As an iCi signatory, Argos Wityu is committed to helping reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the companies it supports and to ensuring sustainable performance.
Endorsed by the UNPRI since 2019, iCi is a French initiative initially launched under the name “Climate 2020 Initiative” (iC20) in 2015 during COP 21. The iC20 subsequently received the support of France Invest in 2018. The aim of this working group is to internationalize the initiative by extending it to all those who wish to duplicate it in their country. iC20 thus became iCi, which brings together all existing national initiatives.
The iCi forms a unique sharing platform that brings together and mobilizes all private equity players wishing to make a concrete contribution to the fight against climate change.
Argos Wityu portfolio companies launched an array of carbon footprint reduction initiatives
Argos Wityu has recognised decarbonisation as a key action for each portfolio company. Each company is required to measure the current level of its carbon footprint and define targets to further reduce this level over the next couple of years.
100% of Argos Wityu’s portfolio companies have a formal ESG action plan in place and 95% of companies are engaged in environmental initiatives. Such climate initiatives in 2021 include:
Latteria e Caseificio Moro, leading producer and seller in the fresh cheese sector, Italy
While cheese production is an energy-intensive process, Moro aims at being at the forefront of environ-mental impact reduction. The company has therefore dedicated significant efforts to reduce its fossil energy consumption, investing in two state-of-the-art green energy production systems:
• 3,000 sqm of solar cells installed on the factory’s roof – producing c.300MWh of electric energy p.a.
• Biogas plant, transforming waste whey resulting from cheese production process into energy – pro-ducing c.3,900 MWh of electric energy p.a. and c.2,900 MWh of thermal energy p.a.
Alessio Manigrasso, Partner at Argos Wityu “These investments are clearly in line with Moro’ ESG plan. The company wants to keep investing and remain at the forefront of environmental impact reduction. To achieve this important goal, we have launched a specific project aimed at carefully assessing company carbon footprint to identify further areas of improvement.”
Schenk, logistics services of industrial gasses, LNG, chemicals, fuels, lubricants, LPG, bitumen and liquid food products, The Netherlands.
Schenk operates a truck fleet that fulfills the highest exhaustion standards in the industry and that is also increasingly powered by biofuels. The company operates a growing share of more eco-friendly LNG-powered trucks (currently representing c.10% of their total fleet) and proposes the use of electrically driven trucks for those tenders where it is technically feasible.
Maarten Meijssen, Partner at Argos Wityu “Shenk is for Argos Wityu a unique opportunity to invest in a sustainable future of logistics. Schenk is already actively monitoring the CO2 exhaustion per kilometer for each individual trajectory and has ambitious targets to continue to reduce its carbon footprint. We are also proud to share that the company is part of a pilot project for hydrogen powered trucks.”
Julhiet Sterwen, leader in transformation and innovation consulting, France.
Julhiet Sterwen has been implementing a digital sobriety plan for several years. In 2021, the company has published an action plan to reduce energy and optimise resources based on 4 pillars:
• Cloud and collaborative tools: implementation of a Cloud policy hosted in a green datacenter.
• Printing: reduction in the number of copiers for better quality equipment and implementation of a badge printing system, Pull Printing, which deletes pending prints on the server after 24 hours.
• Hardware: choice of eco-responsible equipment, with the Energy Star label, combined with encour-aging the repair of equipment, rather than its replacement. In addition, equipment at the end of its useful life, as well as consumables such as toner, are systematically recycled.
• Green energy: signing a contract with a 100% wind power supplier.
Marc Sabatier, CEO of Julhiet Sterwen “In our consulting business, IT is one of the main sources of greenhouse gases. It therefore seemed obvious to us to work on digital sobriety, which has quickly become a priority project on which we are putting a lot of effort.”
Gilles Lorang, Managing Partner at Argos Wityu “Julhiet Sterwen proved to be really ahead of the curve in terms of ESG initiatives and culture. The maturity of the organization in terms of ESG really stood out during the due diligence phase and we are extremely pleased with the initiatives taken.”
Argos Wityu
Coralie Cornet
Head of Communications
ccc@argos.fund
+33 6 14 38 33 37
About Argos Wityu / www.argos.wityu.fund
Argos Wityu is an independent European investment fund that supports companies in the transfer of business ownership. It has assisted more than 80 entrepreneurs, focusing its investment strategy on complex transactions with emphasis on transformation, growth, and close collaboration with management teams. Argos Wityu seeks to acquire majority interests and invest between €10m and €100m with each transaction. With more than €1bn under management and 30 years of experience, Argos Wityu operates from offices in Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Luxembourg, Milan and Paris.
