Farmland Partners Inc. to Acquire 2,400 Acre Florida Farm
DENVER, July 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Farmland Partners Inc. (NYSE: FPI) (the "Company") today announced that it has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire approximately 2,400 acres of land in Florida. The Company plans to convert the land from its current use as a timber plantation and quail preserve into a row crop farm that will produce forage for a major dairy operation. At closing, the Company will enter into a 10-year lease that has options for three five-year extensions.
During approximately 18 months of the initial lease term, the property will be under redevelopment. Using conservative assumptions of commodity prices and crop yields, the Company expects the return on total investment during redevelopment will be between 4.0% and 4.5%, including the conversion costs. Once the conversion is complete, the Company expects the return on total investment to increase to approximately 5.75%. In years six through 10, the rental rate will increase each year based on percent changes in the consumer price index.
The total purchase price for the land is approximately $9.4 million, and the total conversion costs are expected to be approximately $6.5 million. The conversion process will consist primarily of timber removal and the installation of irrigation improvements. The Company believes the conversion will substantially increase the value of the land.
The acquisition is expected to close during the third quarter of 2016, and is subject to customary closing conditions.
"This transaction demonstrates our ability to source and creatively structure deals that help grow our portfolio and achieve attractive rates of return. Moreover, having a successful dairy as a long-term tenant provides security and diversification to our portfolio," said Paul Pittman, CEO of the Company.
About Farmland Partners Inc.
Farmland Partners Inc. is an internally managed real estate company that owns and seeks to acquire high-quality North American farmland and makes loans to farmers secured by farm real estate. The Company's portfolio is comprised of 268 farms with an aggregate of 113,649 acres (including five farms totaling 2,975 acres under contract) in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. The Company elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, commencing with the taxable year ended December 31, 2014.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including, without limitation, statements with respect to pending acquisition, rates of return and rental amounts. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "should," "could," "would," "predicts," "potential," "continue," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" or similar expressions or their negatives, as well as statements in future tense. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, beliefs and expectations, such forward-looking statements are not predictions of future events or guarantees of future performance and our actual results could differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Some factors that might cause such a difference include the following: general volatility of the capital markets and the market price of the Company's common stock, changes in the Company's business strategy, availability, terms and deployment of capital, the Company's ability to refinance existing indebtedness at or prior to maturity on favorable terms, or at all, availability of qualified personnel, changes in the Company's industry, interest rates or the general economy, adverse developments related to crop yields or crop prices, the degree and nature of the Company's competition, the timing, price or amount of repurchases, if any, under the Company's share repurchase program, the ability to consummate acquisitions under contract and the other factors described in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking information presented herein is made only as of the date of this press release, and we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events, or otherwise.
SOURCE Farmland Partners Inc.
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