Happy Fri-yay, Hubsters! Aaron here on the Wire to close out the week in style.
Decarbonization. My colleague Obey Martin Manayiti recently wrote about Partners Group’s $500 million investment in Budderfly, a company that helps businesses cut energy use.
Obey spoke with Todd Bright, a partner and co-head of the firm’s private infrastructure Americas about the opportunities in the sector.
“We identified a number of top players in the sector and Budderfly’s name kept popping up,” said Bright. “The suite of upgrades that Budderfly is focusing on can be repeated across multiple sites. The company’s technology can help customers save both on money and help them achieve their decarbonization targets.”
“Among other services, Budderfly can collect hordes of energy records per day, audit them, do carbon reporting and manage energy loads in real time,” writes Obey.
“They are taking away this low-hanging fruit in terms of decarbonization,” Bright said.
Poached. Ex-BlackRock PE executive Julia Wittlin joins RedBird, wrote Chris Witkowsky, noting that Wittlin is among a group of people who have left BlackRock this year across various PE strategies.
“Professionals have been moving around recently amid a resignation crisis that has left firms and institutions desperate to attract talent,” writes Chris. “BlackRock has seen several departures this year, including the leaders of its secondaries business, who left to focus on private equity secondaries at Apollo Global Management.”
Off-duty. Buyouts’ Kirk Falconer provides another off-duty piece, which provides a snapshot of top investors, including a few details about what they do when not chasing deals.
This edition features Andrew Nikou, founder of OpenGate Capital. Here are some excerpts:
If you weren’t in PE, what job would you like to have?
“Once upon a time, I might have said politics. I have a real passion for contributing to positive change in my community. But I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to create that change in other ways – through my foundation, for example, which is committed to lifting up those who feel disconnected and marginalized, feelings I relate to from my own upbringing. Maybe one day, a long time from now, I’ll become a rancher in Montana.”
What word or phrase best describes you?
Full throttle: Kobe Bryant’s Mamba mentality, which ultimately means focusing on the process and trusting in the hard work when it matters most, as well as passion, obsession, relentlessness, resiliency and fearlessness.
That’s about it from me today, keeping it short and sweet to end the week. I hope you all have a great weekend. I know I will, as I am dog sitting again, and its true dogs make everything better!
MK Flynn will be back on the Wire on Monday.
Until next Friday,
Aaron
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