The appointment is part of a reorganisation of Genagro’s board, following the sale of a majority controlling interest in Genagro’s first farmland investment, Agrifirma Brasil, to a Brazilian private equity group, Genagro said.
Genagro, which was founded by Ian Watson and Jim Slater in 2008, plans to make further investments in early stage farmland or farming-related businesses in advance of a planned listing of its shares, provisionally targeted for 2013.
Agrifirma Brasil is also understood to be aiming for an eventual flotation at around the same time, a Genagro source said.
In addition to managing his own money as chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, Rogers is an often-quoted commentator on global trends, particularly those having to do with commodities, currencies and the shift of wealth and influence to Asia. One of his books, Hot Commodities, anticipated the rapid rise in commodity prices caused by emerging market and global demographic demand.
Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund, one of the best-known and earliest of the major hedge funds, with George Soros in 1973.
