Category Archives: News

EQT Growth leads USD 85 million investment round into global corporate wellness platform Gympass

eqt
  • New York-based Gympass allows its base of over two million employee subscribers to access a global network of over 50,000 gyms, studios, classes, personal trainers, and wellness apps although though one employee benefit
  • The USD 85 million investment round will help Gympass accelerate growth across its 11 global markets, as employers prioritize decreasing healthcare costs and improving employee wellbeing
  • EQT Growth, in partnership with the company’s management team and existing investors, will support the company in the next leg of its growth journey, leveraging its in-house digital business development experts to continue to deepen Gympass’ network and global leadership

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Growth fund (“EQT Growth”) has invested in Gympass (or the “Company”), as part of its $85m Series F round. The round also saw participation from Neuberger Berman client funds and existing investors. Carolina Brochado, Deputy Head of the EQT Growth Advisory team, will join the Gympass Board.

Founded in 2012 and based in New York, Gympass is a leading corporate wellness platform, providings access to a network of over 50,000 gyms, studios, classes, personal trainers, and wellness apps through a single employee benefit. With over two million global employee subscribers, Gympass supports companies around the world to retain employees, drive productivity, and reduce healthcare costs.

Gympass has seen 80% year-on-year growth in its customer base over the last year, on the back of strong adoption tailwinds for its platform. For example, four out of five employees globally believe wellbeing is equally important to salary, according to the Gympass Work-Life Wellness Report 2022. As a result of its powerful platform, Gympass has more than doubled the average number of employees engaged with wellness at its corporate customers and has thereby grown the market, all while driving improved employee happiness and health.

EQT Growth will support Gympass in its next phase of growth, drawing on EQT’s presence in over 20 countries across the world. It will leverage its in-house digital business development experts, as well as its extensive network of industrial advisors to help Gympass continue to deepen its reach and global leadership. EQT Growth will also support further investment in the Company’s product capabilities.

Carolina Brochado, Deputy Head of the EQT Growth Advisory team, said: “For years we have watched the Gympass team exceed expectations again and again. Their powerful recurring model, which now reaches 11 markets globally, sees clear and strong network effects the more it scales. It enables Gympass to deliver a diverse and growing network of partners, thereby reaching employees who might not have previously had access to wellness activities and as a result further expanding the market. We are really excited to be helping this stellar management team continue to build a healthier, happier, and more productive corporate world.”

Cesar Carvalho, Co-Founder and CEO of Gympass, said: “We live in a time where companies globally are making investments to drive efficient growth and reduce spending. Organizations are shifting from reactive and traditional healthcare benefits that increase costs, to more holistic and preventative wellness benefits that reduce costs and improve employee wellbeing and productivity. With the support of EQT Growth and our other investors, we look forward to further accelerating our growth and reach so that we can improve the wellbeing of even more employees around the world.”

Contact
​​Finn McLaughlan, finn.mclaughlan@eqtpartners.com, +44 771 534 1608
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT Growth
EQT Growth supports leading growth-stage technology companies as they take the next step to scale. The strategy seeks to invest around EUR 50 million to EUR 200 million, backing strong management teams of companies supported by secular macro trends primarily within four tech sub-sectors: enterprise, con/prosumer, health, and climate. Based in five countries across Europe, the EQT Growth team has extensive investing and operating experience that allows it to support its portfolio companies however called upon.

EQT Growth is part of EQT, a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 126 billion in fee-paying assets under management within two business segments – Private Capital and Real Assets. EQT owns portfolio companies and assets in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas and supports them in achieving sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram 

About Gympass
Gympass is one of the most loved corporate wellness platform, offering the best network of gyms, studios, classes, personal trainers, and wellness apps – all in one employee benefit. More than 15,000 companies use Gympass to help their employees move, eat, sleep, and feel better with access to fitness and wellness partners in subscriptions that cost up to 50% less than traditional memberships. Gympass more than doubles the number of employees engaged with wellness. This widespread participation results in workforces that are 40% less likely to turnover and save their companies up to 35% on healthcare costs. Investing in employee wellbeing is investing in company performance. Get started at gympass.com

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Innovation Industries Co-Leads Series A Round Of BeeOLED

Innovation Industries

beeOLED raises EUR 13.3m in Series A funding to further develop its innovative, high-efficiency, deep-blue emitter technology

beeOLED, a Dresden based deep-tech startup, today announced it has raised EUR 13.3m for a Series A funding co-led by eCAPITAL and Innovation Industries. The round was joined by KBC Focus Fund as well as existing investors M Ventures (the corporate venture capital arm of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany), HTGF, TGFS, and JBN-Invest.

