Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., or “KKR,”
announced the expansion of its Green Portfolio Program beyond the United States, which now makes it approximately 20 percent of KKR’s global private equity portfolio.
KKR also announced the hiring of Elizabeth Seeger from the Environmental Defense Fund to manage the expansion of the Green Portfolio Program and other responsible investment efforts.
The Green Portfolio Program, developed in partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund, or “EDF,” now includes four additional companies, First Data, based in Atlanta, GA; Lehigh Phoenix, a division of Visant, based in Armonk, NY; Oriental Brewery, based in Seoul, Korea; and Tarkett, based in Nanterre, France. These companies will be building on current sustainability initiatives by evaluating their environmental performance and setting goals related to their key environmental impacts.
The new initiative is aimed to improve the environmental performance of the companies in which KKR invests through its Green Portfolio Program developed in partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund.
According to Henry Kravis, co-founder of KKR, the business case for environmental management has never been stronger.
“The Green Portfolio Program highlights that environmental performance and business performance can go hand-in-hand. We are very excited about the momentum to date and the fact that we have taken this effort global in such a short period of time,” Kravis said.
Since May 2008, KKR and EDF have been developing a set of analytic tools and metrics to help companies improve in several environmental performance areas, including greenhouse gas emissions, waste, water, forest resources, and priority chemicals. These tools help managers to cost-effectively improve efficiency and reduce waste, while addressing the environmental impacts of their business.
First Data, Visant, Tarkett and Oriental Brewery join eight other Green Portfolio participants and together now account for approximately 20 percent of KKR’s private equity portfolio companies.
The new participants create two “firsts” for the KKR Green Portfolio Program. Oriental Brewery and Tarkett represent the first step in expanding the program globally. Oriental Brewery, added to KKR’s portfolio in July, 2009, is the first company to participate within six months of KKR’s initial investment.
“Elizabeth helped spearhead our partnership with EDF and she was instrumental in getting the pilot project off the ground. We believe that the focus and expertise Elizabeth brings will further our efforts to generate sustained value for our companies and investors while at the same time improving the environment,” explains
Ken Mehlman, Head of Global Public Affairs and a Member of KKR.
The addition of Ms. Seeger is consistent with KKR Capstone’s (
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Alert) recent hiring of other subject matter experts to work across the portfolio in the areas of Lean Six Sigma, procurement, and information technology.
“Our work over the last two years has proven that environmental performance management aligns well with our long-held belief that value is created by improving the operations and performance of the companies in which we invest,” said Dean Nelson, founder of KKR Capstone.
