As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 4, 2013
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Governing Instruments)
(Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number,
Including Area Code, of Registrants Principal Executive Offices)
(Name, Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number,
Including Area Code, of Agent for Service)
With a Copy to:
Approximate Date of Commencement of Proposed Sale to the Public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Registration Statement.
If any of the Securities being registered on this form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 of the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box. x
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o
If delivery of the prospectus is expected to be made pursuant to Rule 434, please check the following box. o
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of large accelerated filer, accelerated filer and smaller reporting company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
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Large accelerated filer o | Accelerated filer o | Non-accelerated filer x | Smaller reporting company o | |||
(Do not check if a smaller reporting company) |
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Title of Securities to Be Registered | Amount to Be Registered |
Proposed Maximum Offering Price Per Share |
Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price |
Amount of Registration Fee |
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Common stock, $0.01 par value per share | 68,000,000 shares | $ | 25.00 | $ | 1,700,000,000 | $ | 231,880.00 | |||||||||
Common stock, $0.01 par value per share | 14,736,842 shares | (1) | $ | 23.75 | $ | 349,999,997.50 | $ | 47,740.00 |
(1) | Represents shares to be issued pursuant to the distribution reinvestment plan, or DRIP. The offering price per share issuable pursuant to the DRIP is estimated for purposes of calculating the registration fee at $23.75 per share. We reserve the right to reallocate the shares of common stock we are offering between our primary offering and the DRIP. |
THE REGISTRANT HEREBY AMENDS THIS REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON SUCH DATE OR DATES AS MAY BE NECESSARY TO DELAY ITS EFFECTIVE DATE UNTIL THE REGISTRANT SHALL FILE A FURTHER AMENDMENT WHICH SPECIFICALLY STATES THAT THIS REGISTRATION STATEMENT SHALL THEREAFTER BECOME EFFECTIVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 8(A) OF THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 OR UNTIL THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE ON SUCH DATE AS THE COMMISSION, ACTING PURSUANT TO SAID SECTION 8(A), MAY DETERMINE.
The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. The prospectus is not an offer to sell the securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.
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PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS DATED FEBRUARY 4, 2013 | SUBJECT TO COMPLETION |
American Realty Capital Trust V, Inc. is a Maryland corporation formed on January 22, 2013 to acquire primarily freestanding single tenant retail properties net leased to investment grade and other creditworthy tenants. We intend to elect to be taxed as a real estate investment trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes, or REIT, commencing with our tax year ending December 31, 2013. We are offering up to 68,000,000 shares of our common stock on a reasonable best efforts basis through Realty Capital Securities, LLC, or our dealer manager, in our primary offering at a per share price of up to $25.00 (including the maximum allowed to be charged for commissions and fees, subject to certain discounts as described in this prospectus). Reasonable best efforts means that our dealer manager must use its good faith efforts and reasonable diligence to sell shares and is not obligated to purchase any specific number or dollar amount of shares. We also are offering up to 14,736,842 shares of our common stock pursuant to our distribution reinvestment plan, or DRIP, at a price initially equal to $23.75 per share, which is 95% of the primary offering price. Beginning with the first day of the first quarter following the earlier of our acquisition of $1.4 billion in total portfolio assets and , 2015, which is two years from the effective date of this offering, or the NAV pricing date, the per share price for our shares in our primary offering and our DRIP will vary quarterly and will be equal to the net asset value of our company as determined by our advisor, or NAV, divided by the number of shares of common stock outstanding as of the end of business on the first day of each fiscal quarter after giving effect to any share purchases or repurchases effected by us in immediately preceding quarter, plus applicable commissions and fees, or per share NAV. We reserve the right to reallocate the shares of common stock we are offering between our primary offering and the DRIP.
We are an emerging growth company under the federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should purchase these securities only if you can afford a complete loss of your investment. See the section entitled Risk Factors beginning on page 26 of this prospectus for a discussion of the risks, which should be considered in connection with your investment in our common stock, including:
| We have no operating history or established financing sources. |
| If distributions are declared and paid, the amount of the distributions paid may decrease or distributions may be eliminated at any time. Due to the risks involved in the ownership of real estate, there is no guarantee of any return on your investment, and you may lose all or a portion of your investment. |
| We are a blind pool offering because we currently do not own any properties and we have not identified any properties to acquire. Since we have neither identified nor acquired any investments, you will not have the opportunity to evaluate the merits and/or demerits of such investments. |
| We are depending on our advisor to select investments and conduct our operations. Adverse changes in the financial condition of our advisor or our relationship with our advisor could adversely affect us. |
| No public market exists for our shares of common stock, nor may a public market ever exist and our shares are, and may continue to be, illiquid. |
| Market conditions and other factors could cause us to delay our liquidity event beyond the sixth anniversary of the termination of the primary offering. We also cannot assure you that we will be able to achieve a liquidity event. |
| We established the offering price on an arbitrary basis; as a result, the actual value of your investment may be substantially less than what you pay. |
| There are substantial conflicts among the interests of our investors, our interests and the interests of our advisor, sponsor, dealer manager and our and their respective affiliates, which could result in decisions that are not in the best interests of our stockholders. |
| Our sponsor is the sponsor of seven other publicly offered investment programs which invest generally in real estate assets, but not primarily in our target assets, and four publicly offered investment programs that invest in the same assets as our target assets, most of which have substantially more resources than we do. |
| Our investment objectives and strategies may be changed without stockholder consent. |
| We are obligated to pay substantial fees to our advisor, which may result in our advisor recommending riskier investments. |
| We are obligated to pay the special limited partner a subordinated distribution upon termination of the advisory agreement, which may be substantial and, as a result, may discourage us from terminating the advisor. |
| We may incur substantial debt, which could hinder our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders or could decrease the value of your investment if income on, or the value of, the property securing the debt falls. |
| Our organizational documents permit us to pay distributions from any source, including from offering proceeds. Any of these distributions may reduce the amount of capital we ultimately invest in properties and other permitted investments and negatively impact the value of your investment, especially if a substantial portion of our distributions are paid from offering proceeds. |
| Our failure to qualify or remain qualified as a REIT would result in higher taxes, may adversely affect our operations, would reduce the amount of income available for distribution and would limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. |
| Commencing with the NAV pricing date, the offering price and repurchase price for our shares, including shares sold pursuant to our DRIP, will be based on NAV, which may not accurately reflect the value of our assets. |
| There are limitations on ownership and transferability of our shares. Please see Description of Securities Restrictions on Ownership and Transfer. |
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, the Attorney General of the State of New York nor any other state securities regulator has approved or disapproved of our common stock, determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete or passed on or endorsed the merits of this offering. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. The use of projections or forecasts in this offering is prohibited. Any representation to the contrary and any predictions, written or oral, as to the amount or certainty of any future benefit or tax consequence that may flow from an investment in our common stock is not permitted.
This offering will end no later than , 2015, which is two years from the effective date of this offering. If we decide to continue our primary offering beyond two years from the date of this prospectus, we will provide that information in a prospectus supplement. This offering must be registered in every state in which we offer or sell shares. Generally, such registrations are for a period of one year. Thus, we may have to stop selling shares in any state in which our registration is not renewed or otherwise extended annually. Until we satisfy the minimum offering requirements set forth in this prospectus, we will deposit subscription payments in an escrow account held by the escrow agent, UMB Bank, N.A., or UMB Bank, in trust for the subscribers benefit, pending release to us. A minimum of $2,000,000 of shares of common stock (equal to 80,000 shares at $25.00 per share) must be sold within one year following the commencement of this offering or we will terminate this offering and promptly return your subscription payments with your pro rata share of the interest earned on such funds in accordance with the provisions of the escrow agreement. Any purchase of shares by our sponsor, directors, officers and other affiliates will be included for purposes of determining whether the minimum of $2,000,000 of shares of common stock required to release funds from the escrow account has been sold.
PENNSYLVANIA INVESTORS: The minimum closing amount is $2,000,000. Because the minimum closing amount is less than $170,000,000, you are cautioned to carefully evaluate the programs ability to fully accomplish its stated objectives and inquire as to the current dollar volume of the program subscriptions. We will not release any proceeds for subscriptions from Pennsylvania investors from escrow until we have $85,000,000 in aggregate subscriptions.
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Per Share(1) | Minimum Offering | Maximum Offering | ||||||||||
Public offering price, primary shares | $ | 25.00 | $ | 2,000,000 | $ | 1,700,000,000 | ||||||
Public offering price, distribution reinvestment plan(2) | $ | 23.75 | $ | | $ | 349,999,997.50 | ||||||
Selling commissions and dealer manager fee(3) | $ | 2.50 | $ | 200,000 | $ | 170,000,000 | ||||||
Proceeds, before expenses, to us | $ | 22.50 | $ | 1,800,000 | $ | 1,530,000,000 |
(1) | The purchase price per share shown will apply until such time as we calculate NAV. If we calculate NAV prior to the close of the primary offering, the per share price in our primary offering will vary quarterly and will be equal to NAV. The purchase price per share pursuant to the DRIP shown above is 95% of the primary offering price and will apply until such time as we calculate NAV (at which time the per share price for DRIP shares will be per share NAV). |
(2) | We reserve the right to reallocate the shares of common stock we are offering between our primary offering and our DRIP. |
(3) | In determining the amount of selling commissions and dealer manager fees, we have assumed the sale of 30,800,000 shares at a purchase price of $25.00 per share, and 37,200,000 shares at a per share NAV of $22.73 (plus applicable commissions and fees), subject to certain discounts as described in this prospectus. Selling commissions and the dealer manager fee are paid only for primary shares offered on a reasonable best efforts basis and will equal 7% and 3% of aggregate gross proceeds, respectively. Each are payable to our dealer manager. Selling commissions will be reduced in connection with sales of certain minimum numbers of shares; see the section entitled Plan of Distribution Volume Discounts in this prospectus. |
Prospectus dated , 2013
An investment in our common stock involves significant risk and is suitable only for persons who have adequate financial means, desire a relatively long-term investment and will not need immediate liquidity from their investment. To the extent that you qualify as an institutional investor for the purposes of a state exemption from registration in your state of residence, these suitability standards do not apply to you. Persons who meet this standard and seek to diversify their personal portfolios with a finite-life, real estate-based investment, which among its benefits hedges against inflation and the volatility of the stock market, seek to receive current income, seek to preserve capital, wish to obtain the benefits of potential long-term capital appreciation and who are able to hold their investment for a time period consistent with our liquidity plans are most likely to benefit from an investment in our company. On the other hand, we caution persons who require immediate liquidity or guaranteed income, or who seek a short-term investment not to consider an investment in our common stock as meeting these needs. Notwithstanding these investor suitability standards, potential investors should note that investing in shares of our common stock involves a high degree of risk and should consider all the information contained in this prospectus, including the Risk Factors section contained herein, in determining whether an investment in our common stock is appropriate.
In order to purchase shares in this offering, you must:
| meet the applicable financial suitability standards as described below; and |
| purchase at least the minimum number of shares as described below. |
We have established suitability standards for initial stockholders and subsequent purchasers of shares from our stockholders. These suitability standards require that a purchaser of shares have, excluding the value of a purchasers home, home furnishings and automobiles, either:
| minimum net worth of at least $250,000; or |
| minimum annual gross income of at least $70,000 and a minimum net worth of at least $70,000. |
The minimum purchase is 100 shares ($2,500). You may not transfer fewer shares than the minimum purchase requirement. In addition, you may not transfer, fractionalize or subdivide your shares so as to retain less than the number of shares required for the minimum purchase. In order to satisfy the minimum purchase requirements for individual retirement accounts, or IRAs, unless otherwise prohibited by state law, a husband and wife may jointly contribute funds from their separate IRAs if each such contribution is made in increments of $100. You should note that an investment in shares of our common stock will not, in itself, create a retirement plan and that, in order to create a retirement plan, you must comply with all applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code.
Several states have established suitability requirements that are more stringent than the standards that we have established and described above. Shares will be sold to investors in these states only if they meet the special suitability standards set forth below. In each case, these special suitability standards exclude from the calculation of net worth or liquid net worth the value of the investors home, home furnishings and automobiles.
| Investors must have either (a) a net worth of at least $250,000 or (b) an annual gross income of $70,000 and a minimum net worth of $70,000. |
| Investors must have either (a) a net worth of $250,000 or (b) a gross annual income of at least $70,000 and a net worth of at least $70,000, with the amount invested in this offering not to exceed 10% of the Kentucky investors liquid net worth. |
| Investors must have either (a) a minimum net worth of at least $250,000 or (b) an annual gross income of at least $70,000 and a net worth of at least $70,000. The investors maximum investment in us and our affiliates cannot exceed 10% of the Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania or New |
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Mexico residents net worth. An Ohio investors aggregate investment in us, shares of our affiliates, and in other non-traded real estate investment programs may not exceed ten percent (10%) of his or her liquid net worth. Liquid net worth is defined as that portion of net worth (total assets exclusive of home, home furnishings, and automobiles minus total liabilities) that is comprised of cash, cash equivalents, and readily marketable securities. Note that Ohio investors cannot participate in the distribution reinvestment plan feature that reinvests distributions into subsequent affiliated programs. |
| The maximum investment allowable in us or our affiliates is 10% of an Iowa investors liquid net worth. Liquid net worth is defined as that portion of net worth (total assets minus total liabilities) that is comprised of cash, cash equivalents and readily marketable securities. |
| The maximum investment allowable in us for a Michigan investor is 10% of his or her net worth. |
| Investors who reside in the state of New Jersey must have either (i) a liquid net worth of $100,000 and annual gross income of $85,000 or (ii) a minimum liquid net worth of $350,000. Additionally, a New Jersey investors total investment in this offering and other non-traded real estate investment trusts shall not exceed 10% of his or her liquid net worth. Liquid net worth is defined as that portion of net worth (total assets exclusive of home, home furnishings, and automobiles minus total liabilities) that is comprised of cash, cash equivalents, and readily marketable securities. |
| Investors must have either (a) a minimum net worth of $100,000 and an annual income of $70,000 or (b) a minimum net worth of $350,000. The investors maximum investment in the issuer and our affiliates cannot exceed 10% of the investors net worth. |
| The Maine Office of Securities recommends that an investors aggregate investment in this offering and similar direct participation investments not exceed 10% of the investors liquid net worth. For this purpose, liquid net worth is defined as that portion of net worth that consists of cash, cash equivalents and readily marketable securities. Note that Maine investors cannot participate in the distribution reinvestment plan feature that reinvests distributions into subsequent affiliated programs. |
| Shares will only be sold to residents of North Dakota representing that they have a net worth of at least ten times their investment in us and that they meet one of the general suitability standards described above. |
| In addition to the general suitability requirements described above, it is recommended that investors should invest no more than 10% of their liquid net worth, in the aggregate, in us and securities of other real estate investment trusts. Liquid net worth is defined as that portion of net worth (total assets minus total liabilities) that is comprised of cash, cash equivalents and readily marketable securities. |
| In addition to the general suitability requirements described above, no more than ten percent (10%) of any one Missouri investors liquid net worth shall be invested in the securities registered by us for this offering with the Missouri Securities Division. |
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| In addition to the general suitability requirements described above, California investors maximum investment in us will be limited to 10% of their net worth (exclusive of home, home furnishings and automobile). |
| In addition to the general suitability requirements described above, shares will only be sold to Alabama residents that represent that they have a liquid net worth of at least 10 times the amount of their investment in this real estate investment program and other similar programs. Note that Alabama investors cannot participate in the distribution reinvestment plan feature that reinvests distributions into subsequent affiliated programs. |
In the case of sales to fiduciary accounts (such as an IRA, Keogh Plan or pension or profit-sharing plan), these minimum suitability standards must be satisfied by the beneficiary, the fiduciary account, or by the donor or grantor who directly or indirectly supplies the funds to purchase our common stock if the donor or the grantor is the fiduciary. Prospective investors with investment discretion over the assets of an individual retirement account, employee benefit plan or other retirement plan or arrangement that is covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, or ERISA, or Code Section 4975 should carefully review the information in the section of this prospectus entitled Investment by Tax-Exempt Entities and ERISA Considerations. Any such prospective investors are required to consult their own legal and tax advisors on these matters.
In the case of gifts to minors, the minimum suitability standards must be met by the custodian of the account or by the donor.
In order to ensure adherence to the suitability standards described above, requisite criteria must be met, as set forth in the subscription agreement in the form attached hereto as Appendix C. In addition, our sponsor, our dealer manager and the soliciting dealers, as our agents, must make every reasonable effort to determine that the purchase of our shares is a suitable and appropriate investment for an investor. In making this determination, the soliciting dealers will rely on relevant information provided by the investor in the investors subscription agreement, including information regarding the investors age, investment objectives, investment experience, income, net worth, financial situation, other investments, and any other pertinent information including whether (i) the participant is or will be in a financial position appropriate to enable him to realize the benefits described in the prospectus, (ii) the participant has a fair market net worth sufficient to sustain the risks inherent in the investment program and (iii) the investment program is otherwise suitable for the participant. Executed subscription agreements will be maintained in our records for six years.
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In accordance with the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001, as amended, or the USA PATRIOT Act, the shares of common stock offered hereby may not be offered, sold, transferred or delivered, directly or indirectly, to any unacceptable investor, which means anyone who is:
| a designated national, specially designated national, specially designated terrorist, specially designated global terrorist, foreign terrorist organization, or blocked person within the definitions set forth in the Foreign Assets Control Regulations of the U.S. Treasury Department; |
| acting on behalf of, or an entity owned or controlled by, any government against whom the U.S. maintains economic sanctions or embargoes under the Regulations of the U.S. Treasury Department; |
| within the scope of Executive Order 13224 Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions with Persons who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism, effective September 24, 2001; |
| subject to additional restrictions imposed by the following statutes or regulations, and executive orders issued thereunder: the Trading with the Enemy Act, the Iraq Sanctions Act, the National Emergencies Act, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the United Nations Participation Act, the International Security and Development Cooperation Act, the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act of 1994, the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996, the Cuban Democracy Act, the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act and the Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs Appropriation Act or any other law of similar import as to any non-U.S. country, as each such act or law has been or may be amended, adjusted, modified or reviewed from time to time; or |
| designated or blocked, associated or involved in terrorism, or subject to restrictions under laws, regulations, or executive orders as may apply in the future similar to those set forth above. |
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This prospectus contains forward-looking statements. You can identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as believes, expects, may, will, would, could, should, seeks, intends, plans, projects, estimates, anticipates, predicts, or potential or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases. You can also identify forward-looking statements by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions. Statements regarding the following subjects may be impacted by a number of risks and uncertainties which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements:
| our use of the proceeds of this offering; |
| our business and investment strategy; |
| our ability to make investments in a timely manner or on acceptable terms; |
| current credit market conditions and our ability to obtain long-term financing for our property investments in a timely manner and on terms that are consistent with what we project when we invest in the property; |
| the effect of general market, real estate market, economic and political conditions, including the recent economic slowdown and dislocation in the global credit markets; |
| our ability to make scheduled payments on our debt obligations; |
| our ability to generate sufficient cash flows to make distributions to our stockholders; |
| the degree and nature of our competition; |
| the availability of qualified personnel; |
| our ability to qualify and maintain our qualification as a REIT; and |
| other subjects referenced in this prospectus, including those set forth under the caption Risk Factors. |
The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus reflect our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of our future performance, taking into account all information currently available to us. These beliefs, assumptions and expectations are subject to risks and uncertainties and can change as a result of many possible events or factors, not all of which are known to us. If a change occurs, our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations may vary materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider these risks before you make an investment decision with respect to our common stock.
