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

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

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, serves as our Administrator’s president, general counsel, and secretary.

We have entered into an investment advisory agreement with our Adviser and an administration agreement with our Administrator (the “Administration Agreement”). The advisory agreement with our Adviser that was in effect through June 30, 2019 (the “Prior Advisory Agreement”), was amended on July 9, 2019 (as amended, the “Amended Advisory Agreement”), and was approved unanimously by our board of directors, including our independent directors. A summary of the Prior Advisory Agreement is provided in Note 6 to our consolidated financial statements included in our Form 10-K. A summary of the compensation terms for each of the Amended Advisory Agreement and the Administration Agreement is below.

Amended Advisory Agreement

Pursuant to the Amended Advisory Agreement, our Adviser is compensated in the form of a base management fee and, each as applicable, an incentive fee, a capital gains fee, and a termination fee.

Base Management Fee

A base management fee is paid quarterly and is calculated as 2.0% per annum (0.50% per quarter) of the prior calendar quarter’s total adjusted common equity, which, beginning with the three months ended September 30, 2019, is defined as common stockholders’ equity plus non-controlling common interests in the Operating Partnership, 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 Common Equity”). During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, our Adviser granted us certain non-contractual, unconditional, and irrevocable waivers, which were applied as credits against the base management fees for the respective periods, as detailed in the table below under “—Related-Party Fees.”

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 Common 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 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.

Termination Fee

In the event of our termination of the Amended Advisory Agreement for any reason, 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 separately for our allocable portion of the Administrator’s overhead expenses incurred while performing its obligations 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. Our allocable portion of the Administrator’s expenses is generally derived by multiplying our Administrator’s total expenses by the approximate percentage of time the Administrator’s employees perform services for us in relation to their time spent performing services for all companies serviced by our Administrator under similar contractual agreements.

TRS Lease Assumption

On October 17, 2017, Land Advisers entered into an Assignment and Assumption of Agricultural Lease (the “Assigned TRS Lease”) with the previously-existing tenant on a 169-acre farm located in Ventura County, California. The Assigned TRS Lease, as amended, expired on July 13, 2018. In addition, in connection with the initial operations on the farm, on October 17, 2017, Land Advisers issued a $1.7 million unsecured promissory note to the Company that matured in July 31, 2018, and bore interest at a rate equal to the prime rate plus a spread of 5.0% per annum. All inter-company amounts related to the Assigned TRS Lease and the promissory note were eliminated in consolidation, and, as a result, no rental or interest income from Land Advisers was recorded by us on the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income during the three or nine months ended September 30, 2018. Effective August 1, 2018, this farm was leased to a new, unrelated third-party tenant under a 10-year lease.

TRS Fee Arrangements

In connection with the assumption of the Assigned TRS Lease, 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, 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”). No such fees were incurred during the three or nine months ended September 30, 2019.

TRS Expense Sharing Agreement

Pursuant to the TRS Expense Sharing Agreement, our Adviser was responsible for maintaining the day-to-day operations on the farm leased to Land Advisers from October 17, 2017, through July 31, 2018. In exchange for such services, Land Advisers compensated 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).

Costs incurred by our Adviser, while payable by Land Advisers, were initially accumulated and deferred and then allocated to costs of sales as the related crops were harvested and sold. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, approximately $15,000 and $176,000, respectively, of the total accumulated costs incurred by our Adviser was allocated to the costs of crops sold and is included within Base management fee on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018. In addition, during the three months ended September 30, 2018, our Adviser granted Land Advisers a non-contractual, unconditional, and irrevocable waiver 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 was 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 nine months ended September 30, 2018, approximately $18,000 and $48,000, respectively, of the administration fee paid by us was allocated to Land Advisers. This allocation is included within Administration fee on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations and Comprehensive Income for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018.

