KKR's global impact fund makes debut investment in Asia

BBP uses a combination of software algorithms, sensors, and customized engineering to reduce electricity consumption in central heating and cooling systems, claiming to provide up to 40% savings in energy use. The company targets commercial and industrial clients, providing ongoing assistance and adjustments to its solutions to help customers maintain their energy savings.

BBP currently operates across eight markets, including India, mainland China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, with clients in the hospitality, manufacturing, retail, and office management sectors, as well as Singapore’s Changi International Airport. The new capital will be used for further expansion, potentially including markets beyond Asia, according to a release.

KKR Global Impact launched earlier this year to back companies that can provide measurable benefits to address critical global challenges identified by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It will invest in businesses where social impact is intrinsically aligned with financial performance, and where the GP can leverage its global resources to improve performance.

“BBP contributes solutions to two of the SDGs – affordable and clean energy, and industry, innovation and infrastructure – with a business model meant to fundamentally change best practices for energy management,” said Robert Antablin and Ken Mehlman, co-heads of KKR Global Impact. “BBP’s motivation, as is ours, is to achieve meaningful and sustainable costs savings for customers directly alongside long-term and measurable environmental impacts for society.”

KKR is one of several global GPs to launch impact investment strategies in recent years: Bain Capital closed its US-focused Double Impact Fund last year at $390 million, and TPG Capital manages The Rise Fund, which invests globally with a corpus of $2 billion. Partners Group also launched PG Life in March, targeting $1 billion with a mandate to achieve attractive financial returns along with measurable social and environmental impact.

These funds have been greeted with some enthusiasm, as they are seen as potentially attracting more institutional LPs into impact funds with the reassurance that they will not have to sacrifice financial returns for social benefits. Investors in Double Impact and The Rise Fund include pension funds and sovereign wealth funds that have not previously participated in this space.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Support services
• Expansion
• Cleantech
• Singapore
• KKR
• Impact investment