September 22, 2016

Maine Public Employees’ Retirement Fund (MainePERS) has agreed to invest $50 million in the Tillridge Global Agribusiness Fund II through a motion forwarded at its September 8 board meeting. The allocation — confirmed to GAI News by MainePERS chief investment officer Andrew Sawyer — is subject to final due diligence, legal review and negotiations.

Tillridge Global Agribusiness Partners is an agribusiness private equity firm and an affiliate of NGP Energy Capital Management. NGP Energy Capital was founded in 1988 in Irving Texas and Tillridge began investing in 2012 through an allocation within the private equity fund NGP Natural Resources X LP, according to the firm’s website. After that commitment, NGP Global Agribusiness Partners (NGP GAP) went on to raise $402 million in 2014, completing the final close of NGP Agribusiness Follow-on Fund LP, which ended up closing oversubscribed by 25 percent. The fund’s investment focus centered on companies specializing in commodity processing, storage and merchandising, agriproduct distribution and services, food and feed ingredient processing, transportation and logistics, and food service manufacturing, packaging and distribution.

Tillridge focuses on investments along the agribusiness supply value chain — from commodity processing and storage to transportation and logistics to food service manufacturing — and has made investments in ten companies to date. Previous commitments include:

-Agspring, a commodity handling, storage, and marketing company, which the firm exited in December 2015

-Auxano, a value-added specialty meat processing company

-Growers Express, a vertically integrated fresh produce company

-ILTA Grain, a specialty crop and pulses company

-Proximity Malt, a base and specialty malt company

-Campo Rico, a crop nutrient blending, packaging and distribution company

-GFG Ag Services, a grain handling and agriproduct company

-Novita Nutrition, a protein-based animal nutrition company

-Agriculture and Energy Carriers, a dry bulk chartering and vessel company

-Simply Essentials, a “better for you” animal protein company

As of August 31, 2016, MainePERS had a preliminary total market value of $12.49 billion and has set a five percent target to Natural Resources, excluding energy. Current natural resources allocations are being made to agriculture, timber and mining. However, Sawyer was sure to note that the investment in Tillridge will not be carried in natural resources, rather it will be carried in MainePERS’ private equity allocation, which has been set at 15 percent.

This commitment by MainePERS follows only months after the pension fund’s allocation of $50 million to the Homestead Capital USA Farmland Fund II in July of this year.

Another notable agricultural investment made by MainePERS is the commitment of up to $50 million to ACM Permanent Crops managed by Agricultural Capital Management. At the time, Agriculture Crop Management was seeking $250 million in commitments for its newest fund, which was launched to invest, in part, into businesses involved in the production, processing, and marketing of fresh produce along the west coast of the U.S.

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Lynda Kiernan