TPG’s climate-focused fund has joined with Milan-based Renaissance Partners to acquire a controlling stake in SICIT Group S.p.A, an Italian company that converts leather tanning waste into value-added products, such as biostimulants to boost crop growth.
SICIT joins TPG Rise Climate’s growing portfolio of circular economy companies, and marks its first climate adaptation play. “As more frequent extreme weather events increase pressure on crop yields and available arable land, SICIT’s sustainable biostimulants are playing a critical role in improving the nutrient efficiency and quality of crops while protecting them against growing environmental stress,” said TPG’s Joerg Metzner.
Rise Climate has identified adaptation and resilience — including disaster prevention and response, grid hardening, business resiliency and insurance, and protecting access to food and water — as a growing investment theme.
Changing hands
Renaissance Partners and Intesa Holding, a leather tannery holding company in Italy’s Vicenza leather district, acquired a majority stake in SICIT in 2021 and took the company private. The pair sold their stake, with Renaissance reinvesting in the new transaction via Renaissance Partners Fund IV. LGT Capital Partners, Schroders Capital and Intesa also invested.
“TPG Rise Climate is the ideal partner to further accelerate SICIT’s growth, leveraging their global network and deep industry expertise,” said Tommaso De Bustis Figarola of Renaissance.
Circular economy
TPG Rise Climate last year led a $100 million Series A round last year for Syre, a North Carolina-based recycler of textiles including polyester that was started by H&M Group and Swedish venture builder Vargas. Syre is looking to build two gigascale textile-to-textile recycling plants.
In 2023, TPG picked up A-Gas, a London-based company that captures and re-uses refrigerant gas, from KKR. The same year it led a $700 million debt and equity financing round for Hybar, a sustainable scrap metal recycler. The company is building a steel rebar mill in northeast Arkansas adjacent to a solar facility that will provide power.
