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Morrow Sodali buys HXE Partners to beef up ESG offerings

03 August 2023 Articles

NEW YORK, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Morrow Sodali on Thursday said it bought HXE Partners to beef up its environmental, social and governance (ESG) offerings, making its third acquisition since private equity firm TPG took a majority stake in the shareholder engagement services firm last year.

New York-headquartered Morrow Sodali, which offers proxy solicitation, capital markets intelligence and corporate governance services, paid an undisclosed price for six-year-old HXE Partners, which helps identify and develop ESG priorities for clients.

Harry Etra, HXE's founder and chief executive, will join Morrow Sodali as a managing director, and all of HXE's roughly three dozen staff members will also move to the firm.

The HXE acquisition comes six months after Morrow Sodali bought FrameworkESG as the firm works to build out its ESG offerings. Investors and companies are placing more emphasis on issues ranging from energy conservation to workplace safety and are looking for help from firms on those matters.

Morrow Sodali bought Australian corporate and financial communications firm Citadel Magnus last year not long after TPG Growth, the middle-market-focused arm of TPG, bought its majority stake in Morrow Sodali in April 2022. TPG's cash has provided the fuel for the acquisition spree, Morrow Sodali CEO Alvise Recchi said.

"HXE provides the firm with full-service ESG solutions, in particular expertise in climate-related matters which are particularly relevant now," Recchi said.

Morrow Sodali, which competes in the United States with firms including Innisfree M&A and Okapi Partners, employs roughly 1,000 people in 15 countries.

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