FORT MYERS, Fla., April 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Alico, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALCO) today announces the State of Florida purchased, under the Florida Forever program, approximately 5,734 acres of Alico Ranch for $14.4 million, pursuant to an option agreement entered into between the State of Florida and Alico earlier this fiscal year.
John Kiernan, Alico’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are pleased that the State of Florida has continued to purchase parcels within the Alico Ranch. This is now the third sales transaction we have completed with the State of Florida within the last three years, aggregating over 22,000 acres. Alico intends to use these sales proceeds to opportunistically prepay a portion of its fixed-rate term debt.
We remain encouraged by the continued level of prospective sales activity from other buyers of parcels on both the West and East parts of the Alico Ranch. We believe that if we are successful with our continued efforts to divest additional acreage of Alico Ranch, we will be able to redeploy these sales proceeds into building shareholder value, possibly through continuing to increase quarterly common dividends, a like-kind exchange structure to defer a portion of capital gains taxes, retiring additional debt, continuing to increase quarterly common dividends or even considering special dividends. All of these uses of proceeds will be carefully considered in an effort to achieve greater returns for our shareholders.”
About Alico
Alico, Inc. primarily operates two divisions: Alico Citrus, one of the nation’s largest citrus producers, and Land Management and Other Operations, which include environmental services, land leasing and related support operations. Learn more about Alico (Nasdaq: “ALCO”) at www.alicoinc.com.
