Staff Writer

The Netherlands agribusiness stalwart named Gregory Hutton as executive director. He will be based in New York.

The firm, which has closed its tenth fund on $3.58bn, has a small allocation to explore opportunities in water resources and agriculture that tie back into its core strategies.

UCG Investments has announced the first close of its latest private equity fund after a six-week fundraising period. The fund will target infrastructure and energy as well as agriculture, forestry and real estate – mainly in Uruguay, Peru and Colombia.

With a newly minted fund and a fat Rolodex, Water Asset Management co-heads Disque Deane and Matt Diserio are more than willing to evangelise about investing in the water sector. And, pretty soon, they expect to be preaching to the converted.

The prospect for infrastructure investment in Australia is a story in three parts – resources, general urban development and, potentially, agribusiness, suggests Brian McDonald.

A Baltimore-based investment firm has raised $180 million to invest in wetlands restoration, a niche strategy that combines conservation with mid-teen return expectations.

Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s, The Duchy of Cornwall, the Rothschild family and various Middle Eastern and Asian investors are among those to have come together to provide £65m in finance for Tamar Energy, a UK start-up business that will develop a network of over 40 anaerobic digestion plants.

UK finance development institution CDC has committed $20m to one of the largest agri-business private equity funds in Africa. CDC hopes the move stimulates fundraising in the sector.

The state’s $15bn oil and gas endowment has established a 10% real return allocation, which could include investments in timber and infrastructure, and has begun to look for an investment officer to direct the real return group.

The US firm has made its first investment in Australia, backing Victoria-based fruit and vegetables producer The Costa Group.