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| Sunil Jain: Landing an investment |
| Sunil Jain / New Delhi Oct 22, 2009, 00:01 IST |
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Most have focused over countries like China buying up land overseas to grow crops to feed the home market — in actual fact, NGO Grain points out, increasingly investment funds are rushing to buy land (http://www.grain.org/articles/?id=55#sdfootnote2sym). In August 2009, the website says, the Government of Mauritius got a long term lease of 20,000 ha of land in Mozambique to produce rice for the Mauritian market but instead of keeping the lease with itself, it sub-leased the land to two companies, one from Singapore and one from Swaziland. The NGO has a list of over 120, mostly newly-created, equity funds and pension funds engaged in the business (it says the list is not exhaustive). It quotes a functionary of Altima One, created by the $3bn Altima Partners’ hedge fund, as saying “My boss wants to create the first Exxon Mobil of the farming sector”. You can view the development with fear and loathing, the way Grain does, or you can see it as the next big investment wave — either way, investment capital coming into farmland is going to be in the news for some time to come.
The big land rush
(Big investment funds controlling land, indicative list) |
| Name |
Country |
Type |
Abstract |
| Abraaj Capital |
UAE |
Investment firm |
Has a share capital of $1bn and plans to
invest in dairy farming in Pakistan |
Advance
Terra Fund |
Bulgaria |
Specialised fund |
Has 30,000 ha of farmland of which
20,000 ha is already leased out |
| Agrifirma |
UK |
Investment firm |
Has acquired 42,000 ha in Brazil and has
a put option over another 27,000 ha |
| AgroEnergy AG |
Germany |
Investment/
production firm |
Expects to be managing
18,000 ha in 3-5 years |
| Agrowill AB |
Lithuania |
Investment/
production firm |
Controls 35,300 ha of land mainly in
Estonia and Lithuania |
| Alpcot Agro |
Sweden |
Investment firm |
Controls 161,000 ha of Russian farmland |
| Al Qudra |
UAE |
Investment firm |
Got 1,500 ha in Morocco and Algeria,
targetting 400,000 ha in various countries |
| Beltone Pvt Equity |
Egypt |
Private equity fund |
Operates 84,000 ha sugar plantation in Sudan |
| Landkom |
UK |
Investment firm |
Leased 100,000 ha in Ukraine —
targets 350,00 ha by 2011 |
Nauvu
Investments |
Singapore |
Investment firm |
Has 36,000 ha of oilpalm plantations,
50,000 ha of rubber and 10,000 ha of sugarcane |
| Source: http://www.grain.org/m/?id=266 |
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