The Texas Municipal Retirement System board has approved a $50 million commitment to food-focused buyout fund Kainos Capital Partners Fund II.
The fund, which launched earlier this year and has raised $150 million, is targeting $750 million.
Kainos’s debut fund, Kainos Capital Partners, targeted $400 million and held a final close on $475 million in December 2013, according to PEI Research & Analytics.
As well as TMRS’s $50 million commitment, Fund II has attracted $100 million from Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board.
Kainos, whose first fund is almost fully invested, seeks equity investments of between $50 million and $150 million in the food and consumer sector, with flexibility to invest more or less.
Sources told sister publication Private Equity International earlier this year that the larger size of the second fund will not change the investment strategy.
The firm’s portfolio companies include meal replacement shakes Slimfast; organic fruit, salad and vegetable provider Earthbound Farm and food producer and retailer Pinnacle.
The debut fund’s investor base includes insurance company Allstate Investments, which committed $25 million; Dallas Police and Fire Pension System, which committed $35 million; and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which committed C$540.61 million ($542.59 million; €411.55 million), according to PEI data.
Kainos is a consumer and food sector-focused firm that spun out from HM Capital in early 2012, led by Andrew Rosen, Robert Sperry and Sarah Ashmore Bradley, as reported by PEI.
TMRS has $24.30 billion in assets under management and delivers retirement benefits to over 34,000 retirees in 833 participating municipalities. In March 2016, the pension fund committed $100 million each to AMERRA Agri Fund III, managed by AMERRA Capital Management, and Orion Mine Finance Fund II.
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