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Blackstone-owned ESG adviser Legence acquired sustainability consulting firm Lord Green Strategies, a move aimed at helping Legence grow its own ESG reach.
The move combines Legence subsidiary RE Tech Advisors with Lord Green, increasing Legence’s footprint to 1.2B SF in assets under management.
The Lord Green acquisition brings to Legence a client portfolio that includes companies such as Invesco, Carlyle Group, Bain Capital and Starwood Capital, according to Legence Chief Sustainability Officer Deborah Cloutier.
“We both have, I think, in total 100 commercial real estate clients that represent portfolios of real estate,” Cloutier said.
Cloutier also noted that the merger brings with it $1.5T worth of assets under management. Lord Green's international perspective, which stems from its presence in Europe and Asia, will also boost RE Tech, largely a U.S.-focused firm up to this point, Cloutier said.
“RE Tech had primarily focused our efforts in North America, and some in Europe, really, when our clients were taking us there. But Mychele, in addition to doing U.S., she actually has a really strong presence of work in Europe and in Asia. So that's going to help us with some additional kinds of perspectives,” Cloutier said, in reference to Lord Green founder Mychele Lord.
Cloutier also noted that Legence will likely continue to be aggressive with its acquisition strategy. The company acquired Black Bear Energy earlier this year, expanding its renewable energy services.
“We have been very active [in] merger and acquisitions over the last two years. And we're excited to be announcing some future runs ... in the coming month or two,” she said.
Though ESG initiatives have grown across CRE, there has been some pushback in the United States from some state governments, such as in Florida, but Cloutier dismisses that conversation as nothing more than a distraction, given the influx of capital invested in ESG.
“I think it's actually a huge distraction right now," she said. "Because the commercial real estate owners or investors, these large institutional companies, or privately traded companies, you know, they have for many years seen the financial returns of making these investments."
They're not doing an about face,” she said.
CORRECTION, DEC. 8, 1 P.M. PT: A previous version of this story incorrectly spelled Mychele Lord's name. This story has been updated.
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