Stafford holds third close on timberland FoF

Stafford Capital Partners has hit third close on its eighth timberland fund, according to a statement from the firm.

Fund of funds Stafford International Timberland VIII held the close in August on $329 million, the statement says. It is targeting $500 million, according to data from Private Equity International, to acquire limited partnerships stakes, invest in separately managed accounts and co-investments, and commit to funds in the strategy.

Fund VIII has already made six investments worth $64 million.

In May Swiss pension fund ASGA Pensionskasse made a $100 million commitment spread between Timberland VIII and a separately managed account focusing on agriculture, the first such account created by Stafford for a limited partner.

Stafford also announced that it has completed the deployment of its seventh timberland fund of funds.

The London-headquartered firm invested the $484 million, 2015-vintage Stafford International Timberland VII within three years, according to the statement. The final transaction was the purchase of a $15 million stake in a diversified timber portfolio in the south of the US.

The firm is also raising Stafford Infrastructure Secondary Fund II, the first dedicated secondaries fund focusing on the asset class since the merger of Stafford Timberland and Australia’s Quay Partners in 2014. It has received total commitments of €200 million so far from investors including the European Investment Fund, according to the statement.

In March Stafford struck its second deal from the fund, acquiring a stake in the Deutsche Bank-managed 2007-vintage RREEF Pan-European Infrastructure Fund. The stake in the €2 billion fund was acquired from Paris-headquartered SCOR Investment Partners.

Stafford Capital Partners has more than $4.9 billion in assets under management across agriculture, credit, infrastructure, private equity, sustainable capital, timberland and venture capital.