Vista Equity Partners Among the First Major U.S. Private Equity Firms to Advance Global ESG Strategy with Portfolio-Wide Participation in Climate Program

Vista Climate Pledge includes annual GHG footprint measurement, reduction and offset commitments

Vista Equity Partners (“Vista”), a leading global investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses,  announced that each of its majority-owned portfolio companies have agreed to measure greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, set a GHG reduction target and offset GHG emissions on an annual basis, as part of the Vista Climate Pledge.

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“As climate-related issues continue to grow in prevalence and importance for both business leaders and investors, Vista is committed to providing its portfolio companies with resources and support to increase their positive impact and create value for all stakeholders.”

Vista is among the first major U.S. private equity firms to accelerate the transition to a net zero economy. Today’s announcement establishes one of the most comprehensive portfolio-wide programs and approaches to measuring emissions in the private equity industry — affirming Vista’s support of its portfolio as it endeavors to effect climate change.

By committing to the Vista Climate Pledge, all majority-owned companies that joined the Vista portfolio before July 1, 2021, have agreed to:

• Measure 2020 and 2021 GHG emissions by July 1, 2022;
• Set a GHG reduction target by December 31, 2022;
• Reduce GHG emissions annually; and
• Offset 2021 GHG emissions

Companies that joined the portfolio after July 1, 2021, are expected to measure 2021 GHG emissions by July 1, 2022, and will have another calendar year to set GHG reduction targets and offset annually.

“The size and reach of Vista’s portfolio give us the unique opportunity to contribute to climate goals in a meaningful way, and with the Vista Climate Pledge, we are establishing an industry standard, utilizing the power of technology to create lasting impact,” said Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Vista. “As climate-related issues continue to grow in prevalence and importance for both business leaders and investors, Vista is committed to providing its portfolio companies with resources and support to increase their positive impact and create value for all stakeholders.”

Leading the Industry in Portfolio Climate Commitments

In July 2021, Vista became one the first North American private equity firms to join the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM). As part of the initiative, Vista pledged to reduce Firm emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero across its portfolio by 2050.

Vista’s work to meet these goals and to ensure its portfolio is covered by Paris-aligned climate goals has already begun. As a first step in its NZAM commitment, Vista conducted a portfolio wide GHG emissions measurement strategy at the end of 2021. Vista partnered with all current majority owned companies – 55 portfolio companies at the time – to measure the 2019 GHG emissions of our private equity portfolio including Scopes 1 and 2 and significant sources of Scope 3 emissions – establishing a baseline for working towards its net zero goal.

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“At Vista, we regard ESG opportunities as a path for innovation and value creation. Last year, we embarked on a journey to achieve net zero across our firm and portfolio companies, helping them to future-proof their climate resilience strategies and align our majority-owned investments to net zero goals,” said David Breach, President and Chief Operating Officer at Vista. “The Climate Pledge is the next step in the process to establish a holistic technology-driven process for measuring, reducing and offsetting emissions, and we look forward to continuing to partner with our portfolio companies to lead the market in our journey towards net zero.”

Leveraging Technology to Reach Climate Goals

Vista supports portfolio companies in their measurement and reduction efforts, providing software tools and subject matter expertise to make annual measurement simple and repeatable. In addition, the Firm has Vista Best Practices that align with the Science Based Targets initiative’s methodology to help set GHG reduction targets according to the goals of the Paris Agreement and will also provide portfolio companies with options to offset their corporate GHG emissions.

Vista has a proven track-record on climate, and this announcement builds on Vista’s commitments to ESG practices at the Firm and across its portfolio companies and demonstrates the power of the Vista ecosystem in galvanizing real change on climate goals. Last year, Vista published its inaugural ESG and DE&I Report which highlights Vista’s commitment to ESG and DE&I policies, as well as the programs across its global technology ecosystem that help to create a positive impact for its investors, companies and communities.

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