TIAA and AGR Partners to launch $600m agribusiness fund

TIAA Global Asset Management (TGAM) and California-based private equity firm AGR Partners are launching a $600 million agribusiness pooled investment fund, according to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

TIAA-CREF Alternative Advisors and AGR Partners are listed as investment managers for the fund. TIAA Global Asset Management managing directors John Goodreds and Jose Minaya are listed as executive officers, as is AGR Partners managing partner Ejnar Knudsen.

Teachers Personal Investors Services, a subsidiary of TIAA, is expected to receive $3 million in sales commissions from the offering.

TIAA representatives declined requests for comment from Agri Investor. AGR Partners had not responded to requests for comment by press time.

This week, TIAA-CREF unveiled its newly branded asset management business, TIAA Global Asset Management (TGAM) after telling Agri Investor in February of plans to form a “standalone” real assets business unit, combining its agri, timber and real estate management subsidiaries.

TGAM manages $854 billion in assets with investments in more than 40 countries, according to the company.

In August 2015, TIAA-CREF closed its Global Agriculture II Fund at $3 billion, exceeding its initial fundraising target of $2.5 billion. TCGA II is targeting farmland assets in North and South America and Australia according to PEI Research and Analytics.

AGR Partners invests in growth-stage agribusinesses across the food and agri value chain, including inputs, production, processing, distribution and infrastructure. The firm focuses on investments valued between $25 million and $75 million, structured as either equity or convertible debt, according to the company website.