SLC Finds Land Partner

UK-based Valiance Asset Management has agreed to buy a 49% stake in SLC Agricola’s farmland unit for $239m, SLC says, completing the search for a co-investor that SLC began last year. SLC Landco is the Brazilian agricultural company’s vehicle for purchasing and developing farmland, and the two partners will combine resources to further advance those aims. Valiance will pay $29m up front, followed by payments of $50m in 2012, $80m in 2013, and $80m in 2014. When all is paid, Landco would be 50.6% held by SLC and 49.4% by Valiance, “respecting the sensitivity toward land ownership by foreigners in Brazil,” it says. SLC has said that such a partnership is a cheaper way to raise funds than borrowing, taking advantage of growing demand for Brazilian land assets.