North Bridge expects 15% yield from farming

British private equity fund North Bridge, with investments worth 60 million euros on the Romanian market, is counting on a 15% yield from investments in agriculture, intending to allocate up to 10 million euros for this sector next year. The presence of investment funds in Romanian agriculture has been quite tentative so far, with this sector mainly attracting the attention and investments from local businesspeople and companies. The main sectors drawing private equity funds have by far been real estate, the constructions and financial services sectors, health services and IT. One of the main setbacks to investments in agriculture is the high fragmentation of land, given that investment funds are seeking large, compact farming areas. “The map of farming land is quite segmented in Romania, and in order to make an investment into a large farming area, we have to acquire land from several owners,” said Ovidiu Morariu, investment manager of the local office of North Bridge investment fund.