Mirova fully deploys sustainable land fund, targets €350m for successor

Mirova has fully deployed its sustainable land management fund and is now seeking to raise €350m for a successor fund.   

The sustainability-focused subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers said the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) fund’s final commitments include a $9.3m investment in Koa, a Swiss-Ghanaian company that seeks to add value to the entire cocoa value chain to reduce food waste and provide local producers with additional income.

The LDN fund also invested $8.5m in Pamoja, the benchmark for sustainable macadamia nut production in Kenya and Tanzania and placed $6.5m into Terrasos in Colombia, to conserve and preserve biodiversity-rich land.

The final three investments bring the LDN Fund’s portfolio to a total of 13 sustainable land management projects in Latin America, Africa and Asia, in supply chains as diverse as coffee, cocoa, wood, nuts, fresh fruit, ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry and payments for ecosystem services, the manager said.

Mirova said following the final deployment of the LDN fund, it has now launched Mirova Sustainable Land Fund 2 (MSLF2), its second strategy dedicated to sustainable land management. The LDN fund, created in 2017, raised $208m.

The manager said MSLF2 will support agroforestry, sustainable forestry, and regenerative agriculture projects in developing countries, while preserving and restoring nature and the climate.

The MSLF2 fund will be structured as a blended finance vehicle, combining public and private capital, Mirova said, adding that the fund will operate in the same way as LDN, mainly through debt financing.

Anne-Laurence Roucher, Mirova’s deputy CEO and head of private equity and natural capital, said: “Building on the success of the LDN fund, which is reaching the end of its roll-out, we are proud to announce plans to launch our second-generation fund dedicated to sustainable land management.

“MSLF2 will be offered to public bodies and institutional investors keen to combine long-term financial performance with the transition of agricultural and forestry value chains. It fits perfectly with Mirova’s strategic objective to grow its investments in private assets, and in particular natural capital, through our dedicated platform.”

Gautier Quéru, the head of natural capital, said: “In an international regulatory framework that is encouraging companies and investors to take greater account of their impact on the climate and nature, this new fund dedicated to the restoration and protection of terrestrial ecosystems should enable investors to embrace the strong trend aimed at transforming the value chains most dependent on nature while targeting a financial return by drawing on Mirova’s proven experience in this area.”

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