For more information regarding risks that may cause our actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements, see Risk Factors. We disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors, new information, future events or other changes.
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As used herein and unless otherwise required by context, (i) the term prospectus refers to this prospectus as amended and supplemented and (ii) the terms the offering, this offering and the primary offering refer to the primary offering of our shares of common stock on a reasonable best efforts basis. This prospectus summary highlights material information contained elsewhere in this prospectus. Because it is a summary, it may not contain all of the information that is important to you. To understand this offering fully, you should read the entire prospectus carefully, including the Risk Factors section and the financial statements, before making a decision to invest in our common stock. Except where the context suggests otherwise, the terms company, we, us, and our refer to American Realty Capital Trust V, Inc., a Maryland corporation, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, including American Realty Capital Operating Partnership V, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, of which we are the sole general partner, which we refer to in this prospectus as our operating partnership.
American Realty Capital Trust V, Inc. is a newly organized Maryland corporation, incorporated on January 22, 2013, that intends to qualify as a REIT commencing with its taxable year ending December 31, 2013. We expect to use substantially all the net proceeds of this offering to acquire primarily freestanding, single tenant retail properties net leased to investment grade and other creditworthy tenants. In the current market environment, we believe it is possible to buy high-quality retail real estate properties at a discount to replacement cost and with significant potential for appreciation. We believe a number of factors differentiate us from other non-traded REITs, including our property type focus, our lack of legacy issues, our opportunistic buy and sell strategy, and our institutional management team.
We are one of eleven publicly offered non-traded REITs sponsored by the American Realty Capital group of companies, including American Realty Capital New York Recovery REIT, Inc., a Maryland corporation organized on October 6, 2009, or NYRR; Phillips Edison ARC Shopping Center REIT, Inc., a Maryland corporation organized on October 13, 2009, or PE-ARC; American Realty Capital Retail Centers of America, Inc., a Maryland corporation organized on July 29, 2010, or ARC RCA; American Realty Capital Healthcare Trust, Inc., a Maryland corporation organized on August 23, 2010, or ARC HT; American Realty Capital Daily Net Asset Value Trust, Inc., a Maryland corporation organized on September 10, 2010, or ARC DNAV; American Realty Capital Trust III, Inc., a Maryland corporation organized on October 15, 2010, or ARCT III; American Realty Capital Global Trust, Inc., a Maryland corporation organized on July 13, 2011, or ARC Global; American Realty Capital Trust IV, Inc., a Maryland corporation organized on February 14, 2012, or ARCT IV; American Realty Capital Healthcare Trust II, Inc., a Maryland corporation organized on October 15, 2012, or ARC HT II; and ARC Realty Finance Trust, Inc., a Maryland corporation organized on November 15, 2012, or ARC RFT. Additionally, the American Realty Capital group of companies is the sponsor of one NASDAQ-listed REIT, American Realty Capital Properties, Inc., which was organized on December 2, 2010 and a business development company, Business Development Corporation of America, a Maryland corporation organized on May 5, 2010, or BDCA. For additional information concerning these other American Realty Capital-sponsored programs, please see the section in this prospectus entitled Conflicts of Interest.
Our executive offices are located at 405 Park Avenue, 15th Floor, New York, New York 10022. Our telephone number is 212-415-6500, our fax number is 212-421-5799 and the e-mail address of our investor relations department is investorservices@americanrealtycap.com. Additional information about us and our affiliates may be obtained at www.americanrealtycap.com, but the contents of that site are not incorporated by reference in or otherwise a part of this prospectus.
Our primary investment objectives are:
| Preserve and protect capital; |
| Provide attractive and stable cash distributions; and |
| Increase the value of assets in order to generate capital appreciation. |
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We plan to implement our investment objectives as follows:
| Freestanding, Single Tenant Properties Buy primarily freestanding single tenant bank branch, convenience store, retail, office and industrial properties that are double-net and triple-net leased to investment grade and other creditworthy tenants; |
| Long-Term Leases Acquire long term leases with minimum, non-cancelable remaining lease terms of ten or more years; |
| Low Leverage Finance our portfolio opportunistically (taking advantage of opportunities as they arise) at a target leverage level of not more than 45% loan-to-value (a loan to value ratio of 45%. Loan to value ratio is a lending risk assessment ratio that is examined before approving a mortgage and is calculated by dividing the mortgage amount by the appraised value of the property) (calculated after the close of this offering and once we have invested substantially all the proceeds of this offering); |
| Diversified Portfolio Assemble a well diversified portfolio based on geography, tenant diversity, lease expirations and other factors; |
| Monthly Distributions Pay distributions monthly, covered by funds from operations; |
| Exit Strategy We expect to sell our assets, sell or merge our company, or list our company within three to six years after the end of this offering. Our board of directors, in consultation with management, may determine that it is in our best interests to begin the process of engaging advisors to consider such exit alternatives at such time during our offering stage as it can reasonably determine that all of the securities being offered in this offering will be sold within a reasonable period (i.e. three to six months); and |
| Maximize Total Returns Maximize total returns to our stockholders through a combination of realized appreciation (an increase in the value of an asset that is recognized upon the sale of such asset) and current income. |
Our real estate team is led by seasoned professionals who have institutional experience investing through various real estate cycles. Our chief executive officer has more than 23 years of real estate experience and our president, chief operating officer, treasurer and secretary has more than nine years of real estate experience. In addition, our chief investment officer has more than 26 years of real estate experience and our chief financial officer has 11 years of real estate experience.
In general, a real estate investment trust, or REIT, is a company that:
| combines the capital of many investors to acquire a large-scale diversified real estate portfolio under professional management; |
| allows individual investors to invest in a diversified real estate portfolio managed by a professional management team; |
| makes an election to be treated as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes; |
| pays annual distributions to investors of at least 90% of its REIT taxable income (which does not equal net income, as calculated in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP), determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gain; and |
| generally avoids the double taxation treatment of income that normally results from investments in a corporation because a REIT generally is not subject to U.S. federal corporate income and excise taxes on that portion of its net income distributed to its stockholders, provided certain U.S. federal income tax requirements are satisfied. |
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American Realty Capital Advisors V, LLC, or our advisor, a Delaware limited liability company, is our external advisor and is responsible for managing our affairs on a day-to-day basis. Our advisors responsibilities include, but are not limited to, identifying potential investments, evaluating potential investments, making investments, asset management, asset dispositions, financial reporting, regulatory compliance, investor relations and other administrative functions on our behalf. Our advisor is an affiliate of American Realty Capital and may contract with third parties or affiliates of American Realty Capital to perform or assist with these functions. Our advisor is a recently organized limited liability company that was formed in the State of Delaware on January 18, 2013, and it has no operating history or experience managing a public company.
AR Capital, LLC, or our sponsor, a Delaware limited liability company, which is directly or indirectly controlled by Nicholas S. Schorsch and William M. Kahane, controls our advisor and is our sponsor. Our promoters are Nicholas S. Schorsch, William M. Kahane, Peter M. Budko, Edward M. Weil, Jr. and Brian S. Block. Certain of these individuals are officers and/or members of the board of directors of ARCT III, ARCT IV, ARC DNAV, ARCP as well as other REITs sponsored by our sponsor that have different investment objectives than us. Our sponsor wholly owns our advisor. Our sponsor owns 100% of the interests in American Realty Capital Trust V Special Limited Partner, LLC, or the special limited partner, a Delaware limited liability company, which also is a special limited partner of our operating partnership. For information on the experience of our sponsor, see Prior Performance Summary and Appendix A Prior Performance Tables.
We operate under the direction of our board of directors, the members of which are accountable to us and our stockholders as fiduciaries. Our charter requires that a majority of our directors be independent of us, our sponsor, our advisor or any of our or their affiliates, and provides that our independent directors will be responsible for reviewing the performance of our advisor and must approve certain other matters set forth in our charter. Our directors will be elected annually by the stockholders. Although we have executive officers who manage our operations, we do not have any paid employees.
Our investments will be identified, evaluated, negotiated, consummated and managed by our investment team employed by our advisor, including the four principal officers of our advisor, including Nicholas S. Schorsch, Edward M. Weil, Jr., Peter M. Budko and Brian S. Block. Nicholas S. Schorsch is the chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of our company and Edward M. Weil, Jr. is the president, chief operating officer, treasurer, secretary and a director of our company since our formation in January 2013. Mr. Schorsch also has been the chief executive officer of our advisor since its formation in January 2013. Messrs. Schorsch and Weil have been active in the structuring and financial management of commercial real estate investments for over 23 years and nine years, respectively. Messrs. Budko and Block have 26 and 11 years, respectively, of institutional real estate experience. Please also see the section entitled Management in this prospectus.
We expect to own substantially all our real estate properties through our operating partnership. We may, however, own properties directly, through subsidiaries of our operating partnership or through other entities. We are the sole general partner of our operating partnership and the special limited partner is the initial limited partner of our operating partnership. Our ownership of properties in our operating partnership is referred to as an Umbrella Partnership Real Estate Investment Trust, or UPREIT, and we will hold interests as the general partner approximately equal to the value of capital raised by us through sales of our capital stock.
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Yes. We have sold 8,888 shares to the special limited partner for an aggregate purchase price of $200,000. The sponsor or any affiliate may not sell this initial investment while the sponsor remains a sponsor but may transfer the shares to other affiliates.
We are offering an aggregate of up to 68,000,000 shares of common stock in our primary offering on a reasonable best efforts basis at $25.00 per share. Discounts are available for certain categories of purchasers as described in the Plan of Distribution section of this prospectus. We also are offering up to 14,736,842 shares of common stock under our distribution reinvestment plan at the higher of $23.75 per share or 95% of the estimated value of a share of our common stock, subject to certain limitations, as described in the Distribution Reinvestment Plan section of this prospectus. Until the first quarter following the earlier of our acquisition of $1.4 billion in total portfolio assets and two years from the effective date of this offering, the per share purchase price for our shares in our primary offering will be up to $25.00 (including the maximum allowed to be charged for commissions and fees). Thereafter, the per share purchase price in our primary offering will vary quarterly and will be equal to per share NAV.
We will offer shares of common stock in our primary offering until the earlier of , 2015, which is two years from the effective date of this offering, and the date we sell 68,000,000 shares. If we have not sold all of the shares within two years, we may continue the primary offering for an additional year until , 2016. If we decide to continue our primary offering beyond two years from the date of this prospectus, we will provide that information in a prospectus supplement. This offering must be registered in every state in which we offer or sell shares. Generally, these registrations are for a period of one year. Thus, we may have to stop selling shares in any state in which our registration is not renewed or otherwise extended annually.
All subscription payments (other than those from Pennsylvania residents) will be placed in an account held by the escrow agent, UMB Bank, in trust for subscribers benefit and will be released to us only if we have sold a minimum of $2,000,000 of shares to the public by , 2014, which is one year from the effective date of this offering. Any purchase of shares by our sponsor, directors, officers and other affiliates and Friends will be included for purposes of determining whether the minimum of $2,000,000 of shares of common stock required to release funds from the escrow account has been sold. Friends means those individuals who have prior business and/or personal relationships with our executive officers, directors or sponsor, including, without limitation, any service provider. If such investment occurs, we anticipate that our board of directors will authorize release of the escrowed funds promptly thereafter, which will permit us to commence our operations. If subscriptions for at least the minimum offering have not been received and accepted by , 2014, which is one year from the effective date of this offering, this offering will be terminated and your funds and subscription agreement will be returned to you. See Plan of Distribution Minimum Offering. We will not release from escrow any proceeds received from Pennsylvania residents unless and until we raise a minimum of $85,000,000 in aggregate gross offering proceeds from all investors pursuant to this offering. Pending a satisfaction of this condition, all subscription payments from Pennsylvania residents will be placed in an account held by the escrow agent, UMB Bank, in trust for subscribers benefit, pending release to us. Funds in escrow will be invested in short-term investments that mature on or before , 2014, which is one year from the effective date of this offering, or that can be readily sold or otherwise disposed of for cash by this date without any dissipation of the offering proceeds invested.
When shares are offered to the public on a reasonable best efforts basis, the brokers participating in the offering are only required to use their good faith efforts and reasonable diligence to sell the shares and have no firm commitment or obligation to purchase any of the shares. Therefore, we may not sell all the shares that we are offering.
Until the NAV pricing date, the per share purchase price of our shares in our primary offering will be up to $25.00 (including the maximum allowed to be charged for commissions and fees). Thereafter, the per share
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purchase price will vary quarterly and will be equal to our NAV divided by the number of shares outstanding as of the end of business on the first day of each fiscal quarter after giving effect to any share purchases or repurchases effected in the prior quarter, plus applicable commissions and fees. After the close of business on the first business day of each quarter, we will file a pricing supplement with the SEC, which will set forth the calculation of NAV for such quarter, and we will also post that pricing supplement on our website at www. .com. After the close of business on the first business day of each quarter, we will also post the per share NAV for that quarter on our website at www. .com. You may also obtain the quarterly determination of our per share NAV by calling our toll-free, automated telephone line at 1-866-532-4743. Commencing on the NAV pricing date, any purchase orders that we receive prior to 4:00 p.m. Eastern time on the last business day of such quarter will be executed at a price equal to our per share NAV for that quarter. Subscribtions that we receive after 4:00 p.m. Eastern time or thereafter on the last business day of that quarter will be held for five business days before execution which will be executed at a price equal to our per share NAV as calculated by our advisor after the close of business on the next business day in the following quarter. If, in that circumstance, the investor does not withdraw his or her subscription within five business days of the original subscription date, the subscription will be processed by us. An investors subscription agreement and funds will be submitted to the transfer agent by our dealer manager and/or the broker dealers participating in the offering for settlement of the transaction within three business days of placing an order, but the investors share price will always be the per share NAV for such quarter that we received the order, as described above.
Commencing with the NAV pricing date, our advisor will be responsible for calculating our quarterly NAV at the end of the first business day of each fiscal quarter. The board of directors will review the NAV calculation quarterly. Our per share NAV will not be calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. An independent valuer will appraise our properties regularly, and the advisor will review each appraisal. The advisor will also determine the valuation of our properties and will compare each appraisal to its own determinations. If in the advisors opinion the appraisals are materially higher or lower than the advisors determinations of value, the advisor will discuss the appraisals with the independent valuer. If the advisor determines that the appraisals are still materially higher or lower than its valuations, a valuation committee, comprised of our independent directors, will review the appraisals and valuations, and make a final determination of value. To calculate our quarterly per share NAV, our advisor will first subtract liabilities of the operating partnership, such as estimated accrued fees and expenses, and will multiply the resulting amount by our percentage ownership interest in the operating partnership. Our advisor will then add any assets held by the REIT, including cash and cash equivalents, and subtract any estimated accrued REIT liabilities, including accrued distributions and certain legal and administrative costs. Solely for purposes of calculating our NAV, organization and offering costs and acquisition fees and expenses will be amortized over a five year period and a proportionate amount will be deducted on a quarterly basis. The result of this calculation will be our NAV as of the end of the first business day of each fiscal quarter. The amortization of certain costs over a five year period results in a higher NAV than if such costs were not amortized. Because certain fees paid to our advisor and its affiliates are based on NAV, such fees will also be higher. Additionally, the amortization of certain costs results in a higher per share purchase price for investors than if such costs were not amortized.
In connection with the determination of the net value of the real estate and real estate-related assets, an independent valuer will provide an estimate of the market value of our real estate assets, which will primarily be held in our operating partnership. In order to determine a quarterly estimate of our portfolios market value, the independent valuer will analyze the cash flow from and other characteristics of each property in the portfolio and compile a projection of cash flows for the portfolio, as a whole. The independent valuer will analyze the portfolios projected cash flows utilizing a discounted cash flow approach to valuation and may also consider additional valuation methodologies; provided, that all methodologies, opinions and judgments used by the independent valuer will be consistent with our valuation guidelines, as established by the board of directors, and industry practices. Each of our properties will be appraised at least annually by the independent valuer, with such appraisals spread out over the course of a year so that approximately 25% of all properties are appraised each quarter.
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We aim to provide a reasonable estimate of the market value of our shares. However, the methodologies will be based on a number of judgments, assumptions and opinions about future events that may or may not prove to be correct, and if different judgments, assumptions or opinions were used, different estimates would likely result. Therefore, the quarterly per share NAV calculation is an estimate and may not reflect the precise amount that you could receive for your shares in a market transaction. It is not known whether repurchasing or non-repurchasing stockholders or purchasers of our common stock will benefit from such disparity. In addition, our published per share NAV is an estimate may not fully reflect the economic impact of certain extraordinary events, including, without limitation, the unexpected renewal or termination of a material lease or unanticipated structural or environmental events affecting the value of a property, on our portfolio that may have occurred since the prior valuation because we may not be able to immediately quantify the economic impact of such events. If our advisor determines there has been an extraordinary event that may have materially changed the estimated value of our portfolio, we will make an announcement regarding such extraordinary event. Our advisor will analyze the impact of such extraordinary event and determine, considering the views of the independent valuer, the appropriate adjustment to be made to our NAV. We will not however retroactively adjust NAV. To the extent the extraordinary events may result in a material change in value of a specific property, the independent valuer will be asked to review such events and if it believes that such extraordinary events are reasonably likely to have affected the appraised value, will prepare an additional appraisal of the property.
An investment in our shares may be appropriate for you if you meet the minimum suitability standards mentioned above, seek to diversify your personal portfolio with a finite-life, real estate-based investment, which among its benefits hedges against inflation and the volatility of the stock market, seek to receive current income, seek to preserve capital, wish to obtain the benefits of potential long-term capital appreciation, and are able to hold your investment for a time period consistent with our liquidity plans. Persons who require immediate liquidity or guaranteed income, or who seek a short-term investment, are not appropriate investors for us, as our shares will not meet those needs.
Is there a minimum number of shares that must be purchased and must investors meet specific suitability criteria?
Generally, you must invest at least $2,500. Investors who already own our shares can make additional purchases for less than the minimum investment. You should carefully read the more detailed description of the minimum investment requirements appearing under the section entitled Investor Suitability Standards immediately following the cover page of this prospectus.
Generally, you may buy shares pursuant to this prospectus if you have either (a) a net worth of at least $70,000 and a gross annual income of at least $70,000, or (b) a net worth of at least $250,000. For this purpose, net worth does not include your home, home furnishings and automobiles. Residents of certain states may have a different standard. You should carefully read the more detailed description under the section entitled Investor Suitability Standards immediately following the cover page of this prospectus.
