This case describes the ESG journey of Pro-invest Group, an asset management and investment firm specialising in private equity real estate across the globe. It begins in 2017, when the Group is launching its second hotel fund, Pro-invest Australian Hospitality Opportunity Fund II (in parallel to managing Fund I) and there is a growing appreciation of the financial and competitive benefits of strong environmental, social and governance considerations. As investor interest in ESG standards rises, Dr. Sabine Schaffer, co-founder and co-CEO Europe, commits to implementing them at every level of the company. The case describes how she drove these efforts, from achieving the GRESB Real Estate Assessment (formerly Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) to the adoption of a standardized third-party-administered ESG certification scheme across the Group's hotel assets in Australasia. The case ends in 2021 with Pro-invest looking at certification schemes for potential investments in the UK and Europe. It highlights the decisions that were taken, the challenges faced, and the key learning along the way.
This experiential case simulates an investment committee (IC) meeting at the private equity (PE) firm Bridgepoint, a leading European mid-market private equity firm. In the first quarter of 2011, with Europe in a recession following the global financial crisis, forecasters are predicting the start of an economic recovery. The firm is midway through investing its €4.85 billion fund, Bridgepoint Europe IV ("BEIV"), looking specifically for market-leading European companies with potential to grow through geographic expansion or operational improvement, strategy refocusing and add-on acquisitions. Three senior partners (Charlotte, Andrew and Bengt) from its offices in Germany, London and Sweden are preparing to present potential investment opportunities to the committee - respectively, Charlie, a German chemicals company with global plants; Alpha, an industrial firm listed on the London Stock Exchange; and Bravo, an elderly-care company based in Sweden. All three have submitted written papers to the members of the IC, including Harriet, a senior partner at Bridgepoint, who regularly spends her weekends analyzing information in preparation for the Monday morning meeting. Students are asked to either pitch one of three companies to Bridgepoint's investment committee or to play the role of the IC and ask their classmates questions to clarify the rationale for putting them forward.