General Atlantic Buying Actis to Create $96B Sustainability-Focused Asset Manager

US private equity firm General Atlantic has agreed to acquire London-based Actis for an undisclosed price, creating a global investment platform with $96 billion in combined assets under management, the companies announced Tuesday.

Actis, which has raised $25 billion in capital since its 2004 inception, will contribute $12.5 billion in AUM as it becomes the sustainable infrastructure arm of General Atlantic, it said in a release.

News of the deal comes less than a week after US giant BlackRock announced its acquisition of General Infrastructure Partners, a $100 billion asset manager with an investment thesis centred on decarbonisation. Similarly, General Atlantic chairman and CEO Bill Ford tied the Actis buy to the global energy transition and sustainability goals.

“Addressing the global paradigm shift toward sustainability requires an economic transformation and a capital investment on a massive scale,” said Ford, who also sits on BlackRock’s board. “With the addition of Actis, we are taking a significant step forward to add a sustainable investment capability which positions General Atlantic to capture this opportunity set for our investors.”

Caesar Stays On

Under the terms of the agreement, Actis will continue to be led by its chairman and senior partner, Torbjorn Caesar, and will retain independence over its investment decisions and processes with its funds operating under the existing Actis brand.

Caesar described the enlarged company as a case in which “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts”.

“The combined firm brings together distinct but highly complementary strategies that unlock long-term value for our investors across key structural themes including the energy transition and digital transition,” he said.

Actis in April 2022 reached a $700 million final closing for its 2019-vintage Actis Asia Real Estate Fund 2, which invests in new economy assets across emerging markets in the region.

The fund manager plans to invest as much as $2.5 billion in India over the next four years, targeting projects across the country’s energy transition, digital infrastructure, logistics and warehousing sectors, according to media reports. The firm is also looking to invest $700 million to build and operate life science assets in the country, according to separate press accounts.

Last month Actis sold its remaining interest in an industrial park in northern Vietnam to its local joint venture partner, exiting its first-ever real estate investment in the Southeast Asian nation.

Growth Equity Trailblazer

New York-based General Atlantic has $83 billion in assets under management. Founded in 1980 by the late duty-free tycoon and philanthropist Chuck Feeney, the firm pioneered the “growth equity” strategy of making large minority investments in fast-growing companies.

In 2019, General Atlantic led a $500 million Series B funding round for Ziroom, China’s first rental housing unicorn, alongside mainland tech giant Tencent, Sequoia Capital China and Shenzhen-based Tiantu Capital.

The firm had teamed up with Zhang Lei’s Hillhouse Capital Management the previous year on a $120 million Series C funding exercise for Chinese co-working operator MyDreamPlus.