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. If we are unable to effectively manage the impact of these risks, we may not meet our investment objectives, and therefore, you should purchase these securities only if you can afford a complete loss of your investment. Some of the more significant risks relating to this offering and an investment in our shares include:
| We have no operating history or established financing sources. |
| If distributions are declared and paid, the amount of the distributions paid may decrease or distributions may be eliminated at any time. Due to the risks involved in the ownership of real estate, there is no guarantee of any return on your investment, and you may lose all or a portion of your investment. |
| We are a blind pool offering because we currently do not own any properties and we have not identified any properties to acquire. Since we have neither identified nor acquired any investments, you will not have the opportunity to evaluate the merits and/or demerits of such investments. |
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| We are depending on our advisor to select investments and conduct our operations. Adverse changes in the financial condition of our advisor or our relationship with our advisor could adversely affect us. |
| No public market exists for our shares of common stock, nor may a public market ever exist and our shares are, and may continue to be, illiquid. |
| Market conditions and other factors could cause us to delay our liquidity event beyond the sixth anniversary of the termination of the primary offering. We also cannot assure you that we will be able to achieve a liquidity event. |
| We established the offering price on an arbitrary basis; as a result, the actual value of your investment may be substantially less than what you pay. |
| There are substantial conflicts among the interests of our investors, our interests and the interests of our advisor, sponsor, dealer manager and our and their respective affiliates, which could result in decisions that are not in the best interests of our stockholders. |
| Our sponsor is the sponsor of seven other publicly offered investment programs which invest generally in real estate assets, but not primarily in our target assets, and four publicly offered investment programs that invest in the same assets as our target assets, most of which have substantially more resources than we do. |
| Our investment objectives and strategies may be changed without stockholder consent. |
| We are obligated to pay substantial fees to our advisor, which may result in our advisor recommending riskier investments. |
| We are obligated to pay the special limited partner a subordinated distribution upon termination of the advisory agreement, which may be substantial and, as a result, may discourage us from terminating the advisor. |
| We may incur substantial debt, which could hinder our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders or could decrease the value of your investment if income on, or the value of, the property securing the debt falls. |
| Our organizational documents permit us to pay distributions from any source, including from offering proceeds. Any of these distributions may reduce the amount of capital we ultimately invest in properties and other permitted investments and negatively impact the value of your investment, especially if a substantial portion of our distributions are paid from offering proceeds. |
| Our failure to qualify or remain qualified as a REIT would result in higher taxes, may adversely affect our operations, would reduce the amount of income available for distribution and would limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. |
| Commencing with the NAV pricing date, the offering price and repurchase price for our shares, including shares sold pursuant to our DRIP, will be based on NAV, which may not accurately reflect the value of our assets. |
| There are limitations on ownership and transferability of our shares. Please see Description of Securities Restrictions on Ownership and Transfer. |
Depending primarily on the number of shares we sell in this offering, the amounts listed in the table below represent our current estimates concerning the use of the offering proceeds. Since these are estimates, they may not accurately reflect the actual receipt or application of the offering proceeds. The first scenario assumes we sell the minimum number of 80,000 shares of common stock in this offering and the second scenario assumes that we sell the maximum number of 68,000,000 shares in this offering, with both scenarios contemplating a price of $25.00 per share. We estimate that for each share sold in this offering, approximately $21.75 (assuming no shares available under the DRIP are sold) will be available for the purchase of real estate in both the first scenario and second scenario. We will use the remainder of the offering proceeds to pay the
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costs of the offering, including selling commissions and the dealer manager fee, and to pay a fee to our advisor for its services in connection with the selection and acquisition of properties. We may fund distributions from unlimited amounts of proceeds raised in this offering.
The table does not give effect to special sales or volume discounts which could reduce selling commissions and many of the figures represent managements best estimate because they cannot be precisely calculated at this time.
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Minimum Offering (Not Including Distribution Reinvestment Plan) |
Maximum Offering (Not Including Distribution Reinvestment Plan) |
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Amount | Percent | Amount | Percent | |||||||||||||
Gross offering proceeds | $ | 2,000,000 | 100.0 | % | $ | 1,700,000,000 | 100.0 | % | ||||||||
Less offering expenses: |
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Selling commissions and dealer manager fee | $ | 200,000 | 10.0 | $ | 170,000,000 | 10.0 | (1) | |||||||||
Organization and offering expenses(2) | $ | 30,000 | 1.5 | $ | 25,500,000 | 1.5 | ||||||||||
Amount available for investment | $ | 1,770,000 | 88.5 | % | $ | 1,504,500,000 | 88.5 | % | ||||||||
Acquisition: |
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Acquisition fees | $ | 17,700 | 0.9 | $ | 15,045,000 | 0.9 | ||||||||||
Acquisition expenses | $ | 8,850 | 0.4 | $ | 7,522,500 | 0.4 | ||||||||||
Amount invested in properties(3) | $ | 1,743,450 | 87.2 | % | $ | 1,481,932,500 | 87.2 | % |
(1) | Until such time as we calculate NAV, the per share purchase price for our shares in our primary offering will be up to $25.00 (including the maximum allowed to be charged for commissions and fees, subject to certain discounts as described in the prospectus). In determining the amount of selling commissions and dealer manager fees, we have assumed the sale of 30,800,000 shares at a purchase price of $25.00 per share, and 37,200,000 shares at a NAV price per share of $22.73 (plus applicable commissions and fees). |
(2) | Based on the experience of our sponsor and its affiliates, we anticipate that organization and offering expenses, excluding selling commissions and the dealer manager fee, will not exceed 1.5% of the gross proceeds from our primary offering. Pursuant to the terms of our advisory agreement, we have agreed to reimburse our advisor and its affiliates for organization and offering expenses up to 1.75% of the gross proceeds from our primary offering. |
(3) | This table does not give effect to any leverage, the use of which would entitle our advisor or its assignees to a financing coordination fee and, as a result, would decrease the percentage of offering proceeds that would be invested in properties. |
We shall seek to build a diversified portfolio comprised primarily of freestanding single tenant retail properties that are double-net and triple-net leased to investment grade (as determined by major credit rating agencies) and other creditworthy tenants. Triple-net leases, or NNN leases, typically require the tenant to pay substantially all of the costs associated with operating and maintaining the property such as maintenance, insurance, taxes, structural repairs and all other operating and capital expenses. Double-net leases, or NN leases, typically provide that the landlord is responsible for maintaining the roof and structure, or other structural aspects of the property, while the tenant is responsible for all remaining expenses associated with the property. We will seek to build a portfolio where at least 50% of the portfolio will be comprised of properties leased to investment grade tenants. We will seek to invest in a portfolio of real estate that is diversified by industry, geography, tenants, credits, and use. We do not anticipate any single tenant or geographic concentration to comprise more than 10% of our portfolio.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT, we generally are required to make aggregate annual distributions to our stockholders of at least 90% of our annual REIT taxable income (which does not equal net income, as calculated in accordance with GAAP), determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and
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excluding net capital gain. Our board of directors may authorize distributions in excess of those required for us to maintain REIT status and depending on our financial condition and other factors as our board of directors deems relevant.
Once we commence paying distributions we expect to pay distributions monthly and continue paying distributions monthly unless our results of operations, our general financial conditions, general economic conditions, applicable provisions of Maryland law or other factors make it imprudent to do so. The timing and amount of distributions will be determined by our board of directors, in its discretion, and may vary from time to time. The boards discretion will be influenced in substantial part by its obligation to cause us to comply with REIT requirements of the Code.
We may fund distributions from unlimited amounts of any source, which may include borrowing funds, using proceeds from this offering, issuing additional securities or selling assets in order to fund distributions if we are unable to make distributions with our cash flows from our operations. Until we are generating operating cash flow sufficient to make distributions to our stockholders, we intend to pay all or a substantial portion of our distributions from the proceeds of this offering or from borrowings, including possible borrowings from our advisor or its affiliates, in anticipation of future cash flow, which may reduce the amount of capital we ultimately invest in properties or other permitted investments, and negatively impact the value of your investment.
Under our charter, the maximum amount of our total indebtedness shall not exceed 300% of our total net assets (as defined by the Statement of Policy Regarding Real Estate Investment Trusts revised and adopted by the North American Securities Administrators Association on May 7, 2007, or the NASAA REIT Guidelines) as of the date of any borrowing, which is generally expected to be approximately 75% of the cost of our investments; however, we may exceed that limit if approved by a majority of our independent directors and disclosed to stockholders in our next quarterly report following that borrowing along with justification for exceeding such limit. This charter limitation, however, does not apply to individual real estate assets or investments.
In addition, it is currently our intention to limit our aggregate borrowings to 45% of the aggregate fair market value of our assets (calculated after the close of this offering and once we have invested substantially all the proceeds of this offering), unless borrowing a greater amount is approved by a majority of our independent directors and disclosed to stockholders in our next quarterly report following such borrowing along with justification for borrowing such a greater amount. This limitation, however, will not apply to individual real estate assets or investments. At the date of acquisition of each asset, we anticipate that that the cost of investment for such asset will be substantially similar to its fair market value, which will enable us to satisfy our requirements under the NASAA REIT Guidelines. However, subsequent events, including changes in the fair market value of our assets, could result in our exceeding these limits. See the section entitled Investment Strategy, Objectives and Policies Financing Strategies and Policies in this prospectus for a more detailed discussion of our borrowing policies.
We do not intend to hold our acquired assets for an extended period of time past three to six years after the termination of this offering. Our board of directors, in consultation with management, may determine that it is in our best interests to begin the process of engaging advisors to consider alternatives with respect to a liquidity event at such time during our offering stage that it can reasonably determine that all of the securities being offered in this offering will be sold within a reasonable period (i.e., three to six months). A liquidity event could include a sale of our assets, a sale or merger of our company, a listing of our common stock on a national securities exchange, or other similar transaction. Any liquidity event is subject to the determination of our board of directors that such liquidity event is appropriate to commence.
If we do not begin the process of achieving a liquidity event by the sixth anniversary of the termination of the offering period, our charter requires our board of directors to adopt a resolution declaring that a plan of liquidation of our company is advisable and direct that the plan of liquidation be submitted for consideration at either an annual or special meeting of stockholders, unless the adoption of a plan of liquidation by the
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board and submission thereof to stockholders is postponed by a majority of the board of directors and a majority of the independent directors. If we have sought and failed to receive stockholder approval of a plan of liquidation, our company will continue operating, and upon the written request of stockholders owning in the aggregate not less than 10% of the then outstanding common shares, the plan of liquidation will be submitted for consideration by proxy statement to the stockholders up to once every two years.
Market conditions and other factors could cause us to delay our liquidity event beyond the sixth anniversary of the termination of this primary offering. Even after we decide to pursue a liquidity event, we are under no obligation to conclude our liquidity event within a set time frame because the timing of our liquidity event will depend on real estate market conditions, financial market conditions, U.S. federal income tax consequences to stockholders, and other conditions that may prevail in the future. We also cannot assure you that we will be able to achieve a liquidity event.
Our advisor and its affiliates will experience conflicts of interest in connection with the management of our business affairs, including the following:
| Our sponsor and its affiliates, including our advisor, each of whom may in the future make investment decisions for other American Realty Capital-sponsored programs and direct investments, must determine which investment opportunities to recommend to us or another American Realty Capital-sponsored program or joint venture, and must determine how to allocate resources among us and any other future American Realty Capital-sponsored programs; |
| Our advisor may structure the terms of joint ventures between us and other American Realty Capital-sponsored programs; |
| We have retained American Realty Capital Properties V, LLC, or our property manager, an affiliate of our advisor, to manage and lease some or all of our properties. The advisor and its affiliates may have conflicts of interests in determining which investment opportunities to recommend to us and to other programs for which they may provide these services; |
| Our sponsor and its affiliates will have to allocate their time between us and other real estate programs and activities in which they may be involved in the future; and |
| Our advisor and its affiliates will receive fees in connection with transactions involving the purchase, financing, management and sale of our investments, and, because our advisor does not maintain a significant equity interest in us and is entitled to receive substantial minimum compensation regardless of performance, our advisors interests are not wholly aligned with those of our stockholders. |
Our officers and two of our directors also will face these conflicts because of their affiliation with our advisor. These conflicts of interest could result in decisions that are not in our best interests. See the section entitled Conflicts of Interest in this prospectus for a detailed discussion of the various conflicts of interest relating to your investment, as well as the procedures that we have established to mitigate a number of these potential conflicts.
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The following chart shows the ownership structure of the various American Realty Capital entities that are affiliated with us and our advisor.
(1) | The investors in this offering will own registered shares of common stock in us. |
(2) | Our sponsor is directly or indirectly controlled by Nicholas S. Schorsch and William M. Kahane. |
(3) | Each property to be held in a special purpose entity. |
(4) | Through its controlling interest in the advisor, the special limited partner is entitled to receive the subordinated participation in net sales proceeds, the subordinated incentive listing distribution and the subordinated distribution upon termination of the advisory agreement pursuant to its special limited partnership interest in the operating partnership. |
(5) | The special limited partner is 100% owned by our sponsor. |
(6) | Our dealer manager is 100% owned by our sponsor, which is directly or indirectly controlled by Nicholas S. Schorsch and William M. Kahane. |
We will present our financial statements in accordance with GAAP, on a consolidated basis with our operating partnership.
Our advisor and its affiliates will receive compensation and reimbursement for services relating to this offering and the investment and management of our assets. The most significant items of compensation and reimbursement are included in the table below. In the sole discretion of our advisor, the advisor may elect to have certain fees and commissions (not including any asset management fees) paid, in whole or in part, in cash or shares of our common stock. We will not pay a separate fee for leasing or property management, although we may rely on our advisor or its affiliates to provide such services to us. Once the proceeds for this offering have been fully invested, the aggregate amount of acquisition fees and financing coordination fees shall not exceed 1.5% of the contract purchase price for all of the assets acquired. The total amount of acquisition fees, acquisition expense reimbursements, financing coordination fees, disposition fees and subordinated distributions by the operating partnership payable to the advisor (or its assignees), together with the fair market value of any shares of restricted stock granted under our restricted share plan, shall not exceed (a) 6% of all properties aggregate gross contract purchase price, (b) as determined annually, the greater, in the aggregate, of 2% of average invested assets and 25% of net income other than any additions to reserves for depreciation, bad debt or other similar non-cash reserves and excluding any gain from the sale of assets for that period, (c) disposition fees, if any, of up to 3% of the contract sales price of all properties that we sell and (d) 15% of remaining net sales proceeds after return of capital contributions plus payment to investors of a 6% cumulative, pre-tax, non-compounded return on the capital contributed by investors. For a more detailed discussion of compensation, see the table included in the Management Compensation section of this prospectus, including the footnotes thereto.
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The selling commissions and dealer manager fee may vary for different categories of purchasers. The table below assumes the shares are sold through distribution channels associated with the highest possible selling commissions and dealer manager fees. No effect is given to any shares sold through our distribution reinvestment plan.