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Founded by veterans of the OLED industry and led by serial entrepreneur and Novaled co-founder Jan Blochwitz-Nimoth, the company is aiming to solve the last major challenge of OLED displays: efficient and stable deep-blue emitters. The company will officially emerge from stealth mode presenting their progress with a presentation at the key industry event “International Meeting on Information Display” (IMID) in Busan, South Korea on August 25th.

 

Today, deep blue emitters in OLED displays are either stable (fluorescent emitters) or efficient (phosphorescent emitters, TADF emitters), but no market-ready technology delivers both of these important metrics at the same time. beeOLED’s intra-metallic emission technology has proven high stability and high efficiency when employed in other display technologies in the past, but, so far, had not been useable in OLEDs. The beeOLED team managed for the first time to make such molecules compatible with the vacuum processing technology used in high-volume OLED display manufacturing today – a technical breakthrough, protected by several patents, that was made possible by the team’s extensive know-how in ligand design. Carsten Rothe, CTO of beeOLED, explains: “Our technology seamlessly integrates into existing OLED structures and established OLED display manufacturing technology. The technology allows for 100 percent internal quantum efficiency, a prerequisite for the highest power efficiency in OLED displays.”

 

beeOLED’s CEO Jan Blochwitz-Nimoth said “It’s incredible to see that after all these years, this critical issue for OLED displays still hasn’t been solved. This creates a huge market potential for a materials provider. We are very happy that we not only found the solution to that issue but also were able to team up with such an amazing group of investors to fund the commercialization of this technology.”

 

“As an early investor in the OLED space, we have seen many startups that aimed to solve this last major challenge of OLED displays. But beeOLED was able to convince us as they not only have the most promising solution but also the experienced team needed to bring such a disruptive technology to the market, especially with key experience in the OLED-materials field.” remarked Paul-Josef Patt, Managing Partner and CEO of eCAPITAL.

 

“Increasing the efficiency of the blue emitter in OLED displays is a key driver to reduce energy consumption in modern TVs, tablets and smartphones. Our investment into beeOLED is therefore in line with our mission to support ground-breaking deeptech startups for a more sustainable future.” added Tom van Vuren, Director at Innovation Industries.

 

Christian Patze of added: “As the corporate VC of one of the largest OLED materials suppliers in the world, the potential of beeOLED’s innovation was immediately clear to us. We are very happy to have such reputable investors join us on the journey to build the next OLED materials success story in Germany.”

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Thoma Bravo Completes Acquisition of ForgeRock; Combines ForgeRock into Ping Identity

Thomas Bravo

CHICAGO and SAN FRANCISCO and MIAMI and DENVER—Thoma Bravo and ForgeRock today announced the completion of Thoma Bravo’s acquisition of ForgeRock in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.3 billion. The acquisition agreement was previously announced on October 11, 2022, and approved by ForgeRock stockholders at ForgeRock’s Special Meeting of Stockholders held on January 12, 2023.

Upon completion of the acquisition, ForgeRock stockholders are entitled to receive $23.25 in cash for each share of ForgeRock class A common stock and class B common stock they owned. ForgeRock’s class A common stock will no longer trade and will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

Thoma Bravo also announced that it has combined ForgeRock into its portfolio company Ping Identity. The combined company is positioned to better serve customers across the dynamic and fast-growing Identity and Access Management market by providing enhanced products and services, broader geographic support, and increased innovation. The combined company will seek to accelerate the delivery of identity security experiences for the customers, employees, and partners of companies worldwide.

J.P. Morgan acted as exclusive financial advisor to ForgeRock, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., acted as legal counsel to ForgeRock. Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP acted as legal counsel to Thoma Bravo.

About ForgeRock

ForgeRock® helps people simply and safely access the connected world. The ForgeRock Identity Platform delivers solutions for customers, employees, and connected devices, with more than 1,300 organizations using ForgeRock’s comprehensive platform to manage and secure identities with identity orchestration, dynamic access controls, governance, and APIs in any cloud or hybrid environment. For more information, visit www.forgerock.com or follow ForgeRock on social media: Facebook ForgeRock | Twitter @ForgeRock | LinkedIn ForgeRock.

About Ping Identity

At Ping Identity, we believe in making digital experiences both secure and seamless for all users, without compromise. That’s digital freedom. We let companies combine our best-in-class identity solutions with third-party services they already use to remove passwords, prevent fraud, support Zero Trust, or anything in between. This can be accomplished through a simple drag-and-drop canvas. That’s why customers choose Ping Identity to protect digital interactions from their users while making experiences frictionless. Learn more at www.pingidentity.com.

