation will also continue to benefit from access to CDP data, enabling it to advance public-purpose research, analysis and thought leadership to support greater transparency and accelerated environmental improvement.
The transaction reflects Permira’s conviction that the energy transition will be enabled both via physical assets and technologies, as well as data, software and services platforms that support better decision-making. Backed by Permira’s deep experience investing in technology, data and services businesses, and its long-standing commitment to sustainability, CDP will be well-positioned to play an increasingly important role in helping organisations navigate this transition.
Dipan Patel and Brian Ruder, Permira Co-CEOs, said: “CDP is the gold-standard data platform for environmental disclosure, and this investment is a strong fit for our strategy of backing mission-critical, durable growth businesses across Europe and the US. It also marks our first investment behind our Energy Transition strategy, marrying Permira’s pattern recognition and value creation resources with our dedicated team’s depth in the end-markets that drive CDP’s secular growth. We look forward to working with Sherry and team to build a world-class business.”
Anish Patel, Partner and Co-Head, and Gabriel Andrews, Managing Director – Energy Transition, at Permira, added: “As environmental risk reshapes global supply chains and investment decisions, the need for trusted data has never been greater, and CDP fulfils that role. This partnership will strengthen CDP’s ability to support better environmental decision-making at scale, while helping provide a strong platform for the Foundation’s continued work. We look forward to partnering with Sherry and the CDP team as they enter this next chapter and are grateful for their trust.”
Sherry Madera, Chief Executive Officer of CDP, said: “This partnership with Permira will chart a clear path for the future, enabling CDP’s environmental data and insights to deliver greater value to disclosers, companies, financial institutions and wider CDP data users, accelerating meaningful, real-world impact. CDP and CDP Foundation will remain united in ambition, and together they will uphold a transparent, independent, science-led disclosure system that will help shape the economy of tomorrow.”
Completion is subject to customary regulatory approvals including from the Charity Commission and satisfying closing conditions, with completion anticipated in the next six months.
