SAN FRANCISCO and NEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Homestead Capital USA LLC (Homestead), an asset manager focused on strategic investments in U.S. farmland, and Kudu Investment Management, LLC (Kudu), a provider of permanent capital solutions to asset and wealth managers globally, today announced that Kudu has made a passive, minority investment in Homestead. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Founded in 2012, Homestead manages more than $1.6 billion in equity and credit assets for pension plans, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, and family offices. San Francisco-based Homestead acquires and manages high-quality farmland properties and is a lender to farmland operators. The firm remains majority employee-owned and led by Daniel Little and Gabe Santos, co-founders and co-CEOs.
“In Kudu we have found a partner who shares our conviction that investing in a diversified platform of U.S. agricultural assets has key benefits that appeal to a broad group of investors,” Little said.
Santos said, “As investors, operators and lenders, we see many opportunities for growth. We have been looking for a partner with similar values and, with Kudu’s backing, we are well-positioned to accelerate our investments across the agricultural asset class.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Dan, Gabe, and the Homestead team—in our view there was an instant cultural fit, and their skill in managing farmland investment is self-evident. And we believe that agricultural assets are poised to grow as investors allocate additional funds to this vital real assets market,” said Charlie Ruffel, Kudu’s chairman and managing partner.
Homestead has 20 employees and operations in the Pacific, Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Delta and Midwest regions of the United States. The firm invests in high quality farmland across strategic regions, crops, lease types, and farm operators and primarily works with small and mid-sized farmers to help improve capacity and profitability.
Since it was founded in 2015, New York-based Kudu has made investments in 30 asset and wealth managers in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Australia. Kudu’s partner firms now collectively invest approximately $128 billion, as of Sept. 30, 2024, on behalf of individual and institutional investors worldwide in traditional and alternative strategies and market segments.
Holland & Knight was legal counsel and Grace Strategic Consulting, LLC served as financial advisor to Homestead. Seward & Kissel LLP served as legal advisor to Kudu.
About Homestead Capital
Established in 2012, Homestead acquires and manages high-quality farmland properties and is a lender to farmland operators. Homestead focuses on acquisitions with opportunities for value enhancement through capital improvements, tailored farm management, economies of scale, crop selection and rotation, and customized farm operating strategies. For more information, visit www.homesteadcapital.com
About Kudu Investment Management
Kudu provides long-term capital solutions—including generational ownership transfers, management buyouts, acquisition and growth finance, as well as liquidity for legacy partners—to independent asset and wealth managers globally. Kudu was founded in 2015 and is backed by capital partners White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE: WTM) and MassMutual. For more information, visit www.kuduinvestment.com.
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SOURCE Kudu Investment Management, LLC