About Thoma Bravo

Thoma Bravo is one of the largest software investors in the world, with more than US$127 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2023. Through its private equity, growth equity and credit strategies, the firm invests in growth-oriented, innovative companies operating in the software and technology sectors. Leveraging Thoma Bravo’s deep sector expertise and strategic and operational capabilities, the firm collaborates with its portfolio companies to implement operating best practices and drive growth initiatives. Over the past 20 years, the firm has acquired or invested in more than 440 companies representing over US$250 billion in enterprise value (including control and non-control investments). The firm has offices in Chicago, London, Miami, New York and San Francisco. For more information, visit Thoma Bravo’s website at thomabravo.com and Twitter @ThomaBravo.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding the merger and ForgeRock’s expectations following the merger. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if any of ForgeRock’s assumptions prove incorrect, ForgeRock’s actual results could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties include those associated with: (i) the nature, cost and outcome of any legal proceeding that may be instituted against ForgeRock and others relating to the merger; (ii) economic, market, business or geopolitical conditions (including resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions, or the military conflict in Ukraine and related sanctions against Russia and Belarus) or competition, or changes in such conditions, negatively affecting ForgeRock’s business, operations and financial performance; (iii) the effect of the announcement of the merger on ForgeRock’s business relationships, customers, operating results and business generally; (iv) the amount of the costs, fees, expenses and charges related to the merger; (v) possible disruption related to the merger to ForgeRock’s current plans and operations, including through the loss of customers and employees; and (vi) other risks and uncertainties detailed in the periodic reports that ForgeRock has filed with the SEC, including ForgeRock’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 1, 2023, ForgeRock’s quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on May 9, 2023 and on August 8, 2023, respectively, and subsequent filings. All forward-looking statements in this communication are based on information available to ForgeRock as of the date of this communication, and ForgeRock does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements provided to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law.

 

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Thompson Street Capital Partners Portfolio Company Transnetyx Expands Offering Through Acquisition of Laragen

Thompson

Thompson Street Capital Partners (TSCP), a private equity firm based in St. Louis, today announced the acquisition of Laragen by Transnetyx, a global leader in outsourced genetic services and a TSCP portfolio company. The addition of Laragen’s offerings to the Transnetyx solution suite improves access to genetic testing services for leading research institutes around the world, while supporting the Transnetyx mission to ensure researchers have the most efficient path to discovery. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“Laragen is a perfect fit for Transnetyx,” stated Bob Bean, CEO of Transnetyx. “Our highly accurate, automated testing solutions and cohesive distribution network will allow us to provide researchers unparalleled access to Laragen’s enhanced sequencing services.”

Laragen provides sequencing, genotyping, and other laboratory services for genomics research to leading government, pharmaceutical, and academic research institutes. Transnetyx and Laragen have both served researchers for more than two decades.

“Thompson Street is excited to partner with Laragen to expand its offerings and support its mission of providing researchers with the tools needed to accelerate their discovery,” said Bob Dunn, Managing Partner at TSCP and a member of the Transnetyx Board of Directors. “We look forward to continuing to execute against their long-term plan for growth as they continue this important work.”

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Apollo Funds Acquire Composite Advanced Technologies, Inc, a Leading Manufacturer of Transportation and Storage Solutions for Hydrogen and Compressed Natural Gas

Apollo
Significant Investment to Establish Platform Supporting the Energy Transition by Providing Critical Equipment for Compressed Gas Logistics

HOUSTON and NEW YORK, Aug. 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Apollo (NYSE: APO) today announced that Apollo-managed funds (the “Apollo Funds”) have acquired a majority interest in Composite Advanced Technologies, Inc (“CATEC” or the “Company”), a leading provider of compressed natural gas (“CNG”), renewable natural gas (“RNG”) and hydrogen transportation and storage solutions in the United States. CATEC’s products and services help its customers transition away from carbon-intensive fossil fuels towards cleaner alternatives. Founded in 2014 and based in Houston, CATEC manufactures large format Type IV cylinders that facilitate the use of natural gas and hydrogen across a wide variety of industry applications when mounted on mobile trailers or used in stationary applications.

CATEC’s high capacity, lightweight trailers and storage solutions help end-customers decarbonize, while making lower carbon energy sources more accessible and affordable. Gaseous fuels are one important solution for reducing carbon emissions in certain ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors. As penetration of natural gas continues and the hydrogen economy grows, logistics are expected be a constraint and CATEC is an early mover in providing safe and efficient solutions for a wide range of end uses. Apollo Funds intend to invest further capital behind the Company, seeking to establish a leading gaseous equipment manufacturing and services platform with enhanced capabilities and customer offerings to support expansion in the high-growth hydrogen transport and storage market.

