Environmental and sustainability consultancy SLR has announced the acquisition of Anchor Environmental Consultants (Anchor), a specialist marine, coastal, and natural capital advisory firm headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa.
Established in the 1990s by Barry Clark and Jane Turpie, Anchor provides ecological, social, and economic assessments, environmental monitoring, ecosystem services evaluations, and natural capital accounting. The firm’s client portfolio spans international financial institutions, national governments, development agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and commercial enterprises within the mining, energy, fisheries, aquaculture, and port development sectors.
The acquisition adds more than 45 professionals to SLR’s regional operations, located across Anchor’s Cape Town headquarters and a satellite office in Windhoek, Namibia. The transaction also includes Anchor’s marine taxonomy laboratory in Cape Town—a member of the North Atlantic Marine Biological Analytical Quality Control (NMBAQC) Scheme—alongside its specialized marine field sampling infrastructure, which includes a team of certified scientific divers, dive supervisors, and offshore survey staff.
The corporate consolidation follows several years of commercial collaboration between the two consultancies on infrastructure assets across Southern Africa. Recent joint operations include Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs) for major regional green hydrogen and ammonia developments, alongside mining, port infrastructure, offshore natural gas, and offshore wind projects.
For SLR, the acquisition is structured to scale its global capabilities within the ports and marine infrastructure sectors, whilst expanding its technical delivery in natural capital accounting, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable finance.
Jane Turpie, former Chief Executive Officer of Anchor and newly appointed Business Unit Director for SLR’s Environmental Sciences division, commented on the commercial transition: “Joining the SLR global network significantly enhances Anchor’s reach and capabilities, enabling improved client service and increased impact in the marine science, natural capital and environmental economics and policy space. I am confident that the combined offering will strengthen our capacity to guide both private and public sector activities along a sustainable development path across the continent and beyond.”
Tasman Graham, SLR’s Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, outlined the regional alignment, stating: “The integration of Anchor into SLR’s Middle East and Africa team strengthens our position as a leading provider of services in estuarine, coastal, marine and offshore environments, and aligns with SLR’s strategy to develop global capability in the ports and marine sector. Anchor’s work in natural capital is world-class, and this combination will further enhance delivery, supported by SLR’s strengths in sustainable finance, corporate sustainability, ecology, and digital services.”
The two companies confirmed that their respective regional teams will integrate operational structures over the coming months to consolidate client delivery frameworks.