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Type of Compensation |
Determination of Amount | Estimated Amount for Minimum Offering (80,000 shares)/ Maximum Offering (68,000,000 shares) |
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Organizational and Offering Stage |
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Selling Commission | Our dealer manager will be paid 7.0% of the per share purchase price of shares in our primary offering, which will initially be up to $25.00. No selling commissions will be paid on sales of shares under the DRIP. Our dealer manager will reallow all selling commissions to participating broker dealers. Alternatively, a participating broker dealer may elect to receive a fee equal to 7.5% of the gross proceeds from the sale of shares by such participating broker dealer, with 2.5% thereof paid at the time of such sale and 1.0% thereof paid on each anniversary of the closing of such sale up to and including the fifth anniversary of the closing of such sale, in which event, a portion of the dealer manager fee will be reallowed such that the combined selling commission and dealer manager fee do not exceed 10.0% of the gross proceeds from the sale of our common stock. The total amount of all items of compensation from any source, payable to our dealer manager or the soliciting dealers will not exceed an amount that equals 10.0% of the gross proceeds of the offering (excluding securities purchased through the DRIP). | $140,000/ $119,000,000(1) |
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Dealer Manager Fee | Our dealer manager will be paid 3.0% of the per share purchase price of shares in our primary offering, which will initially be up to $25.00. No dealer manager fee will be paid with respect to sales under the DRIP. Our dealer manager may reallow all or a portion of its dealer manager fees to participating broker dealers. The dealer manager fee will be reduced to 2.5% of the gross proceeds on sales by a participating broker dealer in our primary offering in the event a participating broker dealer elects to receive the 7.5% fee described in Selling Commission above. | $60,000/ $51,000,000(1) (assumes a 3% dealer manager fee) |
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Organization and Offering Expenses | We will reimburse our advisor for organization and offering expenses, which may include reimbursements to our advisor for other organization and offering expenses that it incurs for due diligence fees included in detailed and itemized invoices. Based on the experience of our sponsor and its affiliates, we anticipate that organization and offering expenses, excluding selling commissions and the dealer manager fee, will not exceed 1.5% of the gross proceeds from our primary offering. Pursuant to the terms of our advisory agreement, we have agreed to reimburse our advisor up to 1.75% of the gross proceeds from our primary offering. | $30,000/ $25,500,000 |
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Type of Compensation |
Determination of Amount | Estimated Amount for Minimum Offering (80,000 shares)/ Maximum Offering (68,000,000 shares) |
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Operational Stage |
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Acquisition Fees | We will pay to our advisor or its assignees 1.0% of the contract purchase price of each property acquired (including our pro rata share of acquisition expenses and any indebtedness assumed or incurred in respect of that investment and exclusive of acquisition fees and financing coordination fees) and 1.0% of the amount advanced for a loan or other investment (including our pro rata share of acquisition expenses and any indebtedness assumed or incurred in respect of that investment and exclusive of acquisition fees and financing coordination fees). For purposes of this prospectus, contract purchase price or the amount advanced for a loan or other investment means the amount actually paid or allocated in respect of the purchase, development, construction or improvement of a property or the amount actually paid or allocated in respect of the purchase of loans or other real-estate related assets, in each case inclusive of acquisition expenses and any indebtedness assumed or incurred in respect of such investment, but exclusive of acquisition fees and financing coordination fees. | $17,700/$15,045,000 (or $32,182/$27, 354,545 assuming we incur our expected leverage of 45% set forth in our investment guidelines or $70,800/$60,180,000 assuming the maximum leverage of approximately 75% permitted by our charter) | ||
Once the proceeds from the primary offering have been fully invested, the aggregate amount of acquisition fees and financing coordination fees (as described below) shall not exceed 1.5% of the contract purchase price and the amount advanced for a loan or other investment, as applicable, for all the assets acquired. |
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Type of Compensation |
Determination of Amount | Estimated Amount for Minimum Offering (80,000 shares)/ Maximum Offering (68,000,000 shares) |
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Acquisition Expenses | We will reimburse our advisor for expenses actually incurred (including personnel costs) related to selecting, evaluating and acquiring assets on our behalf, regardless of whether we actually acquire the related assets. Personnel costs associated with providing such services will be determined based on the amount of time incurred by the respective employee of our advisor and the corresponding payroll and payroll-related costs incurred by our affiliate. In addition, we also will pay third parties, or reimburse the advisor or its affiliates, for any investment-related expenses due to third parties, including, but not limited to, legal fees and expenses, travel and communications expenses, costs of appraisals, accounting fees and expenses, third-party brokerage or finders fees, title insurance expenses, survey expenses, property inspection expenses and other closing costs regardless of whether we acquire or originate, as applicable, the investment. We expect these expenses to be approximately 0.5% of the purchase price of each property (including our pro rata share of debt attributable to that property) and 0.5% of the amount advanced for a loan or other investment (including our pro rata share of debt attributable to that investment). In no event will the total of all acquisition fees and acquisition expenses (including any financing coordination fee) payable with respect to a particular investment or any reinvestment exceed 4.5% of the contract purchase price of each property (including our pro rata share of debt attributable to that property) or 4.5% of the amount advanced for a loan or other investment (including our pro rata share of debt attributable to that investment), unless a majority of the board of directors (including a majority of the independent directors) not otherwise interested in the transaction approves the acquisition fees and acquisition expenses and determines the transaction to be commercially competitive, fair and reasonable to us. | $8,850/$7,522,500 (or $16,091/ $13,677,273 assuming we incur our expected leverage of 45% set forth in our investment guidelines or $35,400/ $30,090,000 assuming the maximum leverage of 75% permitted by our charter) |
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Type of Compensation |
Determination of Amount | Estimated Amount for Minimum Offering (80,000 shares)/ Maximum Offering (68,000,000 shares) |
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Asset Management Subordinated Participation | Within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter (subject to the approval of the board of directors), we, as the general partner of the operating partnership, will pay an asset management subordinated participation by issuing a number of restricted operating partnership units designated as Class B Units of our operating partnership, or Class B Units, to our advisor equal to: (i) the excess of (A) the product of (y) the cost of assets multiplied by (z) 0.1875% (or the lower of the cost of assets and the applicable quarterly NAV multiplied by 0.1875%, once we begin calculating NAV) over (B) any amounts payable as an oversight fee (as described below) for such calendar quarter; divided by (ii) the value of one share of common stock as of the last day of such calendar quarter, which is equal initially to $22.50 (the primary offering price minus selling commissions and dealer manager fees) and, at such time as we calculate NAV, to per share NAV; provided, however, that if the amounts payable as an oversight fee for such calendar quarter exceed the amount determined under clause (A) for such calendar quarter, or an excess oversight fee, no Class B Units shall be issued for such calendar quarter and the excess oversight fee shall be carried forward to the next succeeding calendar quarter and included with and treated as amounts payable as an oversight fee for the next succeeding quarter for purposes of determining the amount of restricted Class B Units issuable for the next succeeding calendar quarter; provided further, however, that the sum of (I) the amounts determined under clause (i) above for a calendar year plus (II) the amounts payable as an oversight fee for such calendar year, shall not be less than 0.75% of the cost of assets (or the lower of the cost of assets and NAV for such calendar year, once we begin to calculate NAV).(2) | Not determinable at this time. Because the subordinated participation is based on a fixed percentage of aggregate asset value, there is no maximum dollar amount of this participation. | ||
Our advisor will be entitled to receive distributions on the vested and unvested Class B units it receives in connection with its asset management subordinated participation at the same rate as distributions received on our common stock; such distributions will be in addition to the incentive fees the advisor and its affiliates may receive from us, including, without limitation, the annual subordinated performance fee and the subordinated participation in net sales proceeds, the subordinated incentive listing distribution or the subordinated distribution upon termination of the advisory agreement, as applicable. |
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Type of Compensation |
Determination of Amount | Estimated Amount for Minimum Offering (80,000 shares)/ Maximum Offering (68,000,000 shares) |
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Class B Units are subject to forfeiture until such time as: (a) the value of the operating partnership's assets plus all distributions made equals or exceeds the total amount of capital contributed by investors plus a 6.0% cumulative, pretax, non-compounded annual return thereon, or the economic hurdle; (b) any one of the following events occurs concurrently with or subsequently to the achievement of the economic hurdle described above: (i) a listing of our common stock on a national securities exchange; (ii) a transaction to which we or our operating partnership shall be a party, as a result of which OP Units or our common stock shall be exchanged for or converted into the right, or the holders of such securities shall otherwise be entitled, to receive cash, securities or other property or any combination thereof; or (iii) the termination of the advisory agreement without cause; and (c) the advisor pursuant to the advisory agreement is providing services to us immediately prior to the occurrence of an event of the type described in clause (b) above, unless the failure to provide such services is attributable to the termination without cause of the advisory agreement by an affirmative vote of a majority of our independent directors after the economic hurdle described above has been met. | ||||
Operating Expenses | We will reimburse our advisors costs of providing administrative services, subject to the limitation that we will not reimburse our advisor for any amount by which our operating expenses at the end of the four preceding fiscal quarters exceeds the greater of (a) 2% of average invested assets and (b) 25% of net income other than any additions to reserves for depreciation, bad debt or other similar non-cash reserves and excluding any gain from the sale of assets for that period. For these purposes, average invested assets means, for any period, the average of the aggregate book value of our assets (including lease intangibles, invested, directly or indirectly, in financial instruments, debt and equity securities and equity interests in and loans secured by real estate assets (including amounts invested in REITs and other real estate operating companies)) before reserves for depreciation or bad debts or other similar non-cash reserves, computed by taking the average of these values at the end of each month during the period. Additionally, we will not reimburse our advisor for personnel costs in connection with services for which the advisor receives acquisition fees or real estate commissions. We may, in our discretion, reimburse the advisor for salaries and benefits paid to our executive officers, but we do not expect to do so. | Not determinable at this time. |
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Type of Compensation |
Determination of Amount | Estimated Amount for Minimum Offering (80,000 shares)/ Maximum Offering (68,000,000 shares) |
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Financing Coordination Fee | If our advisor provides services in connection with the origination or refinancing of any debt that we obtain and use to finance properties or other permitted investments, or that is assumed, directly or indirectly, in connection with the acquisition of properties or other permitted investments, we will pay the advisor or its assignees a financing coordination fee equal to 0.75% of the amount available and/or outstanding under such financing or such assumed debt, subject to certain limitations. The advisor may reallow some of or all of this financing coordination fee to reimburse third parties with whom it may subcontract to procure such financing. | $24,136/$20,515,600 assuming we incur our expected leverage of 45% set forth in our investment guidelines or $39,825/$29,868,750 assuming the maximum leverage of 75% permitted by our charter. | ||
Restricted Stock Awards | We have established an employee and director incentive restricted share plan pursuant to which our directors, officers and employees (if we ever have employees), our advisor and its affiliates and their respective employees, employees of entities that provide services to us, directors of our advisor or of entities that provide services to us and their respective employees, certain of our consultants and certain consultants to our advisor and its affiliates or entities that provide services to us and their respective employees may be granted incentive awards in the form of restricted stock. | Restricted stock awards under our employee and director incentive restricted share plan may not exceed 5.0% of our outstanding shares on a fully diluted basis at any time, and in any event will not exceed 3,400,000 shares (as such number may be adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, combinations and similar events). | ||
Compensation and Restricted Stock Awards to Independent Directors | We pay to our lead independent director a retainer of $55,000 per year in addition to the retainer of $30,000 per year that we pay to all of our independent directors, plus $2,000 for each board or board committee meeting the director attends in person ($2,500 for attendance by the chairperson of the audit committee at each meeting of the audit committee), $750 for each meeting the director attends virtually (not to exceed $2,250 per meeting) and $1,500 for each meeting the director attends by telephone. If there is a meeting of the board of directors and one or more committees in a single day, the fees will be limited to $2,500 per day ($3,000 for the chairperson of the audit committee if there is a meeting of such committee). We also will pay each independent director for each external seminar, conference, panel, forum or other industry-related event attended in person and in which the independent director actively participates, solely in his or her capacity as an independent director of the company, in the following amounts: | The independent directors, as a group, will receive for a full fiscal year: (i) estimated aggregate compensation of approximately $132,000 and (ii) 2,666 restricted shares of common stock (excluding shares issued upon joining the board of directors). |
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Type of Compensation |
Determination of Amount | Estimated Amount for Minimum Offering (80,000 shares)/ Maximum Offering (68,000,000 shares) |
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$2,500 for each day of an external seminar, conference, panel, forum or other industry-related event that does not exceed four hours, or | ||||
$5,000 for each day of an external seminar, conference, panel, forum or other industry-related event that exceeds four hours. | ||||
In either of the above cases, the company will reimburse, to the extent not otherwise reimbursed, an independent directors reasonable expenses associated with attendance at such external seminar, conference, panel, forum or other industry-related event. An independent director cannot be paid or reimbursed for attendance at a single external seminar, conference, panel, forum or other industry-related event by us and another company for which he or she is a director. | ||||
Each independent director also is entitled to receive an award of 1,333 restricted shares of common stock under our employee and director incentive restricted share plan when he or she joins the board of directors and on the date of each annual stockholders meeting thereafter. Restricted stock issued to independent directors will vest over a five-year period following the first anniversary of the date of grant in increments of 20% per annum. | ||||
Liquidation/Listing Stage | ||||
Real Estate Commissions | For substantial assistance in connection with the sale of a property in which our advisor or its affiliate or agent provides a substantial amount of services, we will pay such entity a real estate commission equal to 2.0% of the contract sales price of that property, but in no event will that commission be greater than one-half of the total brokerage commission if a brokerage commission is paid to a third-party broker in addition to the real estate commission paid to our advisor or its affiliate or agent; provided, however, that in no event may the sum of the real estate commissions paid to our advisor and its affiliates and agents and unaffiliated third parties exceed the lesser of 6.0% of the contract sales price and a reasonable, customary and competitive real estate commission in light of the size, type and location of the property. | Not determinable at this time. Because the commission is based on a fixed percentage of the contract price for a sold property, there is no maximum dollar amount of these commissions. | ||
Substantial assistance in connection with the sale of a property includes the preparation of an investment package for the property (including an investment analysis, a property description and other due diligence information) or certain other substantial services performed by the advisor or its affiliate or agent in connection with a sale. |
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Type of Compensation |
Determination of Amount | Estimated Amount for Minimum Offering (80,000 shares)/ Maximum Offering (68,000,000 shares) |
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Annual Subordinated Performance Fee | We will pay our advisor an annual subordinated performance fee calculated on the basis of our total return to stockholders, payable annually in arrears, such that for any year in which our total return on stockholders capital exceeds 6.0% per annum, our advisor will be entitled to 15.0% of the amount in excess of such 6.0% per annum, provided that the amount paid to the advisor does not exceed 10.0% of the aggregate total return for such year. This fee will be payable only from realized appreciation in the companys assets upon sale, other disposition or refinancing of such assets, which results in our return on stockholders capital exceeding 6.0% per annum. | The actual amount will depend on our performance, as well as on the number of shares sold, the per share NAV and the period of time that the investor continues to hold the shares. | ||
Subordinated Participation in Net Sales Proceeds (payable only if we are not listed on an exchange) | The special limited partner will receive from time to time, when available, 15.0% of remaining net sales proceeds (as defined in our charter) after return of capital contributions plus payment to investors of an annual 6.0% cumulative, pre-tax, non-compounded return on the capital contributed by investors. We cannot assure you that we will provide this 6.0% return, which we have disclosed solely as a measure for our advisors and its affiliates incentive compensation. | Not determinable at this time. There is no maximum amount of these payments. | ||
Subordinated Incentive Listing Distribution (payable only if we are listed on an exchange) | Upon the listing of our shares on a national securities exchange, the special limited partner will receive distributions from our operating partnership equal to 15.0% of the amount by which the sum of our market value plus distributions exceeds the sum of the aggregate capital contributed by investors plus an amount equal to an annual 6.0% cumulative, pre-tax, non-compounded return to investors. We cannot assure you that we will provide this 6.0% return, which we have disclosed solely as a measure for our advisors and its affiliates incentive compensation. | Not determinable at this time. There is no maximum amount of this distribution. | ||
Subordinated Distribution upon Termination of the Advisory Agreement | Upon termination or non-renewal of the advisory agreement with or without cause, the special limited partner or its assignees will be entitled to receive distributions from our operating partnership equal to 15.0% of the amount by which the sum of our market value plus distributions exceeds the sum of the aggregate capital contributed by investors plus an amount equal to an annual 6.0% cumulative, pre-tax, non-compounded return to investors. We cannot assure you that we will provide this 6.0% return, which we have disclosed solely as a measure for our advisors and its affiliates incentive compensation. In addition, our advisor may elect to defer its right to receive a subordinated distribution upon termination until either a listing on a national securities exchange or other liquidity event occurs. | Not determinable at this time. There is no maximum amount of this distribution. |
(1) | Until such time as we calculate NAV, the per share purchase price for our shares in our primary offering will be up to $25.00 (which includes the maximum allowed to be charged for commissions and fees, subject to certain discounts as described in the prospectus). In determining the amount of selling |
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commissions and dealer manager fees, we have assumed the sale of 30,800,000 shares at a purchase price of $25.00 per share, and 37,200,000 shares at a per share NAV of $22.73 (plus applicable commissions and fees). |
(2) | For example, if the cost of assets (cost will include the purchase price, acquisition expenses, capital expenditures and other customarily capitalized costs, but will exclude acquisition fees) we hold with respect to a quarter equals $50,000,000, we paid no oversight fee to our property manager during that quarter, and the value of one share of our common stock as of the last day of such quarter equals $22.50, 4,166.67 Class B Units would be issuable to our advisor (((50,000,000 × 0.1875%) 0) ÷ $22.50 = 4,166.67). Assuming the same facts as the prior sentence but instead we paid our property manager an oversight fee of $100,000 during such quarter, no Class B Units would be issuable and $6,250 of the oversight fee would be carried forward to the next quarter ((50,000,000 × 0.1875%) 100,000 = -6,250) and added to any additional oversight fee paid during the next quarter in determining the number of Class B Units issuable in that quarter. |
Historically, due to the apparent preference of the public markets for self-managed companies, non-traded REITs have engaged in internalization transactions (an acquisition of management functions by the REIT from its advisor) pursuant to which they became self-managed prior to listing their securities on national securities exchanges. These internalization transactions can result in significant payments to affiliates of the advisor irrespective of the returns stockholders have received. Our charter and advisory agreement provide that no compensation or remuneration will be payable by us or our operating partnership to our advisor or any of its affiliates in connection with any internalization transaction (an acquisition of management functions by us from our advisor) in the future.
We currently do not own any properties or other real estate investments. Because we have not yet identified any specific assets to acquire, we are considered a blind pool. Because we do not and have not owned any properties or real estate investments, you do not need to be concerned about possible legacy issues related to assets acquired before the commencement of this offering. As specific investments become probable, we will supplement this prospectus to provide information regarding the probable investment to the extent it is material to an investment decision with respect to our common stock. We also will describe material changes to our portfolio, including the closing of property acquisitions, by means of a supplement to this prospectus.
Pursuant to our distribution reinvestment plan, you may elect to have the distributions you receive from us reinvested, in whole or in part, in additional shares of our common stock. Until the NAV pricing date, the purchase price per share under our distribution reinvestment plan will be the greater of 95% of the fair market value per share as determined by our board of directors and $23.75 per share. Thereafter, the purchase price per share will be equal to our per share NAV on the date that the distribution is payable. No selling commissions or dealer manager fees will be paid on shares sold under our distribution reinvestment plan.
If you choose to purchase shares in this offering and you are not already a stockholder, you will need to complete and sign a subscription agreement, like the one contained in this prospectus as Appendix C, for a specific number of shares and pay for the shares at the time you subscribe.
Our common stock is currently not listed on a national securities exchange and we will not seek to list our stock until the time our independent directors believe that the listing of our stock would be in the best interest of our stockholders. In order to provide stockholders with the benefit of some interim liquidity, our board of directors has adopted a share repurchase program that enables our stockholders to sell their shares back to us subject to the significant conditions and limitations in our share repurchase program. Our sponsor, advisor, directors and affiliates are prohibited from receiving a fee on any share repurchases. The terms of our share repurchase program are more flexible in cases involving the death or disability of a stockholder.
Repurchases of shares of our common stock, when requested, are at our sole discretion and generally will be made quarterly until our advisor begins calculating NAV. Prior to the time our advisor begins calculating
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NAV, we will limit the number of shares repurchased during any quarter to 1.25% of the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the previous calendar quarter, or approximately 5% of the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding on December 31st of the previous calendar year during any 12-month period. In addition, funds available for our share repurchase program may not be sufficient to accommodate all requests. Due to these limitations, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to accommodate all repurchase requests.
Unless the shares of our common stock are being repurchased in connection with a stockholders death or disability, the purchase price for shares repurchased under our share repurchase program will be as set forth below until our advisor begins calculating NAV. We do not currently anticipate obtaining appraisals for our investments (other than investments in transactions with our sponsor, advisor, directors or their respective affiliates) and, accordingly, the estimated value of our investments should not be viewed as an accurate reflection of the fair market value of our investments nor will they represent the amount of net proceeds that would result from an immediate sale of our assets. Commencing with the NAV pricing date, our advisor will be responsible for calculating our quarterly NAV at the end of the first business day of each fiscal quarter. The board of directors will review the NAV calculation quarterly.
Only those stockholders who purchased their shares from us or received their shares from us (directly or indirectly) through one or more non-cash transactions may be able to participate in the share repurchase program. In other words, once our shares are transferred for value by a stockholder, the transferee and all subsequent holders of the shares are not eligible to participate in the share repurchase program. Prior to the time our advisor begins calculating NAV, we will repurchase shares on the last business day of each quarter (and in all events on a date other than a dividend payment date). Prior to the time our advisor begins calculating NAV, the price per share that we will pay to repurchase shares of our common stock will be as follows:
| for stockholders who have continuously held their shares of our common stock for at least one year, the price will be the lower of $23.13 or 92.5% of the amount paid for each such share; |
| for stockholders who have continuously held their shares of our common stock for at least two years, the price will be the lower of $23.75 or 95.0% of the amount paid for each such share; |
| for stockholders who have continuously held their shares of our common stock for at least three years, the price will be the lower of $24.78 or 97.5% of the amount paid for each such share; and |
| for stockholders who have held their shares of our common stock for at least four years, the price will be the lower of $25.00 or 100.0% of the amount you paid for each share (in each case, as adjusted for any stock dividends, combinations, splits, recapitalizations and the like with respect to our common stock). |
Upon the death or disability of a stockholder, upon request, we will waive the one-year holding requirement that otherwise will apply to redemption requests made prior to the NAV pricing date. Shares repurchased in connection with the death or disability of a stockholder will be repurchased at a purchase price equal to the price actually paid for the shares during the offering, or if not engaged in the offering, the per share purchase price will be based on the greater of $25.00 or the then-current net asset value of the shares as determined by our board of directors (as adjusted for any stock dividends, combinations, splits, recapitalizations and the like with respect to our common stock). In addition, we may waive the holding period in the event of a stockholders bankruptcy or other exigent circumstances.
After the NAV pricing date, stockholders may make daily requests that we repurchase all or a portion (but generally at least 25% of a stockholders shares) of their shares pursuant to our share repurchase plan. At such time, we will limit shares repurchased during any calendar quarter to 1.25% of our NAV as of the last day of the previous calendar quarter, or approximately 5% of our NAV in any 12 month period. In addition, you will only be able to have your shares repurchased to the extent that we have sufficient liquid assets. Most of our assets will consist of properties which cannot generally be readily liquidated without impacting our ability to realize full value upon their disposition. Therefore, we may not always have sufficient liquid resources to satisfy all repurchase requests. Following the NAV pricing date, in order to provide liquidity for repurchases, we intend to maintain 5% of our NAV in excess of $1 billion in cash, cash equivalents and other
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short-term investments and certain types of real estate related assets that can be liquidated more readily than properties, or collectively, liquid assets. However, our stockholders should not expect that we will maintain liquid assets at or above these levels. To the extent that we maintain borrowing capacity under a line of credit, such available amount will be included in calculating our liquid assets.
Whether the advisor has begun NAV calculations or not, the share repurchase program immediately will terminate if our shares are listed on any national securities exchange. In addition, our board of directors may amend, suspend (in whole or in part) or terminate the share repurchase program at any time. Further, our board of directors reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject any requests for repurchases. For additional information on our share repurchase program refer to the section entitled Share Repurchase Program elsewhere in this prospectus.