Apollo Partner Scott Browning said, “CATEC’s proprietary manufacturing capabilities are critical to supporting the growing market demand to reduce carbon emissions in ‘hard-to-decarbonize’ industries. The CATEC team has built an impressive business, which we believe can scale to become a one-stop-shop platform for serving the equipment needs of the compressed gas value chain through various expansion initiatives. We look forward to helping accelerate the Company’s growth trajectory in support of the broader energy transition.”

Alberto Chiesara, Co-Founder and President of CATEC, added, “We are pleased to join forces with Apollo Funds to help expand our capabilities and better support the growing adoption of low-carbon fuel solutions such as hydrogen, RNG and CNG. Apollo’s track record in energy transition investing, industry experience and significant resources make them an ideal partner for CATEC as we scale and embark on our next phase of growth.”

Co-Founder of CATEC Ryan Comerford said, “It has been a privilege to help lead the team, and I’m confident new management, with the backing of Apollo Funds, will position the Company for further growth and success.”

The transaction underscores Apollo’s commitment to driving a more sustainable future and long track record of investing in or lending to companies supporting the energy transition. Last year, Apollo launched its Sustainable Investing Platform, which targets to deploy $50 billion in clean energy and climate capital by 2027 and sees the opportunity to deploy more than $100 billion by 2030. Over the last five years, Apollo Funds have deployed over $23 billion1 into energy transition and sustainability-related investments, supporting companies and projects across clean energy and infrastructure, including offshore and onshore wind, solar, storage, renewable fuels, electric vehicles as well as a wide range of technologies to facilitate decarbonization.

TerraNova Capital served as financial advisor and Baker Botts L.L.P. acted as legal counsel to CATEC. Vinson & Elkins LLP acted as legal counsel to the Apollo Funds.

About Apollo

Apollo is a high-growth, global alternative asset manager. In our asset management business, we seek to provide our clients excess return at every point along the risk-reward spectrum from investment grade to private equity with a focus on three investing strategies: yield, hybrid, and equity. For more than three decades, our investing expertise across our fully integrated platform has served the financial return needs of our clients and provided businesses with innovative capital solutions for growth. Through Athene, our retirement services business, we specialize in helping clients achieve financial security by providing a suite of retirement savings products and acting as a solutions provider to institutions. Our patient, creative, and knowledgeable approach to investing aligns our clients, businesses we invest in, our employees, and the communities we impact, to expand opportunity and achieve positive outcomes. As of June 30, 2023, Apollo had approximately $617 billion of assets under management. To learn more, please visit www.apollo.com.

About CATEC

CATEC is a leading provider of Type IV compressed gas transportation and storage solutions in the United States. CATEC’s products and services help its customers to transition away from carbon-intensive fossil fuels towards cleaner solutions such as Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) and Hydrogen. Learn more at https://www.catecgases.com.

Apollo Contacts

Noah Gunn

Global Head of Investor Relations

Apollo Global Management, Inc.

(212) 822-0540

IR@apollo.com

Joanna Rose

Global Head of Corporate Communications

Apollo Global Management, Inc.

(212) 822-0491

Communications@apollo.com

CATEC Contact

Irma Goubeaud

Human Resources

(832) 551-4622

igoubeaud@catecgases.com

1 As of December 2022. Reflects (a) for equity investments: (i) total enterprise value at time of signed commitment for initial equity commitments; (ii) additional capital contributions from Apollo funds and co-invest vehicles for follow-on equity investments; and (iii) contractual commitments of Apollo funds and co-invest vehicles at the time of initial commitment for preferred equity investments; (b) for debt investments: (i) purchase price on the settlement date for private non-traded debt; (ii) increases in maximum exposure on a period-over-period basis for publicly-traded debt; (iii) total capital organized on the settlement date for syndicated debt; and (iv) contractual commitments of Apollo funds and co-invest vehicles as of the closing date for real estate debt; (c) for SPACs, the total sponsor equity and capital organized as of the respective announcement dates; (d) for platform acquisitions, the purchase price on the signed commitment date; and (e) for platform originations, the gross origination value on the origination date.


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Source: Apollo Global Management, Inc.

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Aretum Announces Acquisition of Artemis Consulting

Renovus

Bethesda, MD, August 21, 2023 – Aretum, LLC today announced that it has acquired Artemis Consulting, Inc. (“Artemis”), a McLean, VA-based prime contractor to multiple federal agencies. Aretum, a leading mid-tier organization focused on providing management consulting, mission support and technology solutions primarily serves the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and Federal Civilian agencies through a broad array of contracts, contract vehicles and talented resources. Aretum is a portfolio company of Renovus Capital Partners.

