Frequently Asked Questions

A private equity firm is a type of investment firm that uses capital from investors to acquire or invest in private companies. Private equity firms raise capital from institutional investors, wealthy individuals, and sometimes the public. This capital is pooled into funds, which are then used for investment. 

PE firms typically invest in companies that are not publicly traded on the stock market. The investments can be in various forms such as buying out public companies, funding growth capital, venture capital, and distressed investments. A common strategy in private equity is to use significant amounts of borrowed money to acquire companies, a process known as a leveraged buyout.

The investment in a company is usually medium- to long-term, typically 4–7 years.

1. This work involves verifying the financial transactions of private equity firms (transactions typically involve purchasing part or all of a given company) and then verifying the energy assets that these resulting “portfolio companies” own and/or control. We use metrics from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and similar organizations to estimate private equity firms’ emissions from their investments in fossil fuel assets. For more read our methodology.

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Private Equity Climate Risks. Retrieved [insert date of access], from https://peclimaterisks.org/