Rabo Farm - part of Bouwfonds Investment Management (Bouwfonds IM), is launching a new Rabo Farm Europe Fund II (RFEFII).
Rabo Farm - part of Bouwfonds Investment Management (Bouwfonds IM), is launching a new Rabo Farm Europe Fund II (RFEFII).
The fund is seeking to raise €315 mln of which a significant part will be allocated for sustainable improvements of the farms. Bouwfonds IM is the real asset manager of Rabobank Group.
Rabo Farm aims to attract like-minded long-term investors who are able to invest €50 mln or more in this institutional fund, CEO Jaap Gillis said. 'Our success at managing farm investments lies in the combination of owning farms and improving productivity with well thought-out farm management plans. These plans are designed in close cooperation with our leaseholders. With the improvements we are able to increase production in a sustainable way; more output with less input is what we like to see on our farms.'
RFEF II is a closed-end fund that will invest in real farm assets, improvements of these assets as well as agricultural production in a sustainable way, with a focus on investing in European Union countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
By creating alignment and facilitating sustainable growth, Bouwfonds aims to unlock the 'huge' agricultural potential in this part of the EU, said Dick van den Oever, managing director of Rabo Farm. 'With the assistance of our local staff in our core countries Poland and Romania we built up an enormous network and in-depth market intelligence. As close as possible to our farms is how we prefer to work.'
In October last year, Bouwfonds IM announced a strategic shift to alternative assets in Europe, in particular 'real' asset categories like infrastructure and natural resources. Aside from commercial and residential real estate, the company focuses on parking communication infrastructure and agriculture.
At present, commercial and residential real estate account for roughly 80% of the total portfolio, with communication infrastructure, car parks and agriculture accounting for the remainder. ‘We think that in the coming years investments in distinctive real asset categories will continue to grow,’ Gillis said.