The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), the parent company of TIAA Global Asset Management, announced it has increased its stake in Radar Propriedades Agrícolas S.A – its agricultural land management joint venture established in 2008 with Brazil’s Cosan.
Radar has a portfolio of more than 555 farming properties totaling more than 270,000 hectares growing sugarcane, soybeans, cotton, corn and other crops, according to the company website. Combined, the company’s properties in the states of São Paulo, Goiás, Piaui, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Tocantins, and Bahia Radar’s farmland portfolio are valued at more than R$ 5.2 billion (US$1.6 billion).
“Today’s announcement strengthens our commitment to Brazil, where we have successfully capitalized on attractive investment opportunities and invested responsibly in farmland jointly with Cosan for years,” said José Minaya, President of TIAA Global Asset Management’s real assets division.
Under the terms of the deal, Cosan has agreed to sell 1.065 billion (US$326 million) worth of shares in Radar to TIAA. Following the expected closing of the deal at the end of this year, Cosan will retain a majority stake in Radar, whose property management team will then join the newly created Westchester Group South America (WGSA) – a Brazil-based subsidiary of Westchester Group Investment Management – a leading global agricultural asset management company that is part of TIAA Global Asset Management. Moving forward WGSA will assume property management services for Radar’s entire rural property portfolio.
“By increasing our stake in Radar and managing all of its agricultural properties, we are both enhancing our ability to invest in the region and strengthening our commitment to responsible investment practices across our rural property portfolio,” said Minaya.
For Cosan, the deal is a move designed to advance its strategic shift to focus more on its core businesses.
“With this transaction, Cosan takes another step towards directing its activities to the energy and logistics sectors, which are the company’s core businesses,” said Marcos Lutz, Cosan Limited’s CEO.
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Lynda Kiernan