A Californian fund specialising in climate-related investments has acquired a majority stake in Bristol’s pioneering global refrigerant management company A-Gas, with lawyers from the city office of Osborne Clarke advising on the deal.
Established in 1993, A-Gas has grown rapidly and is now at the forefront of capturing refrigerant gas for future re-use or safe destruction.
Its market leadership has been extended into new growth markets such as on-site rapid recovery of refrigerant gas, the safe destruction of legacy gases and the generation of carbon credits.
San Francisco-based TPG Rise Climate acquired its stake in A-Gas from current majority shareholders, US global investment company KKR and its other owners.
KKR, which bought its majority stake in 2017 from UK private equity investor LDC, said it will remain “a significant minority shareholder” in the Portishead-based business, continuing to work in collaboration with TPG Rise Climate and the A-Gas leadership team.
Under KKR’s ownership, A-Gas has grown annual revenue and earnings by an average of 14% and 18% respectively.
Led by its chief executive officer Jack Govers, A-Gas has also continued to significantly expand its global presence during KKR’s investment period, entering new markets across Europe, such as Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy, substantially scaling its operations in the US and entering Canada with the construction of a new refrigerant recovery and reclamation facility in Ontario.
It has also expanded in Asia through the acquisition of a Japanese refrigerant reclamation and destruction company.
A-Gas’s proprietary gas separation and recovery technology effectively abated approximately 8m metric tonnes of CO2e last year, the equivalent to removing more than 1.6m cars from the roads for a year.
Osborne Clarke advised A-Gas’s management team on the transaction, financial details of which have not been disclosed, with a team led by private equity partners Alisdair Livingstone and James Taylor, and senior associate Jack Wellington.
The firm said the deal reflected its established and well-respected position as one of the leading law firms advising businesses focussed on sustainability.
For more than 20 years, it has helped clients seize new opportunities and meet the challenges of making processes more clean, affordable and secure.
TPG Rise Climate is the dedicated climate investing strategy of TPG’s $18bn global impact investing platform TPG Rise.
TPG Rise Climate says it pursues climate-related investments that benefit from the diverse skills of its investing professionals, the strategic relationships developed across its existing portfolio of climate-focused companies, and a global network of executives and advisors.
The deal also marks a full exit for A-Gas minority investor LDC following a 12-year strategic partnership.
The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this year subject to customary closing conditions, including certain regulatory approvals.
