A new climate-focused investment platform before COP28? Bahrain-based alternative asset manager Investcorp plans to have a new climate-focused investment platform up and running before COP28 kicks off in November, Co-CEO Rishi Kapoor told The National. The company is in the process of establishing the new climate-focused growth capital platform, which is “already beyond the initial creation and conceptualisation stage,” Kapoor said. The final size of the funding Investcorp plans to raise for the new investment vehicle is yet to be decided, he said.

What we know: The new investment vehicle will grab stakes in companies operating in various sectors including mobility, climate technology, carbon management, and energy transition and storage industries, Kapoor said. Investcorp will make necessary growth capital accessible to energy transition technology companies that require funding to grow. It is set to invest between USD 25 mn and USD 75 mn either directly or through partners to increase green assets under its private equity portfolio.

What they said: “By the time COP28 comes around, we're going to have all the building blocks and the foundation well in place to be able to deliver on the commitment to be a steward of investor capital, towards the commercial scale-up of these technologies,” Kapoor said, adding that North America will be a leading target market for the new investment fund, with possible investment targets in Europe, parts of Asia, and the Middle East.

Investcorp is on a roll: Tuesday’s announcement comes weeks after the company acquired a controlling stake in China’s renewable energy critical components manufacturer Shandong Jianuo Electronics, marking the asset manager’s “first control buyout in China.” Its first controlling buyout in the world’s largest economy came months after it partnered with Hong Kong-based private equity investment arm Fung Capital to set up a USD 500 mn fund to invest in mid-cap companies across China’s Greater Bay Area (GBA).