We hold annual meetings of our stockholders for the purpose of electing our directors and conducting other business matters that may be presented at such meetings. We also may call special meetings of stockholders from time to time. You are entitled to one vote for each share of common stock you own at any of these meetings.
Our charter contains restrictions on ownership and transfer of the shares that, among other restrictions, prevent any one person from owning more than 9.8% in value of the aggregate of our outstanding shares of stock or more than 9.8% (in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive) of any class or series of shares of our stock, unless exempted by our board of directors. For a more complete description of the shares, including this and other restrictions on the ownership and transfer of our shares, please see the section entitled Description of Securities in this prospectus. Our charter also limits your ability to transfer your shares to prospective stockholders unless (a) they meet the minimum suitability standards regarding income or net worth, which are described in the Investor Suitability Standards section immediately following the cover page of this prospectus, and (b) the transfer complies with minimum purchase requirements, which are described in the sections entitled Investor Suitability Standards and How to Subscribe.
Are there any special considerations that apply to employee benefit plans subject to ERISA or other retirement plans that are investing in shares?
Prospective investors with investment discretion over the assets of an individual retirement account, employee benefit plan or other retirement plan or arrangement that is covered by ERISA or Code Section 4975 should carefully review the information in the section of this prospectus entitled Investment by Tax-Exempt Entities and ERISA Considerations and are required to consult their own legal and tax advisors on these matters.
Yes. You may make an investment through your individual retirement account, or an IRA, a simplified employee pension, or a SEP, plan or other tax-deferred account. In making these investment decisions, you should consider, at a minimum, (a) whether the investment is in accordance with the documents and instruments governing your IRA, plan or other account, (b) whether the investment satisfies the fiduciary requirements associated with your IRA, plan or other account, (c) whether the investment will generate unrelated business taxable income, or a UBTI, to your IRA, plan or other account, (d) whether there is sufficient liquidity for that investment under your IRA, plan or other account, (e) the need to value the assets of your IRA, plan or other account annually or more frequently, and (f) whether the investment would constitute a non-exempt prohibited transaction under applicable law.
We intend to conduct our operations so that the company and each of its subsidiaries are exempt from registration as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the Investment Company Act). Under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, a company is an investment company if it is, or holds itself out as being, engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of
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investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. Under Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act, a company is deemed to be an investment company if it is engaged, or proposes to engage, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets on an unconsolidated basis (the 40% test). Investment securities excludes U.S. Government securities and securities of majority-owned subsidiaries that are not themselves investment companies and are not relying on the exception from the definition of investment company set forth in Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act.
We intend to acquire real estate and real-estate related assets directly, for example, by acquiring fee interests in real property, or by purchasing interests, including controlling interests, in REITs or other real estate operating companies, such as real estate management companies and real estate development companies, that own real property. We also may acquire real estate assets through investments in joint venture entities, including joint venture entities in which we may not own a controlling interest. We anticipate that our assets generally will be held in wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries of the company, each formed to hold a particular asset. Subject to certain conditions we may also invest in mortgage related securities or mortgage related loans. See the section entitled Investment Strategy, Objectives and Policies Investment Company Act Considerations in this prospectus.
We intend to conduct our operations so that the company and most, if not all, of its wholly owned and majority-owned subsidiaries owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value of not more than 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Investment securities excludes (A) government securities, (B) securities issued by employees securities companies, and (C) securities issued by majority-owned subsidiaries which (i) are not investment companies, and (ii) are not relying on the exception from the definition of investment company under Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act. We will continuously monitor our holdings on an ongoing basis to determine the compliance of the company and each wholly owned and majority-owned subsidiary with this test. We expect that most, if not all, of the companys wholly owned and majority-owned subsidiaries will not be relying on exemptions under either Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act. Consequently, interests in these subsidiaries (which are expected to constitute most, if not all, of our assets) generally will not constitute investment securities. Accordingly, we believe that the company and most, if not all, of its wholly owned and majority-owned subsidiaries will not be considered investment companies under Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act.
In addition, we believe that neither the company nor any of its wholly or majority-owned subsidiaries will be considered investment companies under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act because they will not engage primarily or hold themselves out as being engaged primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. Rather, the company and its subsidiaries will be primarily engaged in non-investment company businesses related to real estate. Consequently, the company and its subsidiaries expect to be able to conduct their respective operations such that none of them will be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If the company or any of its wholly or majority-owned subsidiaries inadvertently falls within one of the definitions of investment company, we intend to rely on the exclusion provided by Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act. For a more detailed discussion on the requirements of this exemption and how we will classify our assets in order to comply with this exemption, see the section of this prospectus captioned Investment Strategy, Objectives and Policies Investment Company Act Considerations. The method we use to classify our assets for purposes of the Investment Company Act will be based in large measure upon no-action positions taken by the SEC staff in the past. No assurance can be given that the SEC staff will concur with our classification of our assets or that the SEC staff will not, in the future, issue further guidance that may require us to reclassify our assets for purposes of qualifying for an exclusion from regulation under the Investment Company Act.
The determination of whether an entity is a majority-owned subsidiary of our company is made by us. The Investment Company Act defines a majority-owned subsidiary of a person as a company 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of which are owned by that person, or by another company which is a majority-owned subsidiary of that person. The Investment Company Act further defines voting securities as any security presently entitling the owner or holder thereof to vote for the election of directors of a company.
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We treat companies in which we own at least a majority of the outstanding voting securities as majority- owned subsidiaries for purposes of the 40% test. We have not requested that the SEC staff approve our treatment of any entity as a majority-owned subsidiary and the SEC staff has not done so. If the SEC staff were to disagree with our treatment of one or more companies as majority-owned subsidiaries, we would need to adjust our strategy and our assets in order to continue to comply with the 40% test. Any adjustment in our strategy could have a material adverse effect on us.
We intend to conduct our operations so that neither we nor any of our wholly or majority-owned subsidiaries is an investment company under the Investment Company Act.
Qualification for exemption from the definition of investment company under the Investment Company Act will limit our ability to make certain investments. Although we intend to monitor our portfolio, there can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain this exemption from registration for our company or each of our subsidiaries.
To the extent that the SEC staff provides more specific guidance regarding any of the matters bearing upon the definition of investment company and the exceptions to that definition, we may be required to adjust our investment strategy accordingly. Additional guidance from the SEC staff could provide additional flexibility to us, or it could further inhibit our ability to pursue the investment strategy we have chosen.
In April 2012, President Obama signed into law the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, or the JOBS Act. We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act, and are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from, or reduced disclosure obligations relating to, various reporting requirements that are normally applicable to public companies. Such exemptions include, among other things, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations relating to executive compensation in proxy statements and periodic reports, and exemptions from the requirement to hold a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and obtain shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We have not yet made a decision whether to take advantage of any or all of such exemptions. If we decide to take advantage of any of these exemptions, some investors may find our common stock a less attractive investment as a result.
Additionally, under Section 107 of the JOBS Act, an emerging growth company may take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This means an emerging growth company can delay adopting certain accounting standards until such standards are otherwise applicable to private companies. However, we are electing toopt out of such extended transition period, and will therefore comply with new or revised accounting standards on the applicable dates on which the adoption of such standards is required for non- emerging growth companies. Section 107 of the JOBS Act provides that our decision to opt out of such extended transition period for compliance with new or revised accounting standards is irrevocable.
We could remain an emerging growth company for up to five years, or until the earliest of (i) the last day of the first fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of $1 billion or more, (ii) the date that we become a large accelerated filer as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act (which would occur if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million, measured as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter), or (iii) the date on which we have, during the preceding three year period, issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt.
The name and address of our transfer agent is as follows:
American National Stock Transfer, LLC
405 Park Avenue, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10022
Phone: (212) 415-6500
Facsimile: (212) 421-5799
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To ensure that any account changes are made promptly and accurately, all changes (including your address, ownership type and distribution mailing address) should be directed to the transfer agent.
We will provide you with periodic updates on the performance of your investment with us, including:
| following our commencement of distributions to stockholders, four quarterly or 12 monthly distribution reports; |
| three quarterly financial reports; |
| an annual report; |
| an annual U.S. Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, Form 1099, if applicable; and |
| supplements to the prospectus during the offering period, via mailings or website access. |
If you have more questions about the offering or if you would like additional copies of this prospectus, you should contact your registered representative or contact:
Realty Capital Securities, LLC
Three Copley Place
Suite 3300
Boston, MA 02116
1-877-373-2522
www.rcsecurities.com
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An investment in our common stock involves various risks and uncertainties. You should carefully consider the following risk factors in conjunction with the other information contained in this prospectus before purchasing our common stock. The risks discussed in this prospectus can adversely affect our business, operating results, prospects and financial condition. These risks could cause the value of our common stock to decline and could cause you to lose all or part of your investment. The risks and uncertainties described below represent those risks and uncertainties that we believe are material to our business, operating results, prospects and financial condition as of the date of this prospectus.
We have no operating history and you should not rely upon the past performance of other real estate investment programs sponsored by affiliates of our advisor to predict our future results. We were incorporated on January 22, 2013. As of the date of this prospectus, we have not acquired any properties or other investments nor do we have any operations or independent financing.
Moreover, neither our advisor nor we have any established financing sources. Presently, both we and our advisor are funded by capital contributions from our sponsor, a company which is directly or indirectly controlled by Mr. Schorsch and Mr. Kahane. If our capital resources, or those of our advisor, are insufficient to support our operations, we will not be successful.
You should consider our prospects in light of the risks, uncertainties and difficulties frequently encountered by companies that are, like us, in their early stage of development. To be successful in this market, we must, among other things:
| identify and acquire investments that further our investment strategies; |
| increase awareness of our name within the investment products market; |
| expand and maintain our network of licensed securities brokers and other agents; |
| attract, integrate, motivate and retain qualified personnel to manage our day-to-day operations; |
| respond to competition for our targeted real estate properties and other investments as well as for potential investors; and |
| continue to build and expand our operations structure to support our business. |
We cannot guarantee that we will succeed in achieving these goals, and our failure to do so could cause you to lose all or a portion of your investment. In addition, the prior public and non-public programs sponsored by the American Capital Group of companies did not produce net income during the years 2008 through 2011. There can be no assurance that we will outperform such programs. See Table III, included in Appendix A attached hereto, for more information on prior performance of these programs.
Our directors, officers, other affiliates and Friends may purchase shares of our common stock, and any such purchases will be included for purposes of determining whether the minimum of $2,000,000 of shares of common stock required to release funds from the escrow account has been sold. Friends means those individuals who have prior business and/or personal relationships with our executive officers, directors or sponsor, including, without limitation, any service provider. There are no written or other binding commitments with respect to the acquisition of shares by these parties, and there can be no assurance as to the amount, if any, of shares of common stock these parties may acquire in the offering. Any shares purchased by directors, officers, other affiliates or Friends of ours will be purchased for investment purposes only. However, the investment decisions made by any such directors, officers or affiliates should not influence your decision to
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invest in shares of our common stock, and you should make your own independent investment decision concerning the risks and benefits of an investment in our common stock.
We have not acquired any properties or other investments and have not yet identified any investments that we may make. Additionally, we will not provide you with information to evaluate our investments prior to our acquisition of the investments and you must instead rely on our board of directors and our advisor to implement our investment strategy.
Our sponsor has only invested $200,000 in us through the purchase of 8,888 shares of our common stock at $22.50 per share. The sponsor or any affiliate may not sell this initial investment while the sponsor remains a sponsor but may transfer the shares to other affiliates. Therefore, if we are successful in raising enough proceeds to be able to reimburse our sponsor for our significant organization and offering expenses, our sponsor will have little exposure to loss in the value of our shares. Without this exposure, our investors may be at a greater risk of loss because our sponsor may have less to lose from a decrease in the value of our shares as does a sponsor that makes more significant equity investments in its company.
There currently is no public market for our shares and there may never be one. If you are able to find a buyer for your shares, you may not sell your shares unless the buyer meets applicable suitability and minimum purchase standards and the sale does not violate state securities laws. Our charter also prohibits the ownership of more than 9.8% in value of the aggregate of our outstanding shares of stock or more than 9.8% (in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive) of any class or series of shares of our stock by a single investor, unless exempted by our board of directors, which may inhibit large investors from desiring to purchase your shares. Moreover, our share repurchase program includes numerous restrictions that would limit your ability to sell your shares to us. Our board of directors may reject any request for repurchase of shares, or amend, suspend or terminate our share repurchase program upon 30 days notice. Therefore, it will be difficult for you to sell your shares promptly or at all. If you are able to sell your shares, you likely will have to sell them at a substantial discount to the price you paid for the shares. It also is likely that your shares would not be accepted as the primary collateral for a loan. You should purchase the shares only as a long-term investment because of the illiquid nature of the shares. See the sections entitled Investor Suitability Standards, Description of Securities Restrictions on Ownership and Transfer and Share Repurchase Program elsewhere in this prospectus for a more complete discussion on the restrictions on your ability to transfer your shares.
Our board of directors has arbitrarily determined the offering price of the shares, and such price bears no relationship to our book or asset values, or to any other established criteria for valuing issued or outstanding shares. Because the offering price is not based upon any independent valuation, the offering price is not indicative of the proceeds that you would receive upon liquidation.
Our ability to achieve our investment objectives and to pay distributions is dependent upon the performance of our advisor in acquiring of our investments, selecting tenants for our properties and securing independent financing arrangements. We currently own no properties and have not identified any properties to acquire. Except for those investors who purchase shares in this offering after such time as this prospectus is
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supplemented to describe one or more additional investments which have been identified, you will have no opportunity to evaluate the terms of transactions or other economic or financial data concerning our investments. You must rely entirely on the management ability of our advisor and the oversight of our board of directors. We cannot be sure that our advisor will be successful in obtaining suitable investments on financially attractive terms or that, if it makes investments on our behalf, our objectives will be achieved. If we, through our advisor, are unable to find suitable investments, we will hold the proceeds of this offering in an interest-bearing account, invest the proceeds in short-term, investment-grade investments or, if we cannot find at least one suitable investment within one year after we reach our minimum offering, or if our board of directors determines it is in the best interests of our stockholders, liquidate. In such an event, our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders would be adversely affected.
We could suffer from delays in locating suitable investments, particularly as a result of our reliance on our advisor at times when management of our advisor is simultaneously seeking to locate suitable investments for other affiliated programs. Delays we encounter in the selection, acquisition and, if we develop properties, development of income-producing properties, likely would adversely affect our ability to make distributions and the value of your overall returns. Generally, we may fund distributions from unlimited amounts of any source, including borrowing funds, using proceeds from this offering, issuing additional securities or selling assets in order to fund distributions if we are unable to make distributions with our cash flows from our operations. If we encounter any such delays, we may pay all or a substantial portion of our distributions from the proceeds of this offering or from borrowings in anticipation of future cash flow, which may constitute a return of your capital. In particular, where we acquire properties prior to the start of construction or during the early stages of construction, it typically will take several months to complete construction and rent available space. Therefore, you could suffer delays in the receipt of cash distributions attributable to those particular properties. If our advisor is unable to obtain suitable investments, we will hold the proceeds of this offering in an interest-bearing account or invest the proceeds in short-term, investment-grade investments. This will reduce our return and could reduce distributions to you. If we cannot invest proceeds from this offering within a reasonable amount of time, or if our board of directors determines it is in the best interests of our stockholders, we will return the uninvested proceeds to investors.
We expect to use substantially all the net proceeds of this offering to acquire freestanding single tenant retail properties net leased to investment grade and other creditworthy tenants. We may make adjustments to our target portfolio based on real estate market conditions and investment opportunities, and we may change our targeted investments and investment guidelines at any time without the consent of our stockholders, which could result in our making investments that are different from, and possibly riskier than, the investments described in this prospectus. A change in our targeted investments or investment guidelines may increase our exposure to interest rate risk, default risk and real estate market fluctuations, all of which could adversely affect the value of our common stock and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Until we are generating operating cash flow from properties or other real estate-related investments sufficient to make distributions to our stockholders, we intend to pay all or a substantial portion of our distributions from the proceeds of this offering or from borrowings, including possible borrowings from our advisor or its affiliates, the sale of additional securities, advances from our advisor, and our advisors deferral, suspension or waiver of its fees and expense reimbursements. Our inability to acquire properties or other real estate-related investments may result in a lower return on your investment than you expect. Moreover, our board of directors may change our distribution policy, in its sole discretion, at any time. Distributions made from offering proceeds are a return of capital to stockholders, from which we will have already paid offering
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expenses in connection with this offering. We have not established any limit on the amount of proceeds from this offering that may be used to fund distributions, except that, in accordance with our organizational documents and Maryland law, we may not make distributions that would: (1) cause us to be unable to pay our debts as they become due in the usual course of business; or (2) cause our total assets to be less than the sum of our total liabilities plus senior liquidation preferences, if any.
If we fund distributions from the proceeds of this offering, we will have less funds available for acquiring properties or other real estate-related investments. As a result, the return you realize on your investment may be reduced. Funding distributions from borrowings could restrict the amount we can borrow for investments, which may affect our profitability. Funding distributions with the sale of assets or the proceeds of this offering may affect our ability to generate cash flows. Funding distributions from the sale of additional securities could dilute your interest in us if we sell shares of our common stock or securities convertible or exercisable into shares of our common stock to third-party investors. Payment of distributions from the mentioned sources could restrict our ability to generate sufficient cash flows from operations, affect our profitability or affect the distributions payable to you upon a liquidity event, any or all of which may have an adverse effect on your investment.
As of the date of this prospectus, the capital and credit markets have been experiencing volatility and disruption for over four years. The residual effects of the recent economic downturn could have a negative impact on our portfolio. If real property or other real estate related asset values decline after we acquire them, we may have a difficult time making new acquisitions or generating returns on your investment. If the current debt market environment persists, we may modify our investment strategy in order to optimize our portfolio performance. Our options would include limiting or eliminating the use of debt and focusing on those investments that do not require the use of leverage to meet our portfolio goals.
This offering is being made on a reasonable best efforts basis, whereby the brokers participating in the offering are only required to use their reasonable best efforts to sell our shares and have no firm commitment or obligation to purchase any of the shares. As a result, the amount of proceeds we raise in this offering may be substantially less than the amount we would need to achieve a broadly diversified property portfolio. We may be unable to raise even the minimum offering amount. If we are unable to raise substantially more than the minimum offering amount, we will make fewer investments resulting in less diversification in terms of the number of investments owned, the geographic regions in which our investments are located and the types of investments that we make. In such event, the likelihood of our profitability being affected by the performance of any one of our investments will increase. For example, if we only sell 80,000 shares, we may be able to make only one investment. If we only are able to make one investment, we would not achieve any asset diversification. Additionally, we are not limited in the number or size of our investments or the percentage of net proceeds we may dedicate to a single investment. Your investment in our shares will be subject to greater risk to the extent that we lack a diversified portfolio of investments. In addition, our inability to raise substantial funds would increase our fixed operating expenses as a percentage of gross income, and our financial condition and ability to pay distributions could be adversely affected.
We may engage in an internalization transaction and become self-managed in the future. If we internalize our management functions, certain key employees may not become our employees but may instead remain employees of our advisor or its affiliates. An inability to manage an internalization transaction effectively could thus result in our incurring excess costs and suffering deficiencies in our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal control over financial reporting. Such deficiencies could cause us to incur additional
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costs, and our managements attention could be diverted from most effectively managing our investments, which could result in us being sued and incurring litigation-associated costs in connection with the internalization transaction.
