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Posts Tagged ‘Gladstone Land IPO’

The fact that World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) is a publicly traded company suggests we should never be surprised when a firm, no matter how obscure or unusual, becomes a public entity.

So it shouldn’t be too much of a shock when something as traditional and salt-of-the-earth as growing lettuce receives its own trading symbol. At the end of January, that’s exactly what happened: Gladstone Land (LAND), a company that acquires and rents out agricultural real estate, completed a $50 million IPO on the NASDAQ. What I find surprising, however, is the fact that Gladstone Land intends on converting to REIT status.

To be sure, there are already niche sectors within the REIT industry–timber, cell phone towers, and one day, perhaps, even solar energy–but a firm focused on farmland real estate (and related facilities) is a REIT type I’ve never heard of. It makes sense, though. As America’s agriculture business becomes increasingly consolidated, we can expect farmland tenants to offer greater stability through their sheer size, and because of this real estate’s function, it can feasibly withstand economic contraction better than many other asset types. Read the rest of this entry »