Fayetteville-based AcreTrader has been acquired by Proterra Investment Partners, a Minneapolis private equity firm, the companies announced Tuesday (Aug. 12). Terms of the private deal were not disclosed.
Proterra touts itself as an alternative asset manager “focused on private equity and private credit investments across the global food value chain with over $3.4 billion in assets under management.”
“Proterra’s acquisition of AcreTrader represents an exciting alignment of vision and capabilities,” said Rich Gammill, Managing Partner at Proterra. “We’ve long admired their data driven platform and strong operator relationships, and we are especially impressed by the AcreTrader team, whose exceptional track record and unique approach position us to expand investor access to farmland investing.”
AcreTrader, founded by Carter Malloy, is a technology company that developed tools and a trading platform for farmland investment. When asked if the scores of AcreTrader jobs in Fayetteville will remain intact and remain local, Carter said, “yes and yes.”
“They’re here in Fayetteville. They’re good friends. They’re across the street now rather than inside of the same office. But other than that, they are all still, I’d say, very excited to come to work every day with a new business partner,” Malloy tells the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.
Proterra said it can further scale AcreTrader’s offerings. The AcreTrader team will operate as a part of Proterra, led by General Manager Rob Moore and Managing Director Drew Lipke.
“This sale marks a pivotal milestone for both companies,” said Malloy. “We built AcreTrader to make farmland investing more transparent and accessible. Proterra accelerates that mission as their reach and expertise equips AcreTrader to further scale its platform, broaden access, and deliver greater value to both farmers and investors in the years ahead.”
The transaction also further expands the growth of Acres.com, a land data and mapping platform company founded by Malloy, to meet its rapidly growing market demand. Acres will remain an independent company led by Malloy alongside over 60 employees.
“I’m going to try to stay focused on Acres.com for the time being,” said Malloy. “We are really excited. The business is growing incredibly fast. We’re doing some amazing things within the world of data and data specific to land. So it’s been a really exciting year in front of us that I can’t wait to get to work on.”
Proterra is a firm that spun out of Black River Asset Management — a wholly owned, independently managed division of Cargill. It focuses on seven core investment verticals: Credit, Farmland, Growth Equity, Proterra Asia, Sustainable Agriculture, Asset-backed Strategies, and Real Estate.
Headquartered in Minneapolis, the firm employs 66 professionals across four global offices: Minneapolis, Shanghai, Singapore and Sydney.