October 29, 2024

By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media

Eighteen months after closing its oversubscribed Fund II at $850 million, Boston, Massachusetts-based Solum Partners is making some moves. Solum Partners, founded by former Harvard Management Company executives, is an investment management firm focused on real assets in the agriculture and food production industry. Amid a strategy to bring farmers a combination of capital and operational improvements, Solum Partners has struck a deal with Lincolnshire, England-based vegetable plants producer Fountain Plants, which plans a business expansion in the U.K. region to ensure supermarkets are full of British-grown vegetables.

According to the announcement, the partnership will bolster Fountain’s operational capabilities and catapult its growth to meet rising consumer demand for high-quality brassica, lettuce and leek plants. Neither company was available for comment.

Overseeing $1.9 billion in AUM, Solum Partners takes a hands-on approach, delivering both capital and industry knowledge to its portfolio companies to deliver what it describes as attractive risk-adjusted returns for investors. As a real-asset investor, its farmer-first strategy comprises partnerships underpinned by sustainable investing. Companies in its portfolio include California Olive Ranch, AvoAmerica and Brazil-based specialty coffee platform ecoagricola, among others.

Last year, Solum Partners closed Fund II with $850 million in capital commitments, surpassing its original target and attracting a wide range of institutional investors. The fund strategy is to back large-scale crop producers globally. SEC filings reveal Fund II secured early capital at year-end 2021 and by 2022 had raised approximately $717 million across over three-dozen investors.

Solum Partners CEO Colin Butterfield previously said, “We appreciate and are encouraged by the strong demand and enthusiasm shown by our investors for Fund II, especially when considering the current geopolitical and macroeconomic landscape. It is a privilege to be entrusted with this capital and we look forward to continuing to identify and manage sustainable food and agriculture assets in the pursuit of attractive risk adjusted returns.”

As a horticulture plant raising nursery, Fountain Plants provides commercial growers across the U.K. with the tools to begin crop plant life, from seed to planting module. Founded in 1965, the company’s revenue seemingly hovers between $1 million and $5 million.

Fountain Plants Director Robin Fountain stated, “We are extremely excited to announce this new partnership with Solum, and look forward to continuing to serve our customers across the U.K.”

Butterfield said, “Robin and his family have created an industry-leading business that provides a critical service to the agricultural sector in the U.K. We are looking forward to partnering with them to expand this business and to ensure that Fountain Plants continues to produce the highest quality vegetable plants in the region.”

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