Institutional Investors

Three major US state funds have committed $600m to a new timber JV, which will not charge traditional management fees or carried interest.

Rikard Kjörling joined the fund in 2007 to head the newly-created unit.

The endowment's timber manager, who joined in 2001, will retire from the $36bn management company later this year.

One Earth Foods is developing Cambodia's first state-of-the-art coconut plantation.

The search comes amid CDC's plans to extend the range of its activities to include direct equity investing and direct lending alongside its fund selection business.

UBS AgriVest's 2006 vintage open-ended vehicle has raised $82.5m of new money over the last year, reflecting modest investment levels, with volatile land prices and increased competition stifling deal activity.

The Indian dairy products company, which is owned by PE firms and development finance institutions, has extended its IPO and cut the price of its shares after struggling to attract investors.

The fund was launched in 2010 and backed by superannuation funds including AustralianSuper, the Australian Catholic Superannuation and Retirement Fund and Auscoal Super.

Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and its asset management unit Lion Global Investors have closed a S$550m private equity fund to invest in agriculture and commodity companies across Asia.

Hancock Natural Resource Group has appointed Bill Peressini as chief executive and Wilfred Steiner as managing director and chief financial officer.