Gladstone Land Corporation Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Related-Party Transactions

Related-Party Transactions

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2018

Our Adviser and Administrator

We are externally managed pursuant to contractual arrangements with our Adviser and our Administrator, which collectively employ all of our personnel and pay their salaries, benefits, and general expenses directly. Both our Adviser and Administrator are affiliates of ours, as their parent company is owned and controlled by David Gladstone, our chairman, chief executive officer, and president. In addition, two of our executive officers, Mr. Gladstone and Terry Brubaker (our vice chairman and chief operating officer), serve as directors and executive officers of each of our Adviser and Administrator, and Michael LiCalsi, our general counsel and secretary, also serves as our Administrator’s president, general counsel, and secretary.

The initial investment advisory agreement with our Adviser that was in effect through March 31, 2017 (the “Prior Advisory Agreement”), and the current administration agreement with our Administrator (the “Administration Agreement”) each became effective February 1, 2013. On April 11, 2017, we entered into a Second Amended and Restated Investment Advisory Agreement (the “Amended Advisory Agreement”) with our Adviser that became effective beginning with the three months ended June 30, 2017. Our entrance into the Amended Advisory Agreement was approved unanimously by our board of directors, including, specifically, our independent directors.

A summary of the compensation terms for each of the Prior Advisory Agreement, the Amended Advisory Agreement, and the Administration Agreement is below.

Prior Advisory Agreement

Pursuant to the Prior Advisory Agreement that was in effect through March 31, 2017, our Adviser was compensated in the form of a base management fee and, as applicable, an incentive fee. Each of these fees is described below.

Base Management Fee

We paid an annual base management fee equal to 2.0% of our adjusted stockholders’ equity, which was defined as our total stockholders’ equity at the end of each quarter less the recorded value of any preferred stock we may have issued.

Incentive Fee

We also paid an additional quarterly incentive fee based on funds from operations (as defined in the Prior Advisory Agreement). For purposes of calculating the incentive fee, our funds from operations, before giving effect to any incentive fee (our “Pre-Incentive Fee FFO”), included any realized capital gains or losses, less any distributions paid on our preferred stock, but did not include any unrealized capital gains or losses. The incentive fee rewarded our Adviser if our Pre-Incentive Fee FFO for a particular calendar quarter exceeded a hurdle rate of 1.75% (7.0% annualized) of our total stockholders’ equity (as shown on the balance sheet) at the end of the quarter. Our Adviser received 100% of the amount of the Pre-Incentive Fee FFO for the quarter that exceeded the hurdle rate but was less than 2.1875% of our total stockholders’ equity at the end of the quarter (8.75% annualized) and 20% of the amount of our Pre-Incentive Fee FFO that exceeded 2.1875% for the quarter.

Amended Advisory Agreement

Pursuant to the Amended Advisory Agreement, effective beginning with the three months ended June 30, 2017, our Adviser has been compensated in the form of a base management fee and, each as applicable, an incentive fee, a capital gains fee, and a termination fee. Each of these fees is described below.

Base Management Fee

A base management fee is paid quarterly and will be calculated as 2.0% per annum (0.50% per quarter) of the prior calendar quarter’s total adjusted equity, which is defined as total equity plus total mezzanine equity, if any, each as reported on our balance sheet, adjusted to exclude unrealized gains and losses and certain other one-time events and non-cash items (“Total Adjusted Equity”).

