The big news in private markets this week is the combination of two heavyweight managers – EQT and Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) – to produce a veritable investment behemoth.

For EQT, the merger provides a leading position in Asian private capital (including 115 new LP relationships). For BPEA, meanwhile, the Hong Kong-based GP gains access to a global platform and, in the words of its founder, Jean Salata, gets an ESG boost: “Europe is clearly much more advanced in sustainability than Asia is,” said Salata in this video.

“Through this combination we are going to be able to bring all that knowhow to our portfolio companies and elevate the level of sustainability as a result of plugging in to the best practices globally in sustainability in impact,” Salata said.

Tang Zongzhong, BPEA’s ESG and sustainability manager, described EQT as “the undisputed ESG and impact leader in the private equity industry”, in a post on LinkedIn.

We’ve been revisiting this podcast about ESG-linked credit facilities, in which BPEA and EQT execs discuss the matter with other leading private markets players, for signs of the budding relationship.

  • Subscribers to Private Equity International can read more about the deal here.
  • EQT’s press release on the merger is here.