This addition expands Aretum’s ability to support its customers’ cloud enablement and enterprise-level modernization efforts while leveraging open-source technologies for cost effectiveness and using microservices to bolster reusable infrastructure. It also adds new capabilities in Scaled Agile software development, DevOps, open-source development and mobile application development.

Damian DiPippa, Aretum CEO, said, “We are excited to welcome the Artemis team to Aretum. Artemis expands and further diversifies our customer base with exquisite agile development capabilities that drives us up the technology stack.”

Amee Shah, CEO of Artemis, commented, “Aretum is a great cultural fit for our employees, and its strategic vision blends well with that of Artemis.” Rohit Gupta, Artemis Founder and President, added, “We are excited to bring our digital transformation, agile development capabilities and legacy systems modernization capabilities to Aretum to provide broader digital transformation expertise to its clients.”

“We are extremely excited about the complementary capabilities Artemis brings to the Aretum platform, and firmly believe the addition will help Aretum break new ground and add value to its unique suite of solutions and services to the agencies it serves,” said Manan Shah, Partner at Renovus.

About Artemis Consulting

Artemis Consulting is a Professional Services firm offering IT Technology and Management Services and Solutions to Federal and State Governments. For 24 years, Artemis has designed and developed software, and integrated systems that help drive digital transformation efforts for clients. They utilize DevSecOps principles and microservices approaches for scalability, security and reliability of systems and applications. Artemis is skilled in the modernization of legacy systems by creating open source and COTS applications and running them natively in the cloud. Artemis provides a full range of IT services to build scalable and resilient IT infrastructure for their customers.

About Aretum, LLC

Aretum is a leading government contracting company specializing in technology-enabled mission support services for the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and Federal-Civilian customers. ARETUM provides leading-edge solutions and services focusing on Next Generation Analytics, Engineering Services, Training Services, IT Services, Cyber Security, PMO Support, and Financial Consulting. Visit us at www.Aretum.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

 

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HBR Consulting, LAC Group, and Wilson Allen Relaunch as Harbor

Renovus

August 18, 2023 (Chicago, IL) – HBR Consulting, LAC Group, and Wilson Allen today announced the launch of Harbor, an expert services provider across strategy, legal technology, operations, and intelligence. Following the integration of the three companies and several key acquisitions, Harbor comes to market as a single entity serving law firms, corporations, and their law departments. With 650+ strategists, technologists, and specialists around the world, Harbor is unique in the depth, breadth, and scope of its expertise, as well as its focus on the legal industry. Harbor has also launched its new brand identity at its website, harborglobal.com.

“The legal industry is facing a period of complex change. Business and economic challenges have made it imperative that law firms and law departments operate as efficiently as possible, while investing in future growth. Technological advances such as generative AI and a rapidly evolving landscape of cloud applications have also presented new challenges as well as opportunities to get ahead of the competition,” said Matt Sunderman, CEO of Harbor.

“Our new company, Harbor, is dedicated to helping our clients address these challenges and navigate to a future in which they thrive. From business strategy and transformation, to intelligence, operations, expense optimization, and technology implementation, we bring world-class talent and insights to law firms, corporations, and their law departments, as an extended part of their teams,” Sunderman added.

Commitment to the Legal Industry

As a combined entity, Harbor serves more than 80% of Global 200 law firms, and 50% of the Fortune 500. The company has its global headquarters in Chicago and a significant presence across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Building on its 30+ year heritage, Harbor brings unparalleled expertise, knowledge, and scale as a services provider to the legal industry, as well as resilient connections throughout the legal ecosystem.

End-to-End Services

Harbor provides the essential resources and insights that help law firms, corporations, and their law departments drive strategic change, accelerate major initiatives, and increase resource effectiveness. The new company delivers integrated, end-to-end services, incorporating strategic advice, practical implementation, ongoing operational support, and intelligence.

As an example, many organizations today are grappling with how to formulate their strategies regarding advanced technologies such as generative AI. As part of a consulting engagement, Harbor experts can assess clients’ AI-readiness – the state of their data, where their data resides in the cloud and on premises, and the extent to which operational processes need to be optimized to have the greatest impact.

By providing intelligence on how major technology players in the legal ecosystem are incorporating AI, Harbor can also help firms define a strategy that will help to achieve their objectives. After working together to put the foundations in place, the Harbor team can implement and test use cases where AI offers the most potential from a business point of view.

Through its industry reports and community forums, Harbor encourages collaboration and knowledge exchange to move the legal industry forward across strategy, legal technology, operations, and intelligence.

