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Australia's largest standalone community engagement consultancy is now under foreign ownership after a local subsidiary of UK-based RSK Group acquired Capire for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2007 and certified as a B Corporation since 2016, Capire has a team of more than 30 staff across its offices in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, working with state and local governments as well as private sector clients.
With its name coming from the Italian word 'capire', meaning 'to understand', the company engages across the energy, infrastructure, public policy and built and natural environment sectors, espousing a dedication to fostering meaningful dialogue between communities, governments and industry.
Capire’s recent projects span work with the Victoria State Government on key priorities such as infrastructure, transport and housing reform, the water sector on its long-term priorities, and the energy sector on onshore and offshore wind, grid connection and transmission.
The company's consultancy services include engagement strategy and delivery, facilitation, strategic advisory, communications and graphic design, and reporting and analysis.
"The addition of Capire to RSK Australia comes at an exciting time of investment in businesses that support our goal of delivering multidisciplinary solutions in water, infrastructure, energy (including offshore wind) and built and natural environment projects," RSK Australia divisional director Mark Haydock said.
"Capire’s stakeholder engagement expertise epitomises best practice. This is incredibly important to RSK business and we believe this will add great value to our broader consulting and engineering capabilities.
"Our clients will also benefit from Capire’s valuable contribution to planning, policy development and project delivery."
Capire's co-founder and chair Amy Hubbard, and chief executive officer Sandra Jerkovic, will continue to lead the business.
"Joining RSK Australia marks an exciting new chapter for Capire. It enables us to realise our ambition to create even greater social value through the projects we deliver, introducing our expertise to new markets and continuing our expansion into Queensland, South Australia and beyond," Hubbard and Jerkovic said in a joint statement.
"We are equally proud that, while growing our impact, we will continue to operate Capire.
"Importantly, the support of RSK Group, which, like us, places social and environmental sustainability at the heart of what it does, opens new and exciting opportunities to work alongside great businesses that share our values."
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