Our success depends to a significant degree upon the contributions of certain of our executive officers and other key personnel of our advisor, including Nicholas S. Schorsch and Edward M. Weil, Jr., each of whom would be difficult to replace. Our advisor does not have an employment agreement with any of these key personnel and we cannot guarantee that all, or any particular one, will remain affiliated with us and/or advisor. If any of our key personnel were to cease their affiliation with our advisor, our operating results could suffer. Further, we do not intend to separately maintain key person life insurance on Mr. Schorsch, Mr. Weil or any other person. We believe that our future success depends, in large part, upon our advisors ability to hire and retain highly skilled managerial, operational and marketing personnel. Competition for such personnel is intense, and we cannot assure you that our advisor will be successful in attracting and retaining such skilled personnel. If our advisor loses or is unable to obtain the services of key personnel, our ability to implement our investment strategies could be delayed or hindered, and the value of your investment may decline.
If we are able to quickly raise a substantial amount of capital during this offering, we may have difficulty identifying and purchasing suitable properties on attractive terms, and there could be a delay between the time we receive net proceeds from the sale of shares of our common stock in this offering and the time we invest the net proceeds. This could cause a substantial delay in the time it takes for your investment to realize its full potential return and could adversely affect our ability to pay distributions to you. If we fail to timely invest the net proceeds of this offering or to invest in quality assets, our ability to achieve our investment objectives, including, without limitation, diversification of our portfolio by geographic area and type of tenant, could be materially adversely affected.
There are many factors that can affect the availability and timing of cash distributions to stockholders. Distributions will be based principally on cash available from our operations. The amount of cash available for distributions is affected by many factors, such as our ability to buy properties as offering proceeds become available, rental income from such properties and our operating expense levels, as well as many other variables. Actual cash available for distributions may vary substantially from estimates. With no prior operating history, we cannot assure you that we will be able to pay or maintain our current level of distributions or that distributions will increase over time. We cannot give any assurance that rents from the properties will increase, that the securities we buy will increase in value or provide constant or increased distributions over time, or that future acquisitions of real properties, mortgage, bridge or mezzanine loans or any investments in securities will increase our cash available for distributions to stockholders. Our actual results may differ significantly from the assumptions used by our board of directors in establishing the distribution rate to stockholders. We may not have sufficient cash from operations to make a distribution required to qualify for or maintain our REIT status, which may materially adversely affect your investment.
We may pay distributions from unlimited amounts of any source, including borrowing funds, using proceeds from this offering, issuing additional securities or selling assets. We have not established any limit on the amount of proceeds from this offering that may be used to fund distributions, except in accordance with our organizational documents and Maryland law. Distributions from the proceeds of this offering or from borrowings also could reduce the amount of capital we ultimately invest in properties and other permitted investments. This, in turn, would reduce the value of your investment. For a description of the factors that can
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affect the availability and timing of cash distributions to stockholders, see the section of this prospectus captioned Description of Securities Distribution Policy and Distributions.
Maryland law provides that a director has no liability in that capacity if he or she performs his or her duties in good faith, in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in the corporations best interests and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. In addition, subject to certain limitations set forth therein or under Maryland law, our charter provides that no director or officer will be liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages and requires us to indemnify our directors, officers and advisor and our advisors affiliates and permits us to indemnify our employees and agents. However, as required by the NASAA REIT Guidelines, our charter provides that we may not indemnify a director, our advisor or an affiliate of our advisor for any loss or liability suffered by any of them or hold harmless such indemnitee for any loss or liability suffered by us unless: (1) the indemnitee determined, in good faith, that the course of conduct that caused the loss or liability was in our best interests, (2) the indemnitee was acting on behalf of or performing services for us, (3) the liability or loss was not the result of (A) negligence or misconduct, in the case of a director (other than an independent director), the advisor or an affiliate of the advisor, or (B) gross negligence or willful misconduct, in the case of an independent director, and (4) the indemnification or agreement to hold harmless is recoverable only out of our net assets and not from our stockholders. Although our charter does not allow us to indemnify or hold harmless an indemnitee to a greater extent than permitted under Maryland law and the NASAA REIT Guidelines, we and our stockholders may have more limited rights against our directors, officers, employees and agents, and our advisor and its affiliates, than might otherwise exist under common law, which could reduce your and our recovery against them. In addition, we may be obligated to fund the defense costs incurred by our directors, officers, employees and agents or our advisor and its affiliates in some cases which would decrease the cash otherwise available for distribution to you. See the section captioned Management Limited Liability and Indemnification of Directors, Officers, Employees and Other Agents elsewhere herein.
Commencing with the NAV pricing date, NAV will be calculated by estimating the market value of our assets and liabilities, many of which may be illiquid. In calculating NAV, our advisor will consider an estimate provided by an independent valuer of the market value of our real estate assets. Our advisor will review such valuation for consistency with its determinations of value and our valuation guidelines and the reasonableness of the independent valuers conclusions. If in the advisors opinion the appraisals are materially higher or lower than the advisors determinations of value, the advisor will discuss the appraisals with the independent valuer, and may submit the appraisals and valuations to a valuation committee comprised of our independent directors, which will review the appraisals and valuations, and make a final determination of value. Although the valuations of our real estate portfolio by the independent valuer will be approved by the board of directors, the valuations may not be precise because the valuation methodologies used to value a real estate portfolio involve subjective judgments, assumptions and opinions about future events. Any resulting disparity may benefit the selling or non-selling stockholders or purchasers. Investors may not know the per share NAV at which they will purchase shares at the time that they submit a purchase order. Furthermore, there are no rules or regulations specifically governing what components may be included in the NAV calculation to ensure there is consistency. Therefore, investors should pay close attention to the components used to calculate NAV and should be aware that the NAV calculations may not accurately reflect the value of our assets. See Valuation Policies for more details about how our NAV will be calculated.
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Our independent valuer will calculate estimates of the market value of our principal real estate and real estate-related assets, and our advisor will determine the net value of our real estate and real estate-related assets and liabilities taking into consideration such estimate provided by the independent valuer. The final determination of value may be made by a valuation committee comprised of our independent directors if our advisor determines that the appraisals of the independent valuer are materially higher or lower than its valuations. Our advisor is ultimately responsible for determining the quarterly per share NAV. Each property will be appraised at least annually and appraisals will be spread out over the course of a year so that approximately 25% of all properties are appraised each quarter. Since each property will only be appraised annually, there may be changes in the course of the year that are not fully reflected in the quarterly NAV. As a result, the published per share NAV may not fully reflect changes in value that may have occurred since the prior quarterly valuation. Furthermore, our independent valuer and advisor will monitor our portfolio, but it may be difficult to reflect changing market conditions or material events that may impact the value of our portfolio between quarters, or to obtain timely complete information regarding any such events. Therefore, the per share NAV published after the announcement of an extraordinary event may differ significantly from our actual NAV until such time as sufficient information is available and analyzed, the financial impact is fully evaluated, and the appropriate adjustment to be made to NAV, on a going forward basis, is determined by our advisor and our independent valuer. Any resulting disparity may benefit the repurchasing or non-repurchasing stockholders or purchasers.
We will be subject to conflicts of interest arising out of our relationships with our advisor and its affiliates, including the material conflicts discussed below. The Conflicts of Interest section of this prospectus provides a more detailed discussion of the conflicts of interest between us and our advisor and its affiliates, and our policies to reduce or eliminate certain potential conflicts.
Affiliates of our advisor currently sponsor and may sponsor one or more other real estate investment programs in the future, including NYRR, PE-ARC, ARC RCA, ARC HT, ARCT III, ARC DNAV, ARCP, ARC Global, ARCT IV, ARC HT II and ARC RFT. We may buy properties at the same time as one or more of the other American Realty Capital-sponsored programs managed by officers and key personnel of our advisor. The American Realty Capital group of companies also has sponsored BDCA, which has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. There is a risk that our advisor will choose a property that provides lower returns to us than a property purchased by another American Realty Capital-sponsored program. We cannot be sure that officers and key personnel acting on behalf of our advisor or on behalf of managers of other American Realty Capital-sponsored programs will act in our best interests when deciding whether to allocate any particular property to us. In addition, we may acquire properties in geographic areas where other American Realty Capital-sponsored programs own properties. Also, we may acquire properties from, or sell properties to, other American Realty Capital-sponsored programs. If one of the other American Realty Capital-sponsored programs acquires a property we are competing for, attracts a tenant that we are competing for, attempts to sell similar properties as us around same time, or in other circumstances where a conflict of interest is not resolved in our favor, we could suffer a loss of revenue due to delays in locating another suitable tenant. You will not have the opportunity to evaluate the manner in which these conflicts of interest are resolved before or after making your investment. Similar conflicts of interest may apply if our advisor determines to make or purchase mortgage, bridge or mezzanine loans or participations therein on our behalf, since other American Realty Capital-sponsored programs may be competing with us for these investments.
We may enter into joint ventures with other American Realty Capital-sponsored programs for the acquisition, development or improvement of properties. Our adivosr may have conflicts of interest in
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determining which American Realty Capital-sponsored program should enter into any particular joint venture agreement. The co-venturer may have economic or business interests or goals that are or may become inconsistent with our business interests or goals. In addition, our advisor may face a conflict in structuring the terms of the relationship between our interests and the interest of the affiliated co-venturer and in managing the joint venture. Since our advisor and its affiliates will control both the affiliated co-venturer and, to a certain extent, us, agreements and transactions between the co-venturers with respect to any such joint venture will not have the benefit of arms-length negotiation of the type normally conducted between unrelated co-venturers, which may result in the co-venturer receiving benefits greater than the benefits that we receive. In addition, we may assume liabilities related to the joint venture that exceeds the percentage of our investment in the joint venture.
Our advisor, our sponsor and dealer manager and their officers and employees and certain of our executive officers and other key personnel and their respective affiliates are key personnel, general partners and sponsors of other real estate programs, including ARC-sponsored REITs, having investment objectives and legal and financial obligations similar to ours and may have other business interests as well. Additionally, based on our sponsors experience, a significantly greater time commitment is required of senior management during the development stage when the REIT is being organized, funds are initially being raised and funds are initially being invested, and less time is required as additional funds are raised and the offering matures. Because these persons have competing demands on their time and resources, they may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time between our business and these other activities. If this occurs, the returns on our investments may suffer.
Our executive officers and officers of our advisor are part of the senior management or are key personnel of the other American Realty Capital-sponsored REITs and their advisors. Three of the American Realty Capital-sponsored REITs, including ARC DNAV, ARC Global and ARCT IV, have registration statements that became effective in the past 18 months and currently are offering securities and none of the American Realty Capital-sponsored REITs are more than five years old. As a result, such REITs will have concurrent and/or overlapping fundraising, acquisition, operational and disposition and liquidation phases as us, which may cause conflicts of interest to arise throughout the life of our company with respect to, among other things, finding investors, locating and acquiring properties, entering into leases and disposing of properties. The conflicts of interest each of our executive officers and each officer of our advisor will face may delay our fund raising and investment of our proceeds due to the competing time demands and generally cause our operating results to suffer. Officers of any service provider may face similar conflicts of interest should they be involved with the management of multiple REITs, and especially REITs in the developmental stage.
Certain of our executive officers, including Nicholas S. Schorsch and Edward M. Weil, Jr., also are officers of our advisor, our property manager, our dealer manager and other affiliated entities, including the other real estate programs sponsored directly or indirectly by our sponsor. As a result, these individuals owe fiduciary duties to these other entities and their stockholders and limited partners, which fiduciary duties may conflict with the duties that they owe to us and our stockholders. Their loyalties to these other entities could result in actions or inactions that are detrimental to our business, which could harm the implementation of our business strategy and our investment and leasing opportunities. Conflicts with our business and interests are most likely to arise from involvement in activities related to (a) allocation of new investments and
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management time and services between us and the other entities, (b) our purchase of properties from, or sale of properties to, affiliated entities, (c) the timing and terms of the investment in or sale of an asset, (d) development of our properties by affiliates, (e) investments with affiliates of our advisor, (f) compensation to our advisor, and (g) our relationship with our dealer manager and property manager. If we do not successfully implement our business strategy, we may be unable to generate cash needed to make distributions to you and to maintain or increase the value of our assets. If these individuals act in a manner that is detrimental to our business or favor one entity over another, they may be subject to liability for breach of fiduciary duty.
Under our advisory agreement, our advisor or its affiliates will be entitled to fees that are structured in a manner intended to provide incentives to our advisor to perform in our best interests and in the best interests of our stockholders. However, because our advisor does not maintain a significant equity interest in us and is entitled to receive substantial minimum compensation regardless of performance, our advisors interests are not wholly aligned with those of our stockholders. In that regard, our advisor could be motivated to recommend riskier or more speculative investments in order for us to generate the specified levels of performance or sales proceeds that would entitle our advisor to fees. In addition, our advisors or its affiliates entitlement to fees upon the sale of our assets and to participate in sale proceeds could result in our advisor recommending sales of our investments at the earliest possible time at which sales of investments would produce the level of return that would entitle the advisor to compensation relating to such sales, even if continued ownership of those investments might be in our best long-term interest. Our advisory agreement will require us to pay a termination fee to our advisor or its affiliates if we terminate the advisory agreement prior to the listing of our shares for trading on an exchange or, absent such listing, in respect of its participation in net sales proceeds. To avoid paying this fee, our independent directors may decide against terminating the advisory agreement prior to our listing of our shares or disposition of our investments even if, but for the termination fee, termination of the advisory agreement would be in our best interest. In addition, the requirement to pay the fee to the advisor or its affiliates at termination could cause us to make different investment or disposition decisions than we would otherwise make, in order to satisfy our obligation to pay the fee to the terminated advisor. Moreover, our advisor will have the right to terminate the advisory agreement upon a change of control of our company and thereby trigger the payment of the termination fee, which could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing the change of control. For a more detailed discussion of the fees payable to our advisor and its affiliates in respect of this offering, see the section entitled Management Compensation in this prospectus.
Proskauer Rose LLP acts as legal counsel to us and also represents our advisor and some of its affiliates. There is a possibility in the future that the interests of the various parties may become adverse and, under the Code of Professional Responsibility of the legal profession, Proskauer Rose LLP may be precluded from representing any one or all such parties. If any situation arises in which our interests appear to be in conflict with those of our advisor or its affiliates, additional counsel may be retained by one or more of the parties to assure that their interests are adequately protected. Moreover, should a conflict of interest not be readily apparent, Proskauer Rose LLP may inadvertently act in derogation of the interest of the parties which could affect our ability to meet our investment objectives.
We will use, and we intend to disclose to investors, MFFO, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. See Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations Funds from Operations and Modified Funds from Operations. MFFO is not equivalent to our net income or loss as
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determined in accordance with GAAP, and investors should consider GAAP measures to be more relevant to evaluating our operating performance. MFFO and GAAP net income differ because MFFO excludes gains or losses from sales of property and asset impairment write-downs, and adds back depreciation and amortization, adjusts for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures, and further excludes acquisition-related expenses, amortization of above- and below-market leases, fair value adjustments of derivative financial instruments, deferred rent receivables and the adjustments of such items related to noncontrolling interests.
Because of the differences between MFFO and GAAP net income or loss, MFFO may not be an accurate indicator of our operating performance, especially during periods in which we are acquiring properties. In addition, MFFO is not necessarily indicative of cash flow available to fund cash needs and investors should not consider MFFO as an alternative to cash flows from operations as an indication of our liquidity, or indicative of funds available to fund our cash needs, including our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. Neither the SEC nor any other regulatory body has passed judgment on the acceptability of the adjustments that we use to calculate MFFO. Also, because not all companies calculate MFFO the same way, comparisons with other companies may not be meaningful.
Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. Unless exempted by our board of directors, no person may own more than 9.8% in value of the aggregate of our outstanding shares of stock or more than 9.8% (in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive) of any class or series of shares of our stock. This restriction may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all our assets) that might provide a premium price for holders of our common stock. See the section entitled Description of Securities Restriction on Ownership and Transfer in this prospectus.
Our charter permits our board of directors to issue up to 350,000,000 shares of stock. In addition, our board of directors, without any action by our stockholders, may amend our charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares or the number of shares of any class or series of stock that we have authority to issue. Our board of directors may classify or reclassify any unissued common stock or preferred stock and establish the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications and terms or conditions of redemption of any such stock. Thus, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of preferred stock with terms and conditions that could have a priority as to distributions and amounts payable upon liquidation over the rights of the holders of our common stock. Preferred stock could also have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all our assets) that might provide a premium price for holders of our common stock. See the section entitled Description of Securities Preferred Stock in this prospectus.
Under Maryland law, business combinations between a Maryland corporation and an interested stockholder or an affiliate of an interested stockholder are prohibited for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. These business combinations include a merger, consolidation, share exchange or, in circumstances specified in the statute, an asset transfer or issuance or reclassification of equity securities. An interested stockholder is defined as:
| any person who beneficially owns 10% or more of the voting power of the corporations outstanding voting stock; or |
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| an affiliate or associate of the corporation who, at any time within the two-year period prior to the date in question, was the beneficial owner of 10% or more of the voting power of the then outstanding stock of the corporation. |
A person is not an interested stockholder under the statute if the board of directors approved in advance the transaction by which he or she otherwise would have become an interested stockholder. However, in approving a transaction, the board of directors may provide that its approval is subject to compliance, at or after the time of approval, with any terms and conditions determined by the board.
After the five-year prohibition, any business combination between the Maryland corporation and an interested stockholder generally must be recommended by the board of directors of the corporation and approved by the affirmative vote of at least:
| 80% of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of outstanding shares of voting stock of the corporation; and |
| two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of voting stock of the corporation other than shares held by the interested stockholder with whom or with whose affiliate the business combination is to be effected or held by an affiliate or associate of the interested stockholder. |
These super-majority vote requirements do not apply if the corporations common stockholders receive a minimum price, as defined under Maryland law, for their shares in the form of cash or other consideration in the same form as previously paid by the interested stockholder for its shares. The business combination statute permits various exemptions from its provisions, including business combinations that are exempted by the board of directors prior to the time that the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. Pursuant to the statute, our board of directors has exempted any business combination involving our advisor or any affiliate of our advisor. Consequently, the five-year prohibition and the super-majority vote requirements will not apply to business combinations between us and our advisor or any affiliate of our advisor. As a result, our advisor and any affiliate of our advisor may be able to enter into business combinations with us that may not be in the best interest of our stockholders, without compliance with the super-majority vote requirements and the other provisions of the statute. The business combination statute may discourage others from trying to acquire control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating any offer. For a more detailed discussion of the Maryland laws governing us and the ownership of our shares of common stock, see the section of this prospectus captioned Description of Securities Business Combinations.
The Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act provides that control shares of a Maryland corporation acquired in a control share acquisition have no voting rights except to the extent approved by stockholders by a vote of two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. Shares of stock owned by the acquirer, by officers or by employees who are directors of the corporation, are excluded from shares entitled to vote on the matter. Control shares are voting shares of stock which, if aggregated with all other shares of stock owned by the acquirer or in respect of which the acquirer can exercise or direct the exercise of voting power (except solely by virtue of a revocable proxy), would entitle the acquirer to exercise voting power in electing directors within specified ranges of voting power. Control shares do not include shares the acquiring person is then entitled to vote as a result of having previously obtained stockholder approval. A control share acquisition means the acquisition of issued and outstanding control shares. The control share acquisition statute does not apply (a) to shares acquired in a merger, consolidation or share exchange if the corporation is a party to the transaction, or (b) to acquisitions approved or exempted by the charter or bylaws of the corporation. Our bylaws contain a provision exempting from the Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act any and all acquisitions of our stock by any person. There can be no assurance that this provision will not be amended or eliminated at any time in the future. For a more detailed discussion on the Maryland laws governing control share acquisitions, see the section of this prospectus captioned Description of Securities Control Share Acquisitions.
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The company is not registered, and does not intend to register itself or any of its subsidiaries, as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we become obligated to register the company or any of its subsidiaries as an investment company, the registered entity would have to comply with a variety of substantive requirements under the Investment Company Act imposing, among other things:
| limitations on capital structure; |
| restrictions on specified investments; |
| prohibitions on transactions with affiliates; and |
| compliance with reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy disclosure and other rules and regulations that would significantly change our operations. |
The company intends to conduct its operations, directly and through wholly or majority-owned subsidiaries, so that the company and each of its subsidiaries is not an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, a company is deemed to be an investment company if it is, or holds itself out as being, engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. Under Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act, a company is deemed to be an investment company if it is engaged, or proposes to engage, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis, which we refer to as the 40% test. Investment securities excludes (A) government securities, (B) securities issued by employees securities companies, and (C) securities issued by majority-owned subsidiaries which (i) are not investment companies, and (ii) are not relying on the exception from the definition of investment company under Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act.
Since we will be primarily engaged in the business of acquiring real estate, we believe that the company and most, if not all, of its wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries will not be considered investment companies under either Section 3(a)(1)(A) or Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act. If the company or any of its wholly or majority-owned subsidiaries would ever inadvertently fall within one of the definitions of investment company, we intend to rely on the exception provided by Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act.
Under Section 3(c)(5)(C), the SEC staff generally requires the company to maintain at least 55% of its assets directly in qualifying assets and at least 80% of the entitys assets in qualifying assets and in a broader category of real estate related assets to qualify for this exception. Mortgage-related securities may or may not constitute such qualifying assets, depending on the characteristics of the mortgage-related securities, including the rights that we have with respect to the underlying loans. The companys ownership of mortgage-related securities, therefore, is limited by provisions of the Investment Company Act and SEC staff interpretations. See the section entitled Investment Strategy, Objectives and Policies Investment Company Act Considerations in this prospectus.
The method we use to classify our assets for purposes of the Investment Company Act will be based in large measure upon no-action positions taken by the SEC staff in the past. These no-action positions were issued in accordance with factual situations that may be substantially different from the factual situations we may face, and a number of these no-action positions were issued more than ten years ago. No assurance can be given that the SEC staff will concur with our classification of our assets. In addition, the SEC staff may, in the future, issue further guidance that may require us to re-classify our assets for purposes of qualifying for an exclusion from regulation under the Investment Company Act. If we are required to re-classify our assets, we may no longer be in compliance with the exclusion from the definition of an investment company provided by Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act.
A change in the value of any of our assets could cause us or one or more of our wholly or majority- owned subsidiaries to fall within the definition of investment company and negatively affect our ability to
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maintain our exemption from regulation under the Investment Company Act. To avoid being required to register the company or any of its subsidiaries as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be unable to sell assets we would otherwise want to sell and may need to sell assets we would otherwise wish to retain. In addition, we may have to acquire additional income- or loss-generating assets that we might not otherwise have acquired or may have to forgo opportunities to acquire interests in companies that we would otherwise want to acquire and would be important to our investment strategy.
If we were required to register the company as an investment company but failed to do so, we would be prohibited from engaging in our business, and civil actions could be brought against us. In addition, our contracts would be unenforceable unless a court required enforcement, and a court could appoint a receiver to take control of us and liquidate our business.
In April 2012, President Obama signed into law the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, or the JOBS Act. We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act, and are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from, or reduced disclosure obligations relating to, various reporting requirements that are normally applicable to public companies.
We could remain an emerging growth company for up to five years, or until the earliest of (1) the last day of the first fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of $1 billion or more, (2) December 31 of the fiscal year that we become a large accelerated filer as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act (which would occur if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million, measured as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter, and we have been publicly reporting for at least 12 months) or (3) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt during the preceding three-year period. Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies are not required to (1) provide an auditors attestation report on managements assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (2) comply with new requirements adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, which require mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditors report in which the auditor must provide additional information about the audit and the issuers financial statements, (3) comply with new audit rules adopted by the PCAOB after April 5, 2012( unless the SEC determines otherwise), (4) provide certain disclosures relating to executive compensation generally required for larger public companies or (5) hold shareholder advisory votes on executive compensation. We have not yet made a decision as to whether to take advantage of any or all of the JOBS Act exemptions that are applicable to us. If we do take advantage of any of these exemptions, we do not know if some investors will find our common stock less attractive as a result.
Additionally, the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company may take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies. This means an emerging growth company can delay adopting certain accounting standards until such standards are otherwise applicable to private companies. However, we are electing to opt out of such extended transition period, and will therefore comply with new or revised accounting standards on the applicable dates on which the adoption of such standards is required for non- emerging growth companies. Section 107 of the JOBS Act provides that our decision to opt out of such extended transition period for compliance with new or revised accounting standards is irrevocable.
Our charter requires that our independent directors review our investment policies at least annually to determine that the policies we are following are in the best interest of the stockholders. These policies may change over time. The methods of implementing our investment policies also may vary, as new real estate development trends emerge and new investment techniques are developed. Our investment policies, the methods for their implementation, and our other objectives, policies and procedures may be altered by our board of directors without the approval of our stockholders. As a result, the nature of your investment could change without your consent.
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Commencing with the NAV pricing date, our advisor will be responsible for calculating our quarterly NAV at the end of the last business day of each fiscal quarter. The board of directors will review the NAV calculation quarterly. To calculate our per share NAV, the advisor will determine the net value of our operating partnerships real estate and real estate-related assets and liabilities, based in part on the valuation by the independent valuer. We will disclose this net asset value to stockholders in our filings with the SEC. Therefore, you will not be able to determine the net asset value of your shares on an on-going basis during this offering. See the section entitled Investment by Tax-Exempt Entities and ERISA Considerations Annual or More Frequent Valuation Requirement in this prospectus.
Our board of directors may amend the terms of our share repurchase program without stockholder approval. Our board of directors also is free to suspend or terminate the program upon 30 days notice or to reject any request for repurchase. In addition, the share repurchase program includes numerous restrictions that would limit your ability to sell your shares. Prior to the time our advisor begins calculating NAV, unless waived by our board of directors, you must have held your shares for at least one year in order to participate in our share repurchase program. Prior to the time our advisor begins calculating NAV, subject to funds being available, the purchase price for shares repurchased under our share repurchase program will be as set forth below (unless such repurchase is in connection with a stockholders death or disability): (a) for stockholders who have continuously held their shares of our common stock for at least one year, the price will be 92.5% of the amount paid for each such share, (b) for stockholders who have continuously held their shares of our common stock for at least two years, the price will be 95.0% of the amount paid for each such share, (c) for stockholders who have continuously held their shares of our common stock for at least three years, the price will be 97.5% of the amount paid for each such share, and (d) for stockholders who have held their shares of our common stock for at least four years, the price will be 100.0% of the amount you paid for each share (in each case, as adjusted for any stock dividends, combinations, splits, recapitalizations and the like with respect to our common stock). These limits might prevent us from accommodating all repurchase requests made in any year. See the section entitled Share Repurchase Program in this prospectus for more information about the share repurchase program. These restrictions severely limit your ability to sell your shares should you require liquidity, and limit your ability to recover the value you invested or the fair market value of your shares.
Our dealer manager is one of our affiliates and will not make an independent review of us or the offering. Accordingly, you will have to rely on your own broker-dealer to make an independent review of the terms of this offering. If your broker-dealer does not conduct such a review, you will not have the benefit of an independent review of the terms of this offering. Further, the due diligence investigation of us by the dealer manager cannot be considered to be an independent review and, therefore, may not be as meaningful as a review conducted by an unaffiliated broker-dealer or investment banker. In addition, we do not, and do not expect to, have research analysts reviewing our performance or our securities on an ongoing basis. Therefore, you will not have an independent review of our performance and the value of our common stock relative to publicly traded companies.
Our advisor is indirectly wholly owned by our sponsor through the special limited partner. Therefore, the interests of our advisor and our sponsor are not separate and the advisors decisions may not be independent from the sponsor and may result in the advisor making decisions to act in ways that are not in the investors interests.
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Existing stockholders and potential investors in this offering do not have preemptive rights to any shares issued by us in the future. Our charter currently authorizes us to issue 350,000,000 shares of stock, of which 300,000,000 shares are classified as common stock and 50,000,000 are classified as preferred stock. Subject to any limitations set forth under Maryland law, our board of directors may amend our charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of authorized shares of stock or the number of authorized shares of any class or series of stock, or may classify or reclassify any unissued shares without the necessity of obtaining stockholder approval. All such shares may be issued in the discretion of our board of directors, except that the issuance of preferred stock must be approved by a majority of our independent directors not otherwise interested in the transaction, who will have access, at our expense, to our legal counsel or to independent legal counsel. Existing stockholders and investors purchasing shares in this offering likely will suffer dilution of their equity investment in us, if we: (a) sell shares in this offering or sell additional shares in the future, including those issued pursuant to our distribution reinvestment plan; (b) sell securities that are convertible into shares of our common stock; (c) issue shares of our common stock in a private offering of securities to institutional investors; (d) issue restricted share awards to our directors; (e) issue shares to our advisor or its successors or assigns, in payment of an outstanding fee obligation as set forth under our advisory agreement; or (f) issue shares of our common stock to sellers of properties acquired by us in connection with an exchange of limited partnership interests of our operating partnership, existing stockholders and investors purchasing shares in this offering will likely experience dilution of their equity investment in us. In addition, the partnership agreement for our operating partnership contains provisions that would allow, under certain circumstances, other entities, including other American Realty Capital-sponsored programs, to merge into or cause the exchange or conversion of their interest for interests of our operating partnership. Because the limited partnership interests of our operating partnership may, in the discretion of our board of directors, be exchanged for shares of our common stock, any merger, exchange or conversion between our operating partnership and another entity ultimately could result in the issuance of a substantial number of shares of our common stock, thereby diluting the percentage ownership interest of other stockholders. Because of these and other reasons described in this Risk Factors section, you should not expect to be able to own a significant percentage of our shares.
In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by making additional offerings of equity securities. Under our charter, we may issue, without stockholder approval, preferred stock or other classes of common stock with rights that could dilute the value of your shares of common stock. Any issuance of preferred stock must be approved by a majority of our independent directors not otherwise interested in the transaction, who will have access, at our expense, to our legal counsel or to independent legal counsel. Upon liquidation, holders of our shares of preferred stock will be entitled to receive our available assets prior to distribution to the holders of our common stock. Additionally, any convertible, exercisable or exchangeable securities that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more favorable than those of our common stock and may result in dilution to owners of our common stock. Holders of our common stock are not entitled to preemptive rights or other protections against dilution. Our preferred stock, if issued, could have a preference on liquidating distributions or a preference on dividend payments that could limit our ability pay dividends to the holders of our common stock. Because our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, our stockholders bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the per share trading price of our common stock and diluting their interest in us.
Our advisor and its affiliates will perform services for us in connection with the offer and sale of the shares, the selection and acquisition of our investments, the management of our properties, the servicing of our mortgage, bridge or mezzanine loans, if any, and the administration of our other investments. They are
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paid substantial fees for these services, which reduces the amount of cash available for investment in properties or distribution to stockholders. For a more detailed discussion of the fees payable to such entities in respect of this offering, see the section entitled Management Compensation in this prospectus.
We are a holding company with no business operations of our own. Our only significant asset is and will be the general partnership interests of our operating partnership. We conduct, and intend to conduct, all of our business operations through our operating partnership. Accordingly, our only source of cash to pay our obligations is distributions from our operating partnership and its subsidiaries of their net earnings and cash flows. We cannot assure you that our operating partnership or its subsidiaries will be able to, or be permitted to, make distributions to us that will enable us to make distributions to our stockholders from cash flows from operations. Each of our operating partnerships subsidiaries is a distinct legal entity and, under certain circumstances, legal and contractual restrictions may limit our ability to obtain cash from such entities. In addition, because we are a holding company, your claims as stockholders will be structurally subordinated to all existing and future liabilities and obligations of our operating partnership and its subsidiaries. Therefore, in the event of our bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization, our assets and those of our operating partnership and its subsidiaries will be able to satisfy your claims as stockholders only after all of our and our operating partnerships and its subsidiaries liabilities and obligations have been paid in full.
In order to calculate our quarterly NAV, our properties will initially be valued at cost, which we expect to represent fair value. After this initial valuation and commencing with the NAV pricing date, valuations of properties will be conducted in accordance with our valuation guidelines and will take into consideration appraisals performed by our independent valuer at least annually after the respective calendar quarter in which such property was acquired. Similarly, our real estate related asset investments will initially be valued at cost, and commencing with the NAV pricing date, will be valued at least annually (with approximately 25% of all properties being appraised each quarter), or in the case of liquid securities, quarterly, as applicable, at fair value as determined by our advisor. See Valuation Policies. The valuation methodologies used to value our properties will involve subjective judgments concerning factors such as comparable sales, rental and operating expense data, capitalization or discount rate, and projections of future rent and expenses. Although our valuation guidelines are designed to accurately determine the fair value of our assets, appraisals and valuations will be only estimates, and ultimate realization depends on conditions beyond our advisors control. Further, valuations do not necessarily represent the price at which we would be able to sell an asset, because such prices would be negotiated. We will not retroactively adjust the valuation of such assets, the price of our common stock, the price we paid to repurchase shares of our common stock or NAV-based fees we paid to our advisor and dealer manager. Because the price you will pay for shares of our common stock in this offering, and the price at which your shares may be repurchased by us pursuant to our share repurchase plan, will be based on our estimated per share NAV commencing with the NAV pricing date, you may pay more than realizable value or receive less than realizable value for your investment.
In calculating our quarterly NAV, our advisor will include the net value of our real estate and real estate-related assets, taking into consideration valuations of individual properties that were obtained from our independent valuer. Our advisor will review each appraisal by the independent valuer, and will compare each appraisal to its own determination of value. If in the advisors opinion the appraisals are materially higher or lower than the advisors determinations of value, the advisor will discuss the appraisals with the independent valuer. If the advisor determines that the appraisals are still materially higher or lower than its valuations, a valuation committee, comprised of our independent directors, will review the appraisals and valuations, and
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make a final determination of value. Although our advisor is responsible for the accuracy of the quarterly NAV calculation and will provide our independent valuer with our valuation guidelines, which have been approved by our board of directors, we will not independently verify the appraised value of our properties. As a result, the appraised value of a particular property may be greater or less than its potential realizable value, which would cause our estimated NAV to be greater or less than the potential realizable NAV.
Appraisals of our properties upon which our advisors estimate of the value of our real estate and real estate-related assets will partly be based will probably not be spread evenly throughout the calendar year. We anticipate that such appraisals will be conducted near the end of each calendar quarter or each calendar month. Therefore, when these appraisals are reflected in our NAV calculation, for which our advisor is ultimately responsible, there may be a sudden change in our per share NAV. In addition, actual operating results for a given month may differ from our original estimate, which may affect our per share NAV of each month, we will adjust the estimated income and expenses to reflect the income and expenses actually earned and incurred. We will not retroactively adjust the quarterly per share NAV for the previous quarter. Therefore, because the actual results from operations may be better or worse than what we previously budgeted for a particular month, the adjustment to reflect actual operating results may cause our per share NAV to change, and such change will occur on the day the adjustment is made.
We may experience events affecting our investments that may have a material impact on our NAV. For example, if a material lease is unexpectedly terminated or renewed, or a property experiences an unanticipated structural or environmental event, the value of a property may materially change. Furthermore, if we cannot immediately quantify the financial impact of any extraordinary events, our per share NAV as published on any given quarter will not reflect such events. As a result, the per share NAV published after the announcement of a material event may differ significantly from our actual per share NAV until we are able to quantify the financial impact of such events and our NAV is appropriately adjusted on a going forward basis. The resulting potential disparity may benefit repurchasing or non-repurchasing stockholders, depending on whether NAV is overstated or understated.
Our operating results are subject to risks generally incident to the ownership of real estate, including:
| changes in general economic or local conditions; |
| changes in supply of or demand for similar or competing properties in an area; |
| changes in interest rates and availability of permanent mortgage funds that may render the sale of a property difficult or unattractive; |
| changes in tax, real estate, environmental and zoning laws; and |
| periods of high interest rates and tight money supply. |
These and other reasons may prevent us from being profitable or from realizing growth or maintaining the value of our real estate properties.
We expect that most of our properties will be occupied by only one tenant or will derive a majority of their rental income from one tenant and, therefore, the success of those properties will be materially dependent
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on the financial stability of such tenants. Lease payment defaults by tenants could cause us to reduce the amount of distributions we pay. A default of a tenant on its lease payments to us would cause us to lose the revenue from the property and force us to find an alternative source of revenue to meet any mortgage payment and prevent a foreclosure if the property is subject to a mortgage. In the event of a default, we may experience delays in enforcing our rights as landlord and may incur substantial costs in protecting our investment and re-letting the property. If a lease is terminated, there is no assurance that we will be able to lease the property for the rent previously received or sell the property without incurring a loss. A default by a tenant, the failure of a guarantor to fulfill its obligations or other premature termination of a lease, or a tenants election not to extend a lease upon its expiration, could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and our ability to pay distributions.
Any of our tenants, or any guarantor of a tenants lease obligations, could be subject to a bankruptcy proceeding pursuant to Title 11 of the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such a bankruptcy filing would bar all efforts by us to collect pre-bankruptcy debts from these entities or their properties, unless we receive an enabling order from the bankruptcy court. Post-bankruptcy debts would be paid currently. If a lease is assumed, all pre-bankruptcy balances owing under it must be paid in full. If a lease is rejected by a tenant in bankruptcy, we would have a general unsecured claim for damages. If a lease is rejected, it is unlikely we would receive any payments from the tenant because our claim is capped at the rent reserved under the lease, without acceleration, for the greater of one year or 15% of the remaining term of the lease, but not greater than three years, plus rent already due but unpaid. This claim could be paid only if funds were available, and then only in the same percentage as that realized on other unsecured claims.
A tenant or lease guarantor bankruptcy could delay efforts to collect past due balances under the relevant leases, and could ultimately preclude full collection of these sums. Such an event could cause a decrease or cessation of rental payments that would mean a reduction in our cash flow and the amount available for distributions to you. In the event of a bankruptcy, we cannot assure you that the tenant or its trustee will assume our lease. If a given lease, or guaranty of a lease, is not assumed, our cash flow and the amounts available for distributions to you may be adversely affected.