Integration of Heritage Companies

The launch of Harbor as a new services provider is a new chapter for the three companies – HBR Consulting, LAC Group, and Wilson Allen – after starting their combination in late 2022. In early 2023, the company acquired Aurora North and Younts Consulting – teams specializing in legal tech applications and cloud migration. In July of this year, the company expanded again with the addition of business process automation and AI-focused contracts intelligence specialist KP Labs.

About Harbor

Harbor is the preeminent provider of expert services across strategy, legal technology, operations, and intelligence.

Our globally integrated team of 650+ strategists, technologists, and specialists navigates alongside our clients – leading law firms, corporations, and their law departments – to provide essential resources and invaluable insights.

Anchored in a rich heritage of deep knowledge, steadfast relationships, and mutual respect, our unwavering dedication lies in shaping the future of the legal industry, and fostering enduring partnerships within our community and ecosystem. www.harborglobal.com

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KKR Expands Focus on Climate Investing with Key Appointments to Global Infrastructure Team

KKR

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announced that Charlie Gailliot has joined the firm as a co-head for the firm’s global climate strategy, rounding out a leadership team focused on climate-related investments as part of KKR’s infrastructure platform. Gailliot, who is based in New York, joins global climate co-head Emmanuel Lagarrigue, also based in New York, and Neil Arora, who leads the strategy in Asia and is based in Singapore.

“Since the launch of the KKR infrastructure platform 15 years ago, we have invested billions into renewable energy and climate solutions,” said Raj Agrawal, Partner, Head of Global Infrastructure. “However, transitioning to a low-carbon economy at the pace and scale needed requires trillions of dollars in investment, and we are still seeing a significant gap in climate funding. By forming a dedicated climate leadership team – leveraging Charlie, Emmanuel and Neil’s decades of expertise – we can sharpen our focus on the deployment and scaling of net-zero solutions and accelerate the transition of higher-emitting assets.”

Gailliot joins KKR after 20 years as a private markets investor at Goldman Sachs, where he most recently served as a Partner and head of the Energy Transition and the Diversified Industrials investment teams. Prior to joining KKR, Lagarrigue was an executive committee member at Schneider Electric, where he led the transformation of the company into a leader in energy management infrastructure, industrial software and sustainability services. Arora joined KKR from Macquarie where he was the head of the firm’s Green Investment Group for Asia-Pacific, with a focus on renewable energy asset development.

KKR has committed more than $40 billion to sustainability-focused investments, including $30+ billion to climate and environmental sustainability investments since 2010. Examples of the firm’s investments in the energy transition to date include multiple renewables-focused partnerships with NextEra Energy, a leading generator of energy from the wind and sun; Virescent Infrastructure, a renewable energy platform in India; and Viridor, a UK-based waste-to-energy company, among several others.

KKR first established its Global Infrastructure strategy in 2008 and has since been a leading global infrastructure investor with a team of more than 115 executives including approximately 90 investment professionals and an additional 25 dedicated value creation resources. The business is also supported by KKR’s centers of excellence, including, among others, KKR’s Sustainability Expert Advisory Council (SEAC), the KKR Global Institute, and KKR’s public affairs team of 30+ professionals globally helping with stakeholder management, sustainability, regulatory and public policy. The firm currently manages more than $54 billion in infrastructure and energy assets and has made over 75 infrastructure investments across a range of sub-sectors and geographies.

About Neil Arora

Neil Arora (Singapore) joined KKR in 2022 as a Partner on the Infrastructure team. Prior to KKR, Mr. Arora held a number of senior roles across multiple markets during his more than twenty-year career at Macquarie. Most recently, he was head of Macquarie’s Green Investment Group for Asia-Pacific leading a pan-Asia team with a focus on renewable energy asset development. Previously, Mr. Arora was head of the infrastructure and energy (IEG) group for Asia, a member of the investment committee of IEG and a member of Macquarie Capital’s global management committee. In 2011, Mr. Arora established a global energy logistics business in Singapore and completed principal transactions in the midstream energy space across Europe, Asia and Australia. He also previously headed up Macquarie Capital in the Middle East and spent four years as Head of Infrastructure for Asia in Singapore. Mr. Arora holds a BSc (Hons) in Actuarial Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

About Charlie Gailliot

Charlie Gailliot (New York) joined KKR in 2023 as a Partner and Global Co-Head of KKR Climate within the firm’s Infrastructure business. Previously, he was a Partner at Goldman Sachs, where he spent 20 years as a private markets investor in the Merchant Banking Division and subsequently the Asset Management Division. Most recently, Charlie was responsible for both the Energy Transition team and the Diversified Industrials team in New York. He was a member of the Investment Committees for Corporate Equity, Infrastructure, and Climate. He also served at various times as a member of the Sustainability Committee, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and the Physical Commodity Review Committee. Earlier in his career, he spent two years in Goldman’s Hong Kong office working on investments across Asia. Mr. Gailliot holds a degree in Economics with a certificate in Finance from Princeton University.

