Riverside appoints Höppner as chief sustainability officer

Harriet Matthews
24 June 2022

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The Riverside Company has appointed investor relations director Dörte Höppner as chief sustainability officer (CSO) to lead its efforts in driving ESG initiatives globally.

Höppner joined the firm in 2017, having previously held roles with companies including German law firm Pöllath and Invest Europe. She has also been promoted to the role of managing director, fundraising & IR, according to a statement.

In her new role, Höppner will hold global responsibility for ESG initiatives at the Riverside Company across all its funds. She will report to Riverside co-CEOs Stewart Kohl and Béla Szigethy, according to the statement.

Asked about the development of Riverside's investment criteria in relation to ESG, Höppner told Unquote that this is continuing to evolve. "ESG has been an important element of the investment approach for some of our funds for years, which have been tracking our proprietary ESG&V-Index (V for Values)," she said. "We believe that higher grades are an underlying driver of success across some Riverside investments. That said, ESG is an evolving topic and together with my colleagues we are aiming to continuously review and improve our ESG approach."

The firm has shown its commitment to sustainability by creating the CSO role, Höppner added. "We see ESG as an additional element to create value in the portfolio," she said. "Not only do we feel it makes business-sense but we believe it's becoming increasingly important to portfolio companies and want to work with investors who care about this topic. In the US, our commitment to DEI is resonating with our portfolio companies, in Europe environmental efforts are top of mind for many."

The GP signatory of UN Principles of Responsible Investment and is a supporter of the ESG Data Convergence Project, according to the statement.

The Riverside Company is headquartredd in the US and invests in Europe via its Riverside Europe strategy. The GP is currently deploying equity via Riverside Europe Fund VI which held a final close in March 2021 on EUR 465m. According to Unquote Data, the fund invests in European companies with enterprise values in the EUR 50m-EUR 300m range and EBITDA of EUR 5m-EUR 30m. it aims to make eight to 12 platform deals, typically deploying equity tickets of EUR 50m-EUR 150m.