Louis Dreyfus To Shutter $1.4B Commodity Manager Edesia Amid Revamp

Edesia Asset Management, the $1.4 billion commodities specialist run by Louis Dreyfus, will reportedly wind down by the end of 2017, the latest commodity fund to close its doors in recent years. 

The fund manager will close all third party funds and associated accounts by December 31, according to Reuters, as the unit’s parent company pursues a strategic reallocation of resources towards its core operations as one of the world’s largest physical processor and merchant of agricultural goods. 

The close comes despite strong performance by Edesia’s flagship funds of 42% and 70% since inception, said Edesia CEO Ian McIntosh in a statement, and net asset values of the funds at closure are expected to be at or near record highs. Nonetheless, assets have fallen from around $2.7 billion in 2013, according to Bloomberg.

Edesia was formed in 2008 with an initial $100 million in cash and was closed to new capital in early 2011. Additional details about the closures, including whether the return of investor capital will occur in stages, were not immediately available. 

Originally founded in France in 1851, Louis Dreyfus is known as one of the ABCD group of global agricultural commodity dominators along with Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge and Cargill. The company is present in more than 100 countries through over 70 offices worldwide.