AIMCo investing in Australian agriculture firm, CPPIB in cloud-based storage developer

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Prior to the transaction, the AIMCo was already invested in Australia’s agricultural sector. Aside from its stake in Lawson Grains, the organization’s portfolio includes more than 9,000 hectares of canola and wheat farms in partnership with New Forests.

In a press release, Ben Hawkins, the AIMCo’s head of infrastructure and renewable resources, said the opportunity to integrate the grains business was an attractive one for the organization’s renewable resource portfolio. “We look forward to continuing the growth of the business through our longstanding partnership with New Forests, as good stewards of these high-quality agricultural assets.”

Read: OMERS acquiring stake in Australian electricity infrastructure company

In other news, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is joining a US$1.6 billion funding round for a cloud platform development business.

Databricks Inc. had previously secured investments from the CPPIB in earlier funding rounds. Following the Series H round, the company’s total valuation reached $38 billion. It’s also secured $3.6 billion in funding, which has been earmarked for the company’s expansion in the data lakehouse market.

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Unlike traditional cloud-based data warehouses, data lakehouses use artificial intelligence to make use of the pools of digital information stored by most major companies. In a press release, the company said this model significantly reduces the architectural complexity and infrastructure costs compared with traditional storage platforms.