January 17, 2025

By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media

A new alliance has been formed to help the ag industry navigate cross-border land acquisitions, appraisals and expansions. The International Ag Alliance (IAA), a coalition of agricultural land and business firms, has officially launched. Founded by Peoples Company, Brown & Co. and LAWD, IAA is designed to harness international expertise with agricultural opportunities in key regions by fostering collaboration among firms.

Each of the founding members represents their areas of expertise both jurisdictionally and sectorally. LAWD will provide market expertise from the Asia Pacific region, and collaborate with Iowa-based Peoples Company as experts in the U.S. market, while U.K. firm, Brown & Co. will represent the European and Latin American markets.

Peoples Company President Steve Bruere told GAI News, “The Alliance idea came from a meeting with Danny Thomas of LAWD at last year’s GAI event.  We wanted to formalize our ability to work across multiple geographies.  As farmland has become a global business, we have seen opportunities to collaborate and share knowledge, clients, and best practices.  We have already seen synergies with Brown & Co. and LAWD, even before the launch.”

Founding member LAWD stated on LinkedIn, “The IAA is a coalition of top agricultural land firms from across the globe coming together to streamline international investment in the sector and to advance responsible land management.”

As a member-owned organization, the mechanics of IAA are such that one firm represents each eligible nation. To qualify, countries must reflect stable regions from political, economic, climate, infrastructure and regulatory perspectives. These standards exist to ensure diverse perspectives and local expertise while fostering trust and collaboration among members.

Chief among the tenets of the IAA is collaboration, as members will connect through industry networking and work together on projects. As a result, they will have a greater chance of reaching more clients, improving the services they offer and sharing valuable insights on critical issues facing the ag industry such as supply chain bottlenecks and how to solve them.

GAI News recently reported on Peoples Company’s acquisition of Lincoln, Nebraska-based United Farm and Ranch Management (UFARM) in a strategic land management deal. At that time, Peoples Company’s Bruere shared that the firm was increasingly identifying opportunities to engage globally.

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the agricultural sector are on the rise. Over 800 deals were closed in the mid-1990s, roughly doubling to 1,618 by 2017, per Thomson Reuters data. The value of the deals soared from roughly $5.8 billion in 1996 to almost $20 billion in 2010, before easing to approximately $15.5 billion by 2018. Cross-border deals constitute a significant portion of M&A activity within the ag and food sector, comprising 31.2 percent of all deals, which is nearly 4 percent higher than the average across other sectors.

Of the new alliance, Peoples Company’s Bruere stated, “As agriculture has become a global business, farming families and agribusinesses operating internationally often lack resources and insight to navigate and execute comprehensive farmland services. By bringing together highly respected firms from stable agricultural regions, we provide trusted expertise for those seeking to expand their agricultural operations in new markets.”

Other founding members also weighed in on the makings of the coalition:

Brown & Co. Managing Partner Charles Whitaker commented, “It became clear during interactions between our firms that Peoples Company, LAWD and ourselves were aligned on our attitudes and approach to the most important elements of international property transactions and management. The opportunity to turn our existing informal collaboration into a formal Alliance was one we all thought was too good to miss.”

LAWD CEO Enda Foley said, “Being formally aligned in a strong alliance, avoiding the complexity of global ownership structures, creates an optimal global ag investment collaboration platform, seamlessly connecting our people and clients.”

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