About Emmanuel Lagarrigue

Emmanuel Lagarrigue (New York) joined KKR in 2022 and is a Partner and Global Co-Head of KKR Climate within the firm’s Infrastructure business. Mr. Lagarrigue has a wealth of experience in sustainability, the energy transition and the transformation of large businesses. Prior to joining KKR, he was one of the founding partners of BeyondNetZero, a General Atlantic fund, focusing on growth equity opportunities in decarbonization technologies. Previously, Mr. Lagarrigue was an executive committee member at Schneider Electric, holding the positions of Chief Strategy, Chief Sustainability and Chief Innovation Officer. He also held several P&L and general management positions in Europe, South America, Asia and the United States over 20 years at the company. Mr. Lagarrigue serves on the Board of JBT Corporation and is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Menorca Preservation, an NGO dedicated to environmental causes in the Balearic Islands.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Liidia Liuksila
212-750-8300
media@kkr.com

Source: KKR

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TPG Rise Climate Forms Strategic Partnership with KKR as New Majority Shareholder in A-Gas

KKR

LONDON, UK; SAN FRANCISCO, USA – August 17, 2023 – A-Gas, the global leader in the supply and lifecycle management of refrigerant gases, today announced that its owners, including majority owner KKR, have entered into a definitive agreement to sell a majority stake in the company to TPG Rise Climate, the dedicated climate investing strategy of TPG’s global impact investing platform, TPG Rise. KKR will remain a significant minority shareholder in the business, continuing to work in collaboration with TPG Rise Climate and the A-Gas Leadership Team. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions, including certain regulatory approvals. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“We are thrilled to be taking the next step of our sustainability journey, and to be further scaling our Lifecycle Refrigerant Management operations, with the backing of TPG Rise Climate,” said Jack Govers, Chief Executive Officer of the A-Gas Group. “We have a long history of being at the forefront of refrigerant gas recovery and reclamation, effectively lowering potential emissions to the atmosphere, and this investment from TPG is validation of our growth strategy and the quality of our products and services. We look forward to building on our success by executing a number of organic and inorganic growth initiatives.”

“We are also grateful for the value that KKR has delivered to our business. KKR’s support, funding, and global platform have enabled us to significantly accelerate our growth into new markets and geographies, while also developing new sustainability-driven capabilities, and building our market leadership. I am delighted that our people and our customers will continue to benefit from their support,” Govers added.

For over 30 years, through its first-class recovery and reclamation processes, A-Gas has been at the forefront of capturing refrigerant gas for future re-use or safe destruction, creating a closed-loop system that prevents its harmful release to the atmosphere. The company’s proprietary gas separation and recovery technology effectively abated approximately 8 million metric tonnes of CO2e in 2022, the equivalent to removing over 1.6 million cars from the roads for a year.

Over the past three decades, A-Gas has extended its market leadership into new growth verticals such as on-site Rapid Recovery of refrigerant gas, the safe destruction of legacy gases, and the generation of carbon credits. The company has also continued to significantly expand its global presence during KKR’s investment period, entering new markets across Europe, such as Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy, while substantially scaling the company’s operations in the US, entering Canada with the construction of a new refrigerant recovery and reclamation facility in Ontario, as well as expanding in Asia through the acquisition of a Japanese refrigerant reclamation and destruction company. Since KKR’s acquisition, which was made through KKR European Fund IV in 2017, A-Gas has grown revenue by 14% and EBITDA by 18% on average annually.

“Our investment in A-Gas is a thematic play on the increasing importance of establishing circular economies in critical industries. A-Gas’ highly differentiated gas recovery and reclamation technology closes the loop in the refrigerant gas lifecycle and thereby prevents the common venting of used refrigerant gases into the atmosphere at their end-of-life, which can have a Global Warming Potential that is several thousand times higher than that of emitting CO2,” said Joerg Metzner, Business Unit Partner at TPG Rise Climate. “A-Gas will play a leading role towards a more sustainable and circular refrigerant gas value chain globally as demand for refrigerants continues to grow and regulatory scrutiny and enforcement increase.”

Mattia Caprioli, Co-Head of European Private Equity at KKR, commented: “A-Gas plays a critical role in the circular economy for refrigerant gases, and in supporting environmental targets to fight climate change and global warming. We have been proud to work with Jack Govers and the A-Gas team over the past years, building market-leading capabilities for the recovery and reclamation of used gases, and positioning the business to benefit from future growth in gas reclamation and destruction opportunities globally. We believe the addition of TPG Rise Climate’s market expertise, particularly in the US carbon credit market, is a great fit for the future, and we look forward to working alongside Joerg, Jack and their respective teams to continue to build on A-Gas’s unique proposition globally.”

