The purchased land plots are leased from small owners. Agrarius, with revenue estimated at EUR4 million/annum, gained control over the areas by acquiring a company that managed them. The name of the seller was not disclosed.
“We expect the acquisition to have a positive impact over receipts starting 2015,” said Ottmar Lotz, president of Agrarius AG.
The value of the deal stood below EUR1 million, meaning the Germans paid less than EUR1,400/ha.
Agrarius expanded its Romanian portfolio six months after it tried to raise EUR4.5 million on the Frankfurt bourse to meet its objective of reaching 6,000 hectares and annual revenue of EUR9 million by late 2016. At that moment, the German company managed to raise just 10% of what it’d budgeted.
At the same time, the company decided to renounce 254 hectares of land it owned, cashing in EUR1.1 million in the wake of this move. The decision was made for the company to be able to focus on expanding the land plots it already cultivates and cut dependence on foreign capital.
Agrarius is among the largest German investors involved in Romania’s production of grain and oleaginous seeds. Romanian farmland is appealing as it’s undervalued compared with that of Western Europe.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)