Incentive Fee

An incentive fee is calculated and payable quarterly in arrears if the Pre-Incentive Fee FFO for a particular quarter exceeds a hurdle rate of 1.75% (7.0% annualized) of the prior calendar quarter’s Total Adjusted Equity. For purposes of this calculation, Pre-Incentive Fee FFO is defined in the Amended Advisory Agreement as FFO (also as defined in the Amended Advisory Agreement) accrued by the Company during the current calendar quarter (prior to any incentive fee calculation for the current calendar quarter), less any dividends paid on preferred stock securities that are not treated as a liability for GAAP purposes. Our Adviser will receive: (i) no Incentive Fee in any calendar quarter in which the Pre-Incentive Fee FFO does not exceed the hurdle rate; (ii) 100% of the Pre-Incentive Fee FFO with respect to that portion of such Pre-Incentive Fee FFO, if any, that exceeds the hurdle rate but is less than 2.1875% in any calendar quarter (8.75% annualized); and (iii) 20% of the amount of the Pre-Incentive Fee FFO, if any, that exceeds 2.1875% in any calendar quarter (8.75% annualized).

Capital Gains Fee

A capital gains-based incentive fee will be calculated and payable in arrears at the end of each fiscal year (or upon termination of the Amended Advisory Agreement). The capital gains fee shall equal: (i) 15% of the cumulative aggregate realized capital gains minus the cumulative aggregate realized capital losses, minus (ii) any aggregate capital gains fees paid in prior periods. For purposes of this calculation, realized capital gains and losses will be calculated as (x) the sales price of the property, minus (y) any costs to sell the property and the then-current gross value of the property (which includes the property’s original acquisition price plus any subsequent, non-reimbursed capital improvements). At the end of each fiscal year, if this figure is negative, no capital gains fee shall be paid. To date, no capital gains fee has been earned by our Advisor.

Termination Fee

In the event of our termination of the Amended Advisory Agreement for any reason (with 120 days’ prior written notice and the vote of at least two-thirds of our independent directors), a termination fee would be payable to the Adviser equal to three times the sum of the average annual base management fee and incentive fee earned by the Adviser during the 24-month period prior to such termination.

Administration Agreement

Pursuant to the Administration Agreement, we pay for our allocable portion of the Administrator’s expenses incurred while performing services to us, including, but not limited to, rent and the salaries and benefits expenses of our Administrator’s employees, including our chief financial officer, treasurer, chief compliance officer, general counsel, and secretary (who also serves as our Administrator’s president, general counsel, and secretary), and their respective staffs.

TRS Lease Assumption

On October 17, 2017, the then-existing lease on one of our California farms was assigned by the tenant to Land Advisers (the “TRS Lease Assumption”). The lease assigned to Land Advisers, as amended, expired on July 31, 2018, and effective August 1, 2018 (pursuant to a new lease agreement executed on June 11, 2018), this farm began being leased out to a new, unrelated third-party tenant under a 10-year lease.

TRS Fee Arrangements

In connection with the TRS Lease Assumption, on October 23, 2017, in exchange for services provided by our Adviser to Land Advisers, our Adviser and Land Advisers entered into an Expense Sharing Agreement (the “TRS Expense Sharing Agreement”). In addition, during the three months ended December 31, 2017, to account for the time our Administrator’s staff spends on activities related to Land Advisers, we adopted a policy wherein a portion of the fee paid by the Company to our Administrator pursuant to the Administration Agreement would be allocated to Land Advisers (the “TRS Administration Fee Allocation, and together with the TRS Expense Sharing Agreement, the “TRS Fee Arrangements”).

TRS Expense Sharing Agreement

Pursuant to the TRS Expense Sharing Agreement, our Adviser is responsible for maintaining the day-to-day operations on the farm leased to Land Advisers. In exchange for such services, Land Advisers compensates our Adviser through reimbursement of certain expenses incurred by our Adviser, including Land Advisers’ pro-rata share of our Adviser’s payroll and related benefits (based on the percentage of each employee’s time devoted to matters related to Land Advisers in relation to the time such employees devoted to all affiliated funds, collectively, advised by our Adviser) and general overhead expenses (based on the total general overhead expenses incurred by our Adviser multiplied by the ratio of hours worked by our Adviser’s employees on matters related to Land Advisers to the total hours worked by our Adviser’s employees).

