Press Releases
Press Release
Feb 8, 2010 | Location: New York, NY | Download as PDF
KKR expands "Green" program and builds internal resources for responsible investment
Media contacts:
KKR: Peter McKillop or Kristi Huller, KKR, 212-750-8300, media@kkr.com
EDF: Melanie Janin, EDF, 202-321-5095, mjanin@edf.org
Biomet: Bill Kolter, 574-372-1535, Bill.Kolter@biomet.com
Dollar General: Tawn Miller, 615-855-5209, tamiller@dollargeneral.com
First Data: Chip Swearngan, 404-890-2373, Chip.Swearngan@firstdata.com
Oriental Brewery: Richard Choi, (82) 2 2149 5033, Richard.Choi@ob.co.kr
PRIMEDIA: Nichole Bigley, 678-421-3494, nbigley@primedia.com
Sealy: Christiana Basso, 312-616-2471, cbasso@c-k.com
SunGard: Suzanne DeFruscio, 484-582-5580, suzanne.defruscio@sungard.com
Tarkett: Thierry Micheron, +33 (0) 1 41 20 4451, thierry.micheron@tarkett.com
U.S. Foodservice: Christina Koliopoulos, 847-720-8304, Christina.Koliopoulos@usfood.com
Visant: Paul Carousso, 914-595-8218, paul.carousso@visant.net
Green Program now includes twenty percent of KKR's global portfolio
The Green Portfolio Program, developed in partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund (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. As participants, these companies will be building on current sustainability initiatives by evaluating their environmental performance and setting goals related to their key environmental impacts.
"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," said Henry R. Kravis, Co-founder of KKR.
Since May 2008, KKR and EDF have been developing and testing a set of analytic tools and metrics to help companies improve in several key 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 pilot phase of the project yielded successful results for U.S. Foodservice Inc., PRIMEDIA Inc. and Sealy Corporation, which together already saved $16.4 million and prevented more than 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2008. Data are being collected for Accellent Inc., Biomet Inc., Dollar General Corporation, SunGard Data Systems Inc., and HCA Inc., and certain preliminary results for these companies are expected to be released in Spring 2010.
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.
KKR also re-launched a Green Portfolio Program public website that provides updates on the program as well as additional information on KKR’s responsible investment efforts.
Building Internal Resources for Responsible Investment
In addition, KKR expanded its commitment to responsible investment. Elizabeth Seeger, a former two-year fellow in the Environmental Defense Fund Corporate Partnerships Program, recently joined KKR’s operations team, KKR Capstone. She will leverage the operational expertise of the KKR Capstone team to drive environmental benefits and cost savings to KKR’s portfolio companies and will oversee the sharing of environmental and social responsibility best practices across KKR’s portfolio. Her responsibilities will include the development of reporting systems as part of KKR’s compliance with responsible investment guidelines.
"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," said Ken Mehlman, Head of Global Public Affairs and a Member of KKR.
The addition of Ms. Seeger is consistent with KKR Capstone’s recent hiring of other subject matter experts to work across the portfolio in the areas of Lean Six Sigma, procurement, and information technology. KKR Capstone executives work side-by-side with management teams to help identify and implement operational improvements in functional areas such as pricing, organizational design, sales force effectiveness, and operational efficiency.
Dean Nelson, founder of KKR Capstone, said, "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."
In an effort to provide information to companies in a one-stop-shop manner, KKR is in the process of building an internal website where its portfolio companies will be able to report and manage data and access case studies and best practices for cost-effectively improving environmental performance.
To expand its citizenship efforts, KKR recently joined Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) to ensure access to best practices and research surrounding environmental and social issues globally.
About KKR
Founded in 1976 by Henry R. Kravis and George Roberts, KKR is a leading global alternative asset manager with $54.8 billion in assets under management, over 600 people and 13 offices around the world as of September 30, 2009. KKR manages assets through a variety of investment funds and accounts covering multiple asset classes. KKR seeks to create value by bringing operational expertise to its portfolio companies and through active oversight and monitoring of its investments. KKR complements its investment expertise and strengthens interactions with investors through its client relationships and capital markets platforms. KKR is publicly traded through KKR & Co. (Guernsey) L.P. (Euronext Amsterdam: KKR). For additional information, please visit KKR's website at www.kkr.com.
Program Summary
Program Updates
New participant in 2011
A.T.U., a leading operator of automotive stores and repair shops based in Germany, is a new participant in the program.[More]KKR releases 2010 results
13 companies achieved more than $365 million in financial impact and avoided 810,000 metric tons of GHG emissions, 2.2 million tons of waste, and 300 million liters of water.[More]Green Portfolio Program featured as a transparency and trust initiative in CSR Europe's Enterprise 2020 Marketplace
Green Portfolio Program featured as a transparency and trust initiative in CSR Europe's Enterprise 2020 Marketplace[More]Green Portfolio Program expanded to include 16 companies globally
Green Portfolio Program expanded to include 16 companies globally[More]Privacy Policy | Legal Notices and Terms of Use | Contact Us | © 2011 KKR: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. All rights reserved.