Private equity investment firm KKR has launched the Eco-Innovation Award for its portfolio companies as part of the firm’s Green Solutions Platform (GSP).
The platformh aims to identify, support and highlight environmental initiatives across three areas: eco-efficiency, eco-innovation, and/or eco-solutions.
The Eco-Innovation Award is intended to reward current projects or initiatives within KKR portfolio companies that are innovative, environmentally beneficial solutions that create business value.
“Our goal with the Green Solutions Platform and now the Eco-Innovation Award is to encourage and support our companies’ eco-innovation work as we do their eco-efficiency projects,” says Elizabeth Seeger, director at KKR and a leader of the GSP programme. “We hope that by launching the Eco-Innovation Award, we are not only recognising the achievements of our portfolio companies, but also inspiring them to identify new and enhanced ways of creating sustainable value.”
KKR has released programme results for 28 participating companies in the Green Solutions Platform, 10 of which are entirely new participants. Since the first GSP results announcement in December 2015, the number of reporting portfolio companies in the programme has grown, now including 18 focused on eco-efficiency, five focused on eco-innovation, and seven focused on eco-solutions. Of these participants, two report on both eco-efficiency and eco-innovation efforts. The 30 case studies highlight projects across four asset classes, including private equity, special situations, real estate, and infrastructure, as well as span a range of geographies and focus areas.
Private equity portfolio companies communicating results include Capsugel, CITIC Envirotech, First Data, Gardner Denver Nash, Gardner Denver Thomas, GoDaddy, Goodpack, HCA, Mitchell International, Panasonic Healthcare, Pets at Home, PortAventura, Qingdao Haier, Resource Environmental Solutions, Santanol, Sundrop Farms, Sungard Availability Services, Tarkett, Toys "R" Us, and US Foods.
Coriance, European Locomotive Leasing, South Staffordshire Plc, and X-ELIO of KKR’s infrastructure portfolio; KKR’s retail, multi-family, and hospitality real estate portfolios; and Ursa, a special situations portfolio company, are also communicating results.
Todd Cooper, managing director at KKR Capstone, adds: “KKR Capstone’s goal is to help our companies create long-term value, which includes our efforts through the Green Solutions Platform. We are proud of the collaboration between KKR, KKR Capstone, and our external partners that built this program over the past eight years, and are looking forward to further growth and innovation.”