Through June 30, 2018, our Adviser had incurred approximately $189,000 of costs related to services provided to Land Advisers (approximately $43,000 and $118,000 of which were incurred during the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, respectively). Such costs, while payable by Land Advisers, were initially accumulated and deferred (included within Crop inventory on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets) and then allocated to costs of sales as the related crops are harvested and sold. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, approximately $94,000 and $161,000, respectively, of the total accumulated costs incurred by our Adviser was allocated to the costs of crops sold and is included within Management Fee on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018. The remaining $28,000 of accumulated costs incurred by our Adviser was allocated to harvested but unsold crops held within crop inventory as of June 30, 2018. As the market value of our crop inventory was written down to zero as of June 30, 2018, all costs allocated to these crops (including the $28,000 incurred by our Adviser) were included within Loss on write-down of inventory on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations. See Note 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies—Crop Inventory and Crop Sales—Crop Inventory,” for further discussion on the write-down of our crop inventory as of June 30, 2018. In addition, during the three months ended June 30, 2018, our Adviser granted Land Advisers a voluntary, irrevocable waiver of approximately $174,000 to be applied against a portion of the fees incurred by our Adviser on behalf of Land Advisers pursuant to the TRS Expense Sharing Agreement.

TRS Administration Fee Allocation

Under to the TRS Administration Fee Allocation, a portion of the fee owed by us to our Administrator under the Administration Agreement is allocated to Land Advisers based on the percentage of each employee’s time devoted to matters related to Land Advisers in relation to the total time such employees devoted to the Company.

During the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, approximately $17,000 and $30,000, respectively, of the administration fee that would have otherwise been owed by us to our Administrator was allocated to Land Advisers. This administration fee is payable by Land Advisers and is included within Administration Fee on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018.

Gladstone Securities

On April 11, 2017, we entered into an agreement with Gladstone Securities, LLC (“Gladstone Securities”), effective beginning with the three months ended June 30, 2017, for it to act as our non-exclusive agent to assist us with arranging financing for our properties (the “Financing Arrangement Agreement”). Gladstone Securities is a privately-held broker-dealer and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Gladstone Securities is an affiliate of ours, as its parent company is owned and controlled by Mr. Gladstone, who also serves on the board of managers of Gladstone Securities.

Financing Arrangement Agreement

We pay Gladstone Securities a financing fee in connection with the services it provides to us for securing financing on our properties. Depending on the size of the financing obtained, the maximum amount of the financing fee, which will be payable upon closing of the respective financing, will range from 0.5% to 1.0% of the amount of financing obtained. The amount of the financing fee may be reduced or eliminated as determined by us and Gladstone Securities after taking into consideration various factors, including, but not limited to, the involvement of any unrelated third-party brokers and general market conditions. Financing fees paid to Gladstone Securities during the six months ended June 30, 2018 was approximately $2,000. Through June 30, 2018, the total amount of financing fees paid to Gladstone Securities represented approximately 0.12% of the total financings secured since the Financing Arrangement Agreement has been in place.

Dealer-Manager Agreement

On January 10, 2018, we entered into a dealer-manager agreement (the “Dealer-Manager Agreement”) with Gladstone Securities, whereby Gladstone Securities serves as our exclusive dealer-manager in connection with the Primary Offering of our Series B Preferred Stock (each as defined in Note 7, “Equity—Series B Preferred Stock”). Under the Dealer-Manager Agreement, Gladstone Securities provides certain sales, promotional, and marketing services to us in connection with the offering of the Series B Preferred Stock, and we will pay Gladstone Securities: (i) selling commissions of up to 7.0% of the gross proceeds from sales of Series B Preferred Stock in the Primary Offering, and (ii) a dealer-manager fee of 3.0% of the gross proceeds from sales of Series B Preferred Stock in the Primary Offering (the “Dealer-Manager Fee”). Gladstone Securities may, in its sole discretion, reallow a portion of the Dealer-Manager Fee to participating broker-dealers in support of the Primary Offering. The terms of the Dealer-Manager Agreement were approved by our board of directors, including all of its independent directors. Through June 30, 2018, total selling commissions and dealer-manager fees paid to Gladstone Securities in connection with sales of the Series B Preferred Stock was approximately $50,000 (all of which was paid during the three months ended June 30, 2018). Such fees are netted against the gross proceeds received from sales of the Series B Preferred Stock and are included within Additional paid-in capital on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.

