Jimmy Haslam Backs New Initiative to Cut Heavy Industry Emissions

(Bloomberg) -- Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam’s family office HF Capital LLC has committed $725 million to help launch an initiative aimed at decarbonizing heavy industry, it announced Monday.

The money will be managed by private equity firm Ara Partners, which has appointed Shameek Konar to lead the new effort. It will target investments in power generation, biofuels for the marine shipping industry, and energy supply and distribution businesses. It has a goal of reducing 50 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the lifetime of the fund, according to Konar.

Konar was previously chief executive officer of Pilot Company, founded by Haslam’s father, operator of Pilot Travel Centers until the truck-stop chain was sold to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Aside from the Browns, Haslam also owns Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew and has a stake in the National Basketball Association’s Milwaukee Bucks. His net worth sits at $8.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

“Shameek succeeded me as CEO of Pilot in 2020 and did an exceptional job leading, growing and optimizing the business until its sale earlier this year,” Haslam said in a statement. “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Shameek and are proud to make a significant commitment behind him and his team of talented colleagues.”

Founded in 2017, Ara Partners has three private equity funds, an infrastructure fund and over $6 billion in assets under management. The firm focuses on investing in businesses that focus on emissions reduction and waste management. Companies already in its portfolio include battery recycler Blue Whale Materials, hydrogen maker Utility Global and Carbogenesis, which converts carbon dioxide into useful materials.

HF Capital has also invested in several energy companies, including Royal Dutch Shell Plc-backed solar developer Silicon Ranch Corp. as well as Arizona DF Renewables, a renewable natural gas producer. (Environmentalists have warned that renewable natural gas is still a greenhouse gas, one that is at least 84 times more potent than CO2 when it comes to warming the atmosphere over a 20-year period.)

In addition to biofuel production and energy distribution, the new industrial decarbonization effort led by Konar will focus in part on reducing emissions from natural gas power plants, whether by changing fuel inputs, improving plant efficiency or capturing CO2 at the smokestack. 

“Whether you like it or not, these plants are going to be around,” Konar said. “I think people are coming into this realization that if you want to get to net zero, it's carbon which is the enemy and not fossil fuels. And I don't think we can get off fossil fuels in the timeframe that's reasonable in order for us to get to net zero.”

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