Agricultural Land Opportunity Fund Mel Invest REIT plans to invest more than 15 mln leva in the purchasing of arable land, according to the prospectus for the capital raise of the company.

The REIT plans to raise its capital from 14.044 to 28.089 mln leva through the issuing of 14.044 mln rights. Each right allows the subscription of one new share at 1.10 leva issue value.

The company plans to grant the acquired land on lease at current market prices for the different regions in the country.

Agricultural Land Opportunity Fund Mel Invest owned 3,769.7 ha of land as at the end of 2007. Third and fourth category land accounted for 42.05 and 29.37% of the portfolio of the company, respectively, followed by fifth and sixth category land with a share of 13.90% and 9.40%, respectively.

A total of 1,500 ha, or 40.71% of the land, is located in Pleven region, while the share of investments in Yambol and Kula regions stands at 11.37% and 10.12%, respectively. The company also owns large-scale plots in Levski, Boynitsa and Varna.

The combined value of Mel Invest's properties amounted to 8.395 mln leva as at December 31, 2007, while the average purchasing price of the land stood at 2,227.1 leva/ha. A total of 1,760.9 ha of the land is granted on lease.

A total of 2,502 shares on the position traded hands on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange so far today, at prices between 1.15 and 1.32 leva apiece.