Citi acted as financial advisor to TPG in relation to the transaction. Goldman Sachs International acted as financial advisor to A-Gas and KKR, while Simpson Thacher & Bartlett acted as KKR’s legal advisor.

The transaction marks a full exit for minority investor, LDC, following a successful 12-year strategic partnership.

 

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About A-Gas Group

A‑Gas is the world leader in the supply and lifecycle management of refrigerants and associated products and services. Through our first-class recovery, reclamation, and repurposing processes, we capture refrigerants and fire protection gases for future re-use or destruction, preventing their harmful release into the atmosphere.

For over 30 years, A-Gas has supported our clients and partners on their environmental journey by supplying lower global warming gases and actively increasing the circularity of the industries we serve, building a sustainable future.

For more information, please visit www.agas.com.

 

About TPG Rise Climate

TPG Rise Climate is the dedicated climate investing strategy of TPG’s $18 billion global impact investing platform TPG Rise. TPG Rise Climate pursues climate-related investments that benefit from the diverse skills of TPG’s investing professionals, the strategic relationships developed across TPG’s existing portfolio of climate-focused companies, and a global network of executives and advisors. The fund takes a broad-based sector approach to investment types, from growth equity to value-added infrastructure, and focuses on climate solutions in the following thematic areas: clean electrons, clean molecules and materials, and negative emissions. Jim Coulter, TPG Founding Partner and Executive Chairman, serves as Managing Partner of TPG Rise Climate. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson serves as TPG Rise Climate’s Executive Chairman.

For more information, please visit www.therisefund.com/tpgriseclimate

 

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

 

Media Contacts:

 

A-Gas Group
Ken Logan
+44 7495 485356
ken.logan@agas.com

 

TPG
US
Ari Cohen
+1 415-743-1550
media@tpg.com

Europe
Michael Russell or Daniel Oliver
tpg@greenbrookadvisory.com

 

KKR
Annabel Arthur
+44 7554 919 491
annabel.arthur@kkr.com

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Altor has acquired a further 3.8% of the outstanding shares in FLSmidth & Co. A/S

We are pleased to announce that we, Altor Fund Manager AB (“Altor”), on August 16th 2023 have indirectly acquired a further 2.2 million shares in FLSmidth & Co. A/S (“FLSmidth”), corresponding to 3.8% of the shares outstanding. Combined with existing holdings, Altor now owns 14.9% of the outstanding shares and voting rights of FLSmidth.

“Since our initial investment in FLSmidth earlier this year, our positive view on the company has only been strengthened. We remain excited about the strategic direction of the company and the attractive long-term, green transition demand drivers supporting it, and we are impressed by the capable management team and their ability to execute on the strategic plans. The company is a great match for us, we share the same beliefs in what can and needs to be done in terms of decarbonization – an area in which we are active across many industries.” says Daniel Reimann, Principal at Altor.

Altor controls, through Altor Fund V (No.1) AB and Altor Fund V (No. 2) AB, the subsidiary, Altor Invest 7 AS, who is the direct holder of shares in FLSmidth.

Disclaimer

The purchase has not included an offer, whether directly or indirectly, in the United States, Canada, Japan, South Africa, Hong Kong or Australia, unless otherwise indicated, or in any other jurisdiction where such offer pursuant to legislation and regulations in such relevant jurisdictions would be prohibited by applicable law. This announcement is intended for the sole purpose of providing information. Persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser. This announcement does not constitute an investment recommendation.

About Altor

Since inception, the family of Altor funds has raised more than EUR 10 billion in total commitments. The funds have invested in just south of 100 companies. The investments have been made in medium-sized predominantly Nordic and DACH companies with the aim to create value through growth initiatives and operational improvements. Among current and past investments are H2 Green Steel, Norican, Wrist Ship Supply, Multi-Wing, OX2, Vianode, Tibber, and Svea Solar. For more information visit www.altor.com

About FLSmidth

FLSmidth provides sustainable productivity to the global mining and cement industries. The company delivers market-leading technology, products and service solutions that enable its customers to improve performance, drive down costs and reduce environmental impact. MissionZero is the company’s sustainability ambition towards zero emissions in mining and cement by 2030. FLSmidth works within fully validated Science-Based Targets, its commitment to keep global warming below 1.5°C and to becoming carbon neutral in its own operations by 2030. For more information visit www.flsmidth.com

Press contact

Tor Krusell

Head of Communications

tor.krusell@altor.com

+46 705 43 87 47

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