The boutique investment arm of Australian investment management firm Challenger Limited has acquired UK alternative investment house Dexion Capital, including its stake in agriculture investment business Agriculture Asset Management (Agri-AM).
A joint venture between Dexion and agribusiness consultancy Brown & Co, Agri-AM will now be under the umbrella of Fidante Partners, the boutique fund manager platform. Agri-AM will continue to operate as an independent brand, although it will now be able to take advantage of Fidante’s Australian investor base, a spokesperson told AgFunderNews.
Agri-AM is currently marketing agriculture investment offerings in the US and Central and Eastern Europe and has largely focused its efforts on its UK and US investor contact base until now.
Gathering investment interest for the Central and Eastern European region has been tough in recent months in the wake of tensions and military action between Russia and the Ukraine last year, encouraging a sense of instability in the region. But local investment professionals argue that land in countries such as Romania is steadily appreciating and there are opportunities emerging to invest in simple processing and agri infrastructure.
Dexion has yet to announce a close on any of its agriculture investment opportunities but is understood to be speaking with a range of institutional investors about its offering.
Challenger was unavailable for comment at press time.
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