Paine Schwartz hits $1.4 bln hard cap for food-and ag-focused Fund V

Paine Schwartz Partners has secured about $1.42 billion for the final close of Paine Schwartz Food Chain Fund V, a source told Buyouts. The fund will focus on the food and agribusiness value chain.

As Buyouts has reported, the fund launched in May 2018. Its original target was $1.2 billion.

Rhode Island State Investment Commission committed $50 million to the fund, Buyouts has reported.

According to data from sister publication Private Equity International, other commitments include:

• $45 million from Maine Public Employees Retirement System;
• $150 million from Minnesota State Board of Investment;
• $40 million from Sacramento County Employees’ Retirement System;
• and $150 million from Teacher Retirement System of Texas.

In addition to the commitments above, some global investors are on board with Fund V.

Paine Schwartz has more than $2.1 billion in equity capital deployed in the food and agribusiness sectors, according to its website, and has portfolio companies in 20 countries. Last month, it made a growth equity investment in Advanced Agrilytics, which helps farmers analyze field data.

Paine Schwartz’s previous Fund IV closed at $893 million in December 2014. The firm was formerly known as Paine & Partners. Its food and agriculture focus evolved over the past few funds, Buyouts previously reported.

Fund IV was generating an 11.10 percent net internal rate of return and a 1.27 net multiple as of Mar. 31, 2019, according to performance information from Rhode Island.

Paine Schwartz’s leadership team includes Chairman Dexter Paine, Chief Executive Officer Kevin Schwartz, and Partners David Buckeridge and Angelos Dassios.

In response to questions emailed by Buyouts, Schwartz said the firm is focused “solely on sustainable food chain investing.”

“Simply put, everyone needs to eat and there are more and more of us on the planet,” he said. “These dynamics create both a need and an opportunity for investment. Our belief is that the complexity of the industry requires real long-term focus and domain expertise.”

Correction: An earlier version of this report misspelled David Buckeridge and incorrectly stated the firm hit the hard cap, when it exceeded the cap. The report has been updated.

Action item: Read Paine Schwartz Partners’ form ADV here.