November 14, 2019

By Lynda Kiernan

Canada’s leading farmland property and investment management firm, Bonnefield, announced a first close of Bonnefield Canadian Farmland LP V (Fund V) at C$137 million (US$103.3 million). 

Established in 2009, Bonnefield sources, assesses, manages, and finances farming operations across Canada, and is the top land-lease finance facilitator in the country – providing the capital needed by Canada’s agricultural producers to achieve their targeted growth.

Launched as an open-ended vehicle, Fund V is building a diversified portfolio of core farmland across Canada, and targets institutional and accredited investors who are increasingly seeking out open-ended investment structures in their real asset portfolio, according to the firm.

“The open-ended structure offers important liquidity characteristics that suit a broad range of institutions across Canada,” said Andrea Gruza, VP of Capital Markets at Bonnefield.

“Many of these investors are interested in gaining exposure to the attractive attributes of Canadian farmland, such as its ability to hedge against inflation and its low correlation with stocks, bonds, and traditional real estate.”

As Canada’s foremost provider of land-lease financing for farmers, Bonnefield offers farmers an alternative to debt equity financing that will strengthen their balance sheets, improve cash flow, expand their land base, and facilitate retirement planning. As such, Bonnefield operates under a mandate of preserving “farmland for farming” across Canada, and its funds are 100 percent Canadian owned and controlled. 

The firm currently has C$750 million (US$565.6 million) in assets under management consisting of approximately 112,000 acres leased to more than 100 farm families across the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

Fund V’s predecessor, LP IV, had a first close in July 2016 at C$60 million (US$45.25 million) when Bonnefield announced a commitment from an existing Canadian investor. It was at this time that Bonnefield also announced the complete deployment of Fund III at C$261 million (US$197 million). Then, in October 2017, Fund IV announced a second close of $70 million (US$52.8 million), more than doubling its corpus at $130 million (US$98 million). 

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.