Farmland Partners to Purchase Eight Row-Crop Farms

Farmland Partners Inc. (NYSE: FPI) will acquire 15,042 acres of farmland in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia for $49.8 million in cash and 2,981,971 shares of the company’s stock as well as units of limited partnership interest in the company’s operating partnership. The acquisitions are expected to close in May 2015 subject to customary closing conditions. “This agreement marks our largest acquisition to date,” says CEO Paul Pittman. “It is our second sizable transaction in the Southeast, following our acquisition of approximately 6,800 acres in South Carolina in December, and will expand our geographic footprint to include two new states — North Carolina and Virginia.”
Since its initial public offering in April 2014, FPI has developed a portfolio that includes 93 farms with approximately 49,346 acres in Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, and South Carolina, as well as grain storage facilities in Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, and Nebraska. According to the company’s corporate profile, “The substantial majority of the farms in our current portfolio are devoted to primary crops, such as corn, soybeans, wheat and rice, because we believe primary crop farmland is likely to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns over time through a combination of stable rental income generation and value appreciation.”