PAG hints at impact products as it prepares for listing

The firm says it is 'currently working on leveraging and expanding our current ESG activities to create future dedicated ESG/impact investment fund products'.

Hong Kong’s PAG is set to become the latest alternatives heavyweight to go public, reports affiliate title Private Equity International, and says it will launch dedicated ESG or impact products.

The firm filed for an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last week with Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley as joint sponsors of the share sale and UBS as financial adviser. The heavily redacted document did not provide financial details or a timeline, although PAG is expected to seek as much as $2 billion from the listing, Bloomberg reported.

The firm makes reference to its ESG efforts in its filing document, noting it will combine all ESG efforts, including due diligence, deal structuring and value creation initiatives across its various strategies, under one comprehensive programme: PAG Impact.

The platform will also launch dedicated ESG and impact-focused funds and investment products, although a timeline for these was not indicated in the document. “With active input from our clients, we are currently working on leveraging and expanding our current ESG activities to create future dedicated ESG/Impact investment fund products,” the firm noted.

PAG’s ESG priorities include reducing energy consumption, increasing diversity and enhancing corporate social responsibility at the group level.

PAG, which had $50 billion of assets under management and $17 billion in private equity as of end-December, is one of several brand name firms to hold or consider an IPO in recent months. TPG raised $1 billion via a December listing and CVC Capital Partners is expected to hold a multi-billion-euro listing in Amsterdam.