Crops

Agrar Invest Romania is constructing a logistics centre with the proceeds of a recent farmland sale.

GrowLife, the hydroponic equipment seller, has sold a minority stake to ex-CEO Sterling Scott. The company is likely to need additional funding for expansion soon.

San Diego County Employees Retirement Association will hire external managers to handle a $50m-$75m timber increase. It is also planning a $150m “re-up” in agriculture investment during the year.

Emma Cowan, independent agribusiness consultant, describes the changing landscape for commodities amid a shift in biofuel and BRIC countries’ growth potential.

Founders Fund’s commitment to Privateer Holdings should encourage other institutions to consider the industry, according to Ryan Brown, chief executive of GrowPros, an investment firm and consultancy.

The World Bank's political risk agency has guaranteed a $23.8 million loan from Agrivision Africa to one of its subsidiaries to acquire and improve a wheat and maize mill.

Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund has committed several million dollars to Privateer Holdings which is raising $75m in Series B funding.

Meneba Beheer, a Dutch flour business and former portfolio company of CVC and Bencis, has been charged by the Dutch regulator for price fixing. Both private equity firms face fines as a result.

The real estate investment trust has won a 331-acre strawberry farm in Salinas, California, at auction.

Freight Farms, which makes mobile crop production facilities, raised the funding in a round led by venture capital firm Spark Capital.