Related-Party Fees

The following table summarizes related-party fees paid or accrued for and reflected in our accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements (dollars in thousands):



	For the Three Months Ended June 30,						For the Six Months Ended June 30,
	2018				2017		2018				2017
Management fee⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾	$	754		⁽³⁾	$	530	$	1,411		⁽³⁾	$	924
Incentive fee⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾	—				76		—				427
Credits from voluntary, irrevocable waiver by Adviser’s board of directors⁽²⁾	(174		)		—		(174		)		—
Total fees to our Adviser	$	580			$	606	$	1,237			$	1,351
Administration fee⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾	$	275		⁽⁴⁾	$	219	$	549		⁽⁴⁾	$	445
Dealer-Manager Fees to Gladstone Securities⁽¹⁾⁽⁵⁾	$	50			$	—	$	50			$	—
Financing Fees to Gladstone Securities⁽¹⁾⁽⁶⁾	$	2			$	2	$	2			$	2


⁽¹⁾	Pursuant to the agreements with the respective related-party entities, as discussed above.


⁽²⁾	Reflected as a line item on our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

⁽³⁾

Includes the allocation of approximately $94,000 and $161,000 of the total accumulated costs incurred by our Adviser as a result of the crops harvested and sold on the farm operated by Land Advisers during the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, respectively, as further described above under “TRS Expense Sharing Agreement.” Excludes an additional $28,000 of accumulated costs incurred by our Adviser pursuant to the TRS Expense Sharing Agreement. Such costs were allocated to crop inventory that was written down to zero as of June 30, 2018, and are included within Loss on write-down of inventory on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (as discussed in more detail under “TRS Fee Arrangements—TRS Expense Sharing Agreement” above).


⁽⁴⁾	Includes the portion of administration fee that was allocated to Land Advisers (approximately $17,000 and $30,000 for each of the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, respectively), as further described above under “TRS Administration Fee Allocation.”


⁽⁵⁾	Included within Additional paid-in capital on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.


⁽⁶⁾	Included in Mortgage notes and bonds payable, net on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and amortized into Interest expense on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Related-Party Fees Due

Amounts due to related parties on our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of June 30, 2018, and December 31, 2017, were as follows (dollars in thousands):



	June 30, 2018				December 31, 2017
Management fee due to Adviser	$	703		⁽¹⁾	$	666
Credits to fees due to Adviser⁽²⁾	(174		)		—
Other due to Adviser⁽³⁾	3				16
Total due to Adviser	532				682
Administration fee due to Administrator	275			⁽⁴⁾	258
Total due to Administrator	275				258
Total due to related parties⁽⁵⁾	$	807			$	940


⁽¹⁾	Includes approximately $43,000 owed by Land Advisers to our Advisor, pursuant to the TRS Expense Sharing Agreement, as discussed above.


⁽²⁾	The credit received from our Adviser for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, was granted as a voluntary, irrevocable waiver to be applied against the fees incurred by our Adviser on behalf of Land Advisers pursuant to the TRS Expense Sharing Agreement, as discussed above.


⁽³⁾	Other fees due to or from related parties primarily relate to miscellaneous general and administrative expenses paid by our Adviser or Administrator on our behalf or by us on our Adviser’s or Administrator’s behalf.


⁽⁴⁾	Includes approximately $17,000 owed by Land Advisers to our Administrator, in accordance with the TRS Administration Fee Allocation, as discussed above.


⁽⁵⁾	Reflected as a line item on our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.