Blackstone has agreed to acquire ESG software provider and consultation firm Sphera for $1.4bn from Genstar using its flagship private equity vehicle.
Sphera aims to help organisations surface, manage and mitigate ESG risk in the areas of environment, health, safety and sustainability, product stewardship and operational risk management. It has 3,000 customers in more than 100 countries.
Genstar, which acquired the company in 2016, said it has expanded the Sphera’s geographic and end-market reach as well as its portfolio of cloud-based applications.
Eli Nagler, senior managing director at Blackstone, said, “The increasing importance of environmental, social, governance issues to businesses globally is a key thematic investing focus for Blackstone. Sphera has established itself as a market leader in the ESG software and solutions space, and we’re excited to partner with Paul and this best-in-class management team to continue to accelerate their impressive growth trajectory.”
Martin Brand, head of North American private equity at Blackstone and global co-head of technology investing, added, “Sphera has built world-class technology and is exceptionally well positioned in the fast-growing ESG sector. We are looking forward to helping Paul and his team accelerate Sphera’s further expansion.”
Blackstone made seven senior hire this year to boost ESG efforts, including the hiring of engineering and construction industry veteran Alasdair Cathcart as senior advisor to Blackstone Energy Partners in May.
The firm raised $8.2bn for its long-hold private equity fund last year, making Blackstone Core Equity Partners II fund roughly 70% bigger than its predecessor.
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