Goodwin represented American Farmland Company (NYSE MKT: AFCO) in its announced definitive agreement with Farmland Partners Inc. (NYSE: FPI ) pursuant to which FPI has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of AFCO in a stock-for-stock transaction. The combined company will be the largest public farmland REIT in the nation, spanning more than 133,000 acres across 16 states.
American Farmland Company is an internally managed real estate investment trust and a Maryland corporation focused on owning and acquiring a diversified portfolio of high-quality farmland, consisting of mature permanent, specialty/vegetable row and commodity row crop farms, as well as farmland development, located in select major agricultural regions throughout the United States. As of September 12, 2016, AFCO's portfolio consisted of 21 farms covering approximately 18,000 gross acres of farmland.
Farmland Partners Inc. is an internally managed real estate investment trust 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 271 farms with an aggregate of 115,308 acres (including four farms totaling 1,668 acres under contract) as of September 12, 2016.
The Goodwin team representing American Farmland Company was led by partner John Haggerty and associates Eryn Mathews and Tiffany Williamson with assistance from partner Neal Sandford and associates Eliza Reed, Benjamin Gossels and John Stern (Tax), counsel Sarah Bock (Executive Compensation). Goodwin has represented American Farmland Company since its inception in 2009, including in connection with its initial public offering and listing on the NYSE MKT in 2015.
For more information on the transaction, please view the joint press release.