Black Earth Farming Ltd., a Swedish-run company that invests in Russian farmland, is planning an initial public stock offering aimed at raising 1.6 billion Swedish kronor ($255.7 million) to take advantage of soaring grain prices by buying more land.
Black Earth, which plans to offer the stock in Stockholm by the end of the year, is one of several Western European companies hoping to capitalize on the glut of cheap farmland in the nutrient-rich belt that stretches from Ukraine into central Russia.
Black Earth thinks it can bring more Russian land back into production after years of low crop yields following the collapse of the Soviet system of collectivized farming and years of underinvestment, said Per Brilioth, the company's chairman. "There are up to 49 million hectares 121 million acres) of fertile land in Russia's Black Earth region, and it isn't producing to its capacity," Mr. Brilioth said.
