Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Ontario Teachers’) and KKR, a global investment firm announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which Ontario Teachers’ will acquire KKR and other shareholders’ stakes in GreenCollar, a leading Australian environmental markets platform. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Ontario Teachers’ first became an investor in GreenCollar in March 2022. With this latest investment, Ontario Teachers’ deepens its relationship with GreenCollar, taking on a significant majority stake in the Company, with GreenCollar CEO and Co-founder James Schultz continuing to lead the business and remaining a significant shareholder.
Ontario Teachers’ Natural Resources group, which is part of the Infrastructure and Natural Resources department, has significant experience investing in agriculture, aquaculture, timberland, and natural climate solutions, including in Australia where it has a large agriculture portfolio, as per the statement.
Christopher Metrakos, Senior Managing Director, Natural Resources at Ontario Teachers’, said: “We are pleased to increase our investment in GreenCollar and to continue supporting James and his team in their mission to restore and enhance natural capital in areas like biodiversity and water quality. GreenCollar is a proven leader in delivering positive environmental outcomes with market-based solutions and we are excited to continue supporting the company in its next chapter of growth in Australia and beyond. We’d like to thank the team at KKR for their support and partnership on this investment.”
James Schultz, CEO and Co-Founder of GreenCollar, added, “We look forward to our deepening relationship and collaboration with Ontario Teachers’ and tapping into their knowledge and expertise in the natural resources sector. We also want to extend our sincere gratitude to KKR for their support and commitment over past few years.”
KKR first invested in GreenCollar in 2020 as part of its Global Impact strategy, which focuses on companies that contribute measurable progress toward one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a certified B corporation and provider of environmental initiatives that reduce the impact of climate change, GreenCollar’s core business directly contributes toward SDG 13 (Climate Action) and supports other sustainable goals, including SDG 15 (Life on Land) and SDG 14 (Life Below Water), according to the statement.
GreenCollar is the first Global Impact Fund investment to implement a broad-scale employee ownership plan. Once the transaction has completed, all employees at GreenCollar will share in the proceeds from the sale under a program that aims to build stronger companies and drive greater financial inclusion through employee ownership and engagement.
George Aitken, Managing Director and Head of KKR Global Impact, Asia Pacific, said, “GreenCollar is a great example of a solutions-oriented business that KKR looks to support through our Global Impact strategy, addressing some of the world’s biggest challenges such as climate change. Together with James, Ontario Teachers’ and the whole team at GreenCollar, we have made great strides in advancing GreenCollar’s important mission. It’s been a fantastic journey. We strongly believe that an ownership mentality among employees can build a stronger culture, create a more engaging experience, and ultimately drive stronger business performance – and the results speak for themselves here. Going forward, we are confident that Ontario Teachers’ and the team will continue building on that success.”
KKR was advised by Gilbert & Tobin and UBS. Ontario Teachers’ was advised by Baker & Mackenzie and EY.
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