October 6 (SeeNews) - Romanian agribusiness company Holde Agri Invest [BSE:HAI] said on Wednesday that it has bought a farm in Calarasi county for 2 million lei ($466,600/ 404,180 euro).
The acquisition is part of Holde's plan to use for expansion the funding raised from investors in the share capital increase operation carried out in July, it said in a press release.
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The farm spreading on 230 hectares is located close to Holde's core farm of Frumusani, which will reach an area of 3,620 ha of land as a result of the transaction.
The value of the deal includes this year's harvests of wheat, sunflower and corn as well as the Agricultural Payments and Intervention Agency subsidies for the current year, which will be entirely received by the company.
"The expansion of farmland is a key objective in Holde's development strategy. Thus, in addition to the recently completed transaction, during this period, we are engaged in a series of discussions and negotiations on the purchase of three more farms, which have a total area of over 3,000 ha. If all the acquisition procedures are completed successfully, we will operate a total area of 13,000 ha," Holde Agri CEO Liviu Zagan said.
"Also, in addition to the acquisition of new farms, during this period, we continue investments in modernizing the existing farms in our portfolio by renewing the machinery fleet, building silos, and investing in irrigation systems. Expansion of land and modernization of existing farms are complementary activities within Holde because, in the absence of investment in technology, the quality of land can deteriorate rapidly."
Holde Agri Invest currently operates approximately 10,000 hectares of agricultural land organized into three core farms - Rosiori, Frumusani and Videle. The company also owns a 10,000-tonne silo and plans to expand its storage capacity to 30,000 tonnes by 2023.
Holde's shares traded 0.34% higher at 1.4950 lei as at 1159 CET on Wednesday on the AeRO market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
(1 euro = 4.9483 lei)