Gladstone Securities

On April 11, 2017, we entered into an agreement with Gladstone Securities, LLC (“Gladstone Securities”), 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 is payable upon closing of the respective financing, ranges 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. We paid total financing fees to Gladstone Securities of approximately $160,000 and $188,000 during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, respectively, and approximately $57,000 and $59,000 during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively. Through September 30, 2019, the total amount of financing fees paid to Gladstone Securities represented approximately 0.14% 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, which was amended and restated on May 31, 2018 (the “Dealer-Manager Agreement”), with Gladstone Securities, whereby Gladstone Securities serves as our exclusive dealer-manager in connection with the offering of our Series B Preferred Stock (as defined in Note 8, “Equity—Series B Preferred Stock”). Pursuant to 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 generally 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 offering (the “Selling Commissions”), and (ii) a dealer-manager fee of 3.0% of the gross proceeds from sales of Series B Preferred Stock in the offering (the “Dealer-Manager Fee”). Gladstone Securities may, in its sole discretion, remit all or a portion of the Selling Commissions and may also reallow all or a portion of the Dealer-Manager Fees to participating broker-dealers and wholesalers in support of the offering. The terms of the Dealer-Manager Agreement were approved by our board of directors, including all of its independent directors.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, we paid total Selling Commissions and Dealer-Manager Fees to Gladstone Securities in connection with sales of the Series B Preferred Stock of approximately $1.8 million and $5.1 million, respectively, of which approximately $1.7 million and $4.8 million, respectively, were then remitted by Gladstone Securities to unrelated third-parties involved in the offering, including participating broker-dealers and wholesalers. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, we paid total Selling Commissions and Dealer-Manager Fees to Gladstone Securities of approximately $890,000 and $940,000, respectively, of which approximately $843,000 and $890,000, respectively, was remitted to unrelated third-parties involved in the offering. Through September 30, 2019, approximately 93.9% of the total Selling Commissions and Dealer-Manager Fees paid to Gladstone Securities have been remitted to unrelated third-parties involved in the offering.

Total Selling Commissions and Dealer-Manager Fees paid to Gladstone Securities 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 Sheets.

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 September 30,						For the Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2019		2018				2019			2018
Base management fee⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾	$	862	$	690		⁽³⁾	$	2,741		$	2,102		⁽³⁾
Capital gains fee⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾	—		778				—			778
Credits from non-contractual, unconditional, and irrevocable waiver granted by Adviser’s board of directors⁽²⁾	—		(796		)		(1,542		)	(970		)
Total fees to our Adviser, net	$	862	$	672			$	1,199		$	1,910

Administration fee⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾	$	311	$	387		⁽⁴⁾	$	866		$	935		⁽⁴⁾

Selling Commissions and Dealer-Manager Fees⁽¹⁾⁽⁵⁾	$	1,657	$	890			$	4,781		$	940
Financing fees⁽¹⁾⁽⁶⁾	160		57				188			59
Total fees to Gladstone Securities	$	1,817	$	947			$	4,969		$	999


⁽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 and Comprehensive Income.


⁽³⁾	Includes the allocation of approximately $15,000 and $176,000 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 nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively, as further described above under “TRS Expense Sharing Agreement.”


⁽⁴⁾	Includes the portion of administration fee that was allocated to Land Advisers (approximately $18,000 and $48,000 for the three and nine months ended September 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 Sheets. Through September 30, 2019, Gladstone Securities has remitted approximately 93.9% of these fees to unrelated third-parties involved in the offering (including participating broker-dealers and wholesalers).

⁽⁶⁾

Included within Notes and bonds payable, net on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and amortized into Interest expense on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income. Through September 30, 2019, the total amount of financing fees paid to Gladstone Securities represented approximately 0.14% of the total financings secured during since the Financing Arrangement Agreement has been in place.

Related-Party Fees Due

Amounts due to related parties on our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2019, and December 31, 2018, were as follows (dollars in thousands):



	September 30, 2019		December 31, 2018
Due from Gladstone Securities⁽¹⁾	$	38	$	20

Base management fee	862		736
Capital gains fee⁽²⁾	—		(150		)
Credits to fees⁽³⁾	—		(44		)
Other⁽⁴⁾	21		63
Total due to Adviser	883		605
Administration fee	311		340			⁽⁵⁾
Total due to Administrator	311		340
Total due to related parties⁽⁶⁾	$	1,194	$	945


⁽¹⁾	Other amounts due from Gladstone Securities generally represent costs for certain sales, promotional, or marketing services related to the offering of the Series B Preferred Stock paid for by us on behalf of Gladstone Securities. As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, such amounts are included within Other assets, net on our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.


⁽²⁾	The credit to the capital gains fee as of December 31, 2018, was a result of capital losses recorded in connection with dispositions of certain real estate assets during year ended December 31, 2018, which resulted in a reduction of the capital gains fee accrued for earlier in fiscal year 2018.


⁽³⁾	The credits received from our Adviser during the three months ended September 30, 2019, and December 31, 2018, were granted as non-contractual, unconditional, and irrevocable waivers to be applied as credits against the base management fee.


⁽⁴⁾	Other amounts due to or from our Adviser primarily relate to miscellaneous general and administrative expenses either paid by our Adviser on our behalf or by us on our Adviser’s behalf. The balance owed to our Adviser as of December 31, 2018, includes premium payments for certain insurance policies made by our Adviser on our behalf.


⁽⁵⁾	Includes approximately $9,000 owed by Land Advisers to our Administrator as of December 31, 2018, in accordance with the TRS Administration Fee Allocation, as discussed above.


⁽⁶⁾	Reflected as a line item on our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.