We may enter into sale-leaseback transactions, whereby we would purchase a property and then lease the same property back to the person from whom we purchased it. In the event of the bankruptcy of a tenant, a transaction structured as a sale-leaseback may be re-characterized as either a financing or a joint venture, either of which outcomes could adversely affect our business. If the sale-leaseback were re-characterized as a financing, we might not be considered the owner of the property, and as a result would have the status of a creditor in relation to the tenant. In that event, we would no longer have the right to sell or encumber our ownership interest in the property. Instead, we would have a claim against the tenant for the amounts owed under the lease, with the claim arguably secured by the property. The tenant/debtor might have the ability to propose a plan restructuring the term, interest rate and amortization schedule of its outstanding balance. If confirmed by the bankruptcy court, we could be bound by the new terms, and prevented from foreclosing our lien on the property. If the sale-leaseback were re-characterized as a joint venture, our lessee and we could be treated as co-venturers with regard to the property. As a result, we could be held liable, under some circumstances, for debts incurred by the lessee relating to the property. Either of these outcomes could adversely affect our cash flow and the amount available for distributions to you.
If we enter into sale-leaseback transactions, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to structure any such sale-leaseback transaction such that the lease will be characterized as a true lease for tax purposes, thereby allowing us to be treated as the owner of the property for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, we cannot assure you that the IRS will not challenge such characterization. In the event that any such sale-leaseback transaction is challenged and recharacterized as a financing transaction or loan for U.S. federal
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income tax purposes, deductions for depreciation and cost recovery relating to such property would be disallowed. If a sale-leaseback transaction were so recharacterized, we might fail to satisfy the REIT qualification asset tests or income tests and, consequently, lose our REIT status effective with the year of recharacterization. Alternatively, the amount of our REIT taxable income could be recalculated which might also cause us to fail to meet the distribution requirement for a taxable year.
A property may incur vacancies either by the continued default of tenants under their leases or the expiration of tenant leases. If vacancies continue for a long period of time, we may suffer reduced revenues resulting in less cash to be distributed to stockholders. In addition, because properties market values depend principally upon the value of the properties leases, the resale value of properties with prolonged vacancies could suffer, which could further reduce your return.
The seller of a property often sells such property in its as is condition on a where is basis and with all faults, without any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular use or purpose. In addition, purchase agreements may contain only limited warranties, representations and indemnifications that will only survive for a limited period after the closing. The purchase of properties with limited warranties increases the risk that we may lose some or all our invested capital in the property as well as the loss of rental income from that property.
When tenants do not renew their leases or otherwise vacate their space, it is usual that, in order to attract replacement tenants, we will be required to expend substantial funds for tenant improvements and tenant refurbishments to the vacated space. In addition, we will likely be responsible for any major structural repairs, such as repairs to the foundation, exterior walls and rooftops. We intend to reserve only 0.1% of the gross proceeds from this offering for future capital needs. Accordingly, if we need additional capital in the future to improve or maintain our properties or for any other reason, we will have to obtain financing from other sources, such as cash flow from operations, borrowings, property sales or future equity offerings. These sources of funding may not be available on attractive terms or at all. If we cannot procure additional funding for capital improvements, our investments may generate lower cash flows or decline in value, or both.
The real estate market is affected by many factors, such as general economic conditions, availability of financing, interest rates and other factors, including supply and demand, that are beyond our control. We cannot predict whether we will be able to sell any property for the price or on the terms set by us, or whether any price or other terms offered by a prospective purchaser would be acceptable to us. We cannot predict the length of time needed to find a willing purchaser and to close the sale of a property.
We may be required to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements before a property can be sold. We cannot assure you that we will have funds available to correct such defects or to make such improvements. Moreover, in acquiring a property, we may agree to restrictions that prohibit the sale of that property for a period of time or impose other restrictions, such as a limitation on the amount of debt that can be placed or repaid on that property. These provisions would restrict our ability to sell a property.
Many of our leases will not contain rental increases over time. Therefore, the value of the property to a potential purchaser may not increase over time, which may restrict our ability to sell a property, or if we are able to sell such property, may lead to a sale price less than the price that we paid to purchase the property.
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Lock-out provisions could materially restrict us from selling or otherwise disposing of or refinancing properties. These provisions would affect our ability to turn our investments into cash and thus affect cash available for distributions to you. Lock out provisions may prohibit us from reducing the outstanding indebtedness with respect to any properties, refinancing such indebtedness on a non-recourse basis at maturity, or increasing the amount of indebtedness with respect to such properties. Lock-out provisions could impair our ability to take other actions during the lock-out period that could be in the best interests of our stockholders and, therefore, may have an adverse impact on the value of the shares, relative to the value that would result if the lock-out provisions did not exist. In particular, lock-out provisions could preclude us from participating in major transactions that could result in a disposition of our assets or a change in control even though that disposition or change in control might be in the best interests of our stockholders.
Any properties that we buy in the future will be, subject to operating risks common to real estate in general, any or all of which may negatively affect us. If any property is not fully occupied or if rents are being paid in an amount that is insufficient to cover operating expenses, we could be required to expend funds with respect to that property for operating expenses. The properties will be subject to increases in tax rates, utility costs, operating expenses, insurance costs, repairs and maintenance and administrative expenses. Renewals of leases or future leases may not be negotiated on a triple-net basis or on a basis requiring the tenants to pay all or some of such expenses, in which event we may have to pay those costs. If we are unable to lease properties on a triple-net-lease basis or on a basis requiring the tenants to pay all or some of such expenses, or if tenants fail to pay required tax, utility and other impositions, we could be required to pay those costs which could adversely affect funds available for future acquisitions or cash available for distributions.
We will carry comprehensive general liability coverage and umbrella liability coverage on all our properties with limits of liability which we deem adequate to insure against liability claims and provide for the costs of defense. Similarly, we are insured against the risk of direct physical damage in amounts we estimate to be adequate to reimburse us on a replacement cost basis for costs incurred to repair or rebuild each property, including loss of rental income during the rehabilitation period. Material losses may occur in excess of insurance proceeds with respect to any property, as insurance may not be sufficient to fund the losses. However, there are types of losses, generally of a catastrophic nature, such as losses due to wars, acts of terrorism, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, pollution or environmental matters, which are either uninsurable or not economically insurable, or may be insured subject to limitations, such as large deductibles or co- payments. Insurance risks associated with potential terrorism acts could sharply increase the premiums we pay for coverage against property and casualty claims. Additionally, mortgage lenders in some cases have begun to insist that commercial property owners purchase specific coverage against terrorism as a condition for providing mortgage loans. It is uncertain whether such insurance policies will be available, or available at reasonable cost, which could inhibit our ability to finance or refinance our potential properties. In these instances, we may be required to provide other financial support, either through financial assurances or self-insurance, to cover potential losses. We may not have adequate, or any, coverage for such losses. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 is designed for a sharing of terrorism losses between insurance companies and the federal government, and extends the federal terrorism insurance backstop through 2014. We cannot be certain how this act will impact us or what additional cost to us, if any, could result. If such an event damaged or destroyed one or more of our properties, we could lose both our invested capital and anticipated profits from such property.
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Some local real property tax assessors may seek to reassess some of our properties as a result of our acquisition of the property. Generally, from time to time our property taxes increase as property values or assessment rates change or for other reasons deemed relevant by the assessors. An increase in the assessed valuation of a property for real estate tax purposes will result in an increase in the related real estate taxes on that property. There is no assurance that renewal leases or future leases will be negotiated on the same basis. Increases not passed through to tenants will adversely affect our income, cash available for distributions, and the amount of distributions to you.
Some of our properties may be contiguous to other parcels of real property, comprising part of the same commercial center. In connection with such properties, there are significant covenants, conditions and restrictions, or CC&Rs, restricting the operation of such properties and any improvements on such properties, and related to granting easements on such properties. Moreover, the operation and management of the contiguous properties may impact such properties. Compliance with CC&Rs may adversely affect our operating costs and reduce the amount of funds that we have available to pay distributions.
We may use proceeds from this offering to acquire and develop properties upon which we will construct improvements. We will be subject to uncertainties associated with re-zoning for development, environmental concerns of governmental entities and/or community groups, and our builders ability to build in conformity with plans, specifications, budgeted costs, and timetables. If a builder fails to perform, we may resort to legal action to rescind the purchase or the construction contract or to compel performance. A builders performance also may be affected or delayed by conditions beyond the builders control. Delays in completion of construction could also give tenants the right to terminate preconstruction leases. We may incur additional risks when we make periodic progress payments or other advances to builders before they complete construction. These and other factors can result in increased costs of a project or loss of our investment. In addition, we will be subject to normal lease-up risks relating to newly constructed projects. We also must rely on rental income and expense projections and estimates of the fair market value of property upon completion of construction when agreeing upon a price at the time we acquire the property. If our projections are inaccurate, we may pay too much for a property, and our return on our investment could suffer.
We may invest in unimproved real property. For purposes of this paragraph, unimproved real property does not include properties acquired for the purpose of producing rental or other operating income, properties under development or construction, and properties under contract for development or in planning for development within one year. Returns from development of unimproved properties are also subject to risks associated with re-zoning the land for development and environmental concerns of governmental entities and/or community groups. If we invest in unimproved property other than property we intend to develop, your investment will be subject to the risks associated with investments in unimproved real property.
We compete with many other entities engaged in real estate investment activities, including individuals, corporations, bank and insurance company investment accounts, other REITs, real estate limited partnerships, and other entities engaged in real estate investment activities, many of which have greater resources than we do. Larger REITs may enjoy significant competitive advantages that result from, among other things, a lower cost of capital and enhanced operating efficiencies. In addition, the number of entities and the amount of funds competing for suitable investments may increase. Any such increase would result in increased demand for these assets and therefore increased prices paid for them. If we pay higher prices for properties and other investments, our profitability will be reduced and you may experience a lower return on your investment.
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Our properties face competition for tenants. The number of competitive properties could have a material effect on our ability to rent space at our properties and the amount of rents charged. We could be adversely affected if additional competitive properties are built in locations competitive with our properties, causing increased competition for customer traffic and creditworthy tenants. This could result in decreased cash flow from tenants and may require us to make capital improvements to properties that we would not have otherwise made, thus affecting cash available for distributions, and the amount available for distributions to you.
There may be a substantial period of time before the proceeds of this offering are invested. Delays we encounter in the selection, acquisition and/or development of properties could adversely affect your returns. Where properties are acquired prior to the start of construction or during the early stages of construction, it will typically take several months to complete construction and rent available space. Therefore, you could suffer delays in the payment of cash distributions attributable to those particular properties.
All real property and the operations conducted on real property are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection and human health and safety. These laws and regulations generally govern wastewater discharges, air emissions, the operation and removal of underground and above-ground storage tanks, the use, storage, treatment, transportation and disposal of solid and hazardous materials, and the remediation of contamination associated with disposals. Environmental laws and regulations may impose joint and several liability on tenants, owners or operators for the costs to investigate or remediate contaminated properties, regardless of fault or whether the acts causing the contamination were legal. This liability could be substantial. In addition, the presence of hazardous substances, or the failure to properly remediate these substances, may adversely affect our ability to sell, rent or pledge such property as collateral for future borrowings.
Some of these laws and regulations have been amended so as to require compliance with new or more stringent standards as of future dates. Compliance with new or more stringent laws or regulations or stricter interpretation of existing laws may require material expenditures by us. Future laws, ordinances or regulations may impose material environmental liability. Additionally, our tenants operations, the existing condition of land when we buy it, operations in the vicinity of our properties, such as the presence of underground storage tanks, or activities of unrelated third parties may affect our properties. In addition, there are various local, state and federal fire, health, life-safety and similar regulations with which we may be required to comply, and that may subject us to liability in the form of fines or damages for noncompliance. Any material expenditures, fines, or damages we must pay will reduce our ability to make distributions and may reduce the value of your investment.
State and federal laws in this area are constantly evolving, and we may be affected by such changes and be required to comply with new laws, including obtaining environmental assessments of most properties that we acquire; however, we will not obtain an independent third-party environmental assessment for every property we acquire. In addition, any such assessment that we do obtain may not reveal all environmental liabilities or that a prior owner of a property did not create a material environmental condition not known to us. The cost of defending against claims of liability, of compliance with environmental regulatory requirements, of remediating any contaminated property, or of paying personal injury claims would materially adversely affect our business, assets or results of operations and, consequently, amounts available for distribution to you. See the section entitled Investment Strategy, Objectives and Policies Acquisition and Investment Policies nvesting in Real Property in this prospectus.
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If we decide to sell any of our properties, in some instances we may sell our properties by providing financing to purchasers. When we provide financing to purchasers, we will bear the risk that the purchaser may default, which could negatively impact our cash distributions to stockholders. Even in the absence of a purchaser default, the distribution of the proceeds of sales to our stockholders, or their reinvestment in other assets, will be delayed until the promissory notes or other property we may accept upon the sale are actually paid, sold, refinanced or otherwise disposed of. In some cases, we may receive initial down payments in cash and other property in the year of sale in an amount less than the selling price and subsequent payments will be spread over a number of years. If any purchaser defaults under a financing arrangement with us, it could negatively impact our ability to pay cash distributions to our stockholders.
There is no guarantee that the mortgage, loan or deed of trust securing an investment will, following a default, permit us to recover the original investment and interest that would have been received absent a default. The security provided by a mortgage, deed of trust or loan is directly related to the difference between the amount owed and the appraised market value of the property. Although we intend to rely on a current real estate appraisal when we make the investment, the value of the property is affected by factors outside our control, including general fluctuations in the real estate market, rezoning, neighborhood changes, highway relocations and failure by the borrower to maintain the property. In addition, we may incur the costs of litigation in our efforts to enforce our rights under defaulted loans.
We may enter into joint ventures, partnerships and other co-ownership arrangements (including preferred equity investments) for the purpose of making investments. In such event, we would not be in a position to exercise sole decision-making authority regarding the joint venture. Investments in joint ventures may, under certain circumstances, involve risks not present were a third party not involved, including the possibility that partners or co-venturers might become bankrupt or fail to fund their required capital contributions. Co- venturers may have economic or other business interests or goals which are inconsistent with our business interests or goals, and may be in a position to take actions contrary to our policies or objectives. Such investments may also have the potential risk of impasses on decisions, such as a sale, because neither we nor the co-venturer would have full control over the joint venture. Disputes between us and co-venturers may result in litigation or arbitration that would increase our expenses and prevent our officers and/or directors from focusing their time and effort on our business. Consequently, actions by or disputes with co-venturers might result in subjecting properties owned by the joint venture to additional risk. In addition, we may in certain circumstances be liable for the actions of our co-venturers.
Our properties will be subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or the Disabilities Act. Under the Disabilities Act, all places of public accommodation are required to comply with federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. The Disabilities Act has separate compliance requirements for public accommodations and commercial facilities that generally require that buildings and services, including restaurants and retail stores, be made accessible and available to people with disabilities. The Disabilities Acts requirements could require removal of access barriers and could result in the imposition of injunctive relief, monetary penalties, or, in some cases, an award of damages. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to acquire properties or allocate responsibilities in this manner. If we cannot, our funds used for Disabilities Act compliance may affect cash available for distributions and the amount of distributions to you.
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U.S. and international markets are currently experiencing increased levels of volatility due to a combination of many factors, including decreasing values of home prices, limited access to credit markets, higher fuel prices, less consumer spending and fears of a national and global recession. The effects of the current market dislocation may persist as financial institutions continue to take the necessary steps to restructure their business and capital structures. As a result, this economic downturn has reduced demand for space and removed support for rents and property values. Since we cannot predict when the real estate markets will recover, the value of our properties may decline if current market conditions persist or worsen.
In addition, we will be subject to the risks generally incident to the ownership of discounted real estate assets. Such assets may be purchased at a discount from historical cost due to, among other things, substantial deferred maintenance, abandonment, undesirable locations or markets, or poorly structured financing of the real estate or debt instruments underlying the assets, which has since lowered their value. Further, the continuing instability in the financial markets has limited the availability of lines of credit and the degree to which people and entities have access to cash to pay rents or debt service on the underlying the assets. Such illiquidity has the effect of increasing vacancies, increasing bankruptcies and weakening interest rates commercial entities can charge consumers, which can all decrease the value of already discounted real estate assets. Should conditions persist or worsen, the continued inability of the underlying real estate assets to produce income may weaken our return on our investments, which, in turn, may weaken your return on investment.
Further, irrespective of the instability the financial markets may have on the return produced by discounted real estate assets, the evolving efforts to correct the instability make the valuation of these assets highly unpredictable. The fluctuation in market conditions make judging the future performance of these assets difficult. There is a risk that we may not purchase real estate assets at absolute discounted rates and that these assets may continue to decline in value.
We expect a large portion of our rental income to come from net leases, which generally provide the tenant greater discretion in using the leased property than ordinary property leases, such as the right to freely sublease the property, to make alterations in the leased premises and to terminate the lease prior to its expiration under specified circumstances. Furthermore, net leases typically have longer lease terms and, thus, there is an increased risk that contractual rental increases in future years will fail to result in fair market rental rates during those years. As a result, our income and distributions to our stockholders could be lower than they would otherwise be if we did not engage in net leases.
We focus our investments on commercial and retail properties, including special use single tenant properties. These types of properties are relatively illiquid compared to other types of real estate and financial assets. This illiquidity will limit our ability to quickly change our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions. With these properties, if the current lease is terminated or not renewed or, in the case of a mortgage loan, if we take such property in foreclosure, we may be required to renovate the property or to make rent concessions in order to lease the property to another tenant or sell the property. In addition, in the event we are forced to sell the property, we may have difficulty selling it to a party other than the tenant or borrower due to the special purpose for which the property may have been designed. These and other limitations may affect our ability to sell or re-lease properties and adversely affect returns to you.
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Under current authoritative accounting guidance for leases, a lease is classified by a tenant as a capital lease if the significant risks and rewards of ownership are considered to reside with the tenant. Under capital lease accounting for a tenant, both the leased asset and liability are reflected on their balance sheet. If the lease does not meet any of the criteria for a capital lease, the lease is considered an operating lease by the tenant, and the obligation does not appear on the tenants balance sheet; rather, the contractual future minimum payment obligations are only disclosed in the footnotes thereto. Thus, entering into an operating lease can appear to enhance a tenants balance sheet in comparison to direct ownership. The Financial Accounting Standards Board, or the FASB, and the International Accounting Standards Board, or the IASB, conducted a joint project to re-evaluate lease accounting. In August 2010, the FASB and the IASB jointly released exposure drafts of a proposed accounting model that would significantly change lease accounting. As of January 30, 2013, the final standards have yet to be issued. Changes to the accounting guidance could affect both our accounting for leases as well as that of our current and potential tenants. These changes may affect how the real estate leasing business is conducted. For example, if the accounting standards regarding the financial statement classification of operating leases are revised, then companies may be less willing to enter into leases in general or desire to enter into leases with shorter terms because the apparent benefits to their balance sheets could be reduced or eliminated. This in turn could cause a delay in investing our offering proceeds and make it more difficult for us to enter into leases on terms we find favorable.
The current economic downturn in the United States has had an adverse impact on the retail industry generally. As a result, the retail industry is facing reductions in sales revenues and increased bankruptcies throughout the United States. The continuation of adverse economic conditions may result in an increase in distressed or bankrupt retail companies, which in turn would result in an increase in defaults by tenants at our retail properties. Additionally, slow economic growth is likely to hinder new entrants into the retail market which may make it difficult for us to fully lease the real properties that we plan to acquire. Tenant defaults and decreased demand for retail space would have an adverse impact on the value of the retail properties that we plan to acquire and our results of operations.
The capital and credit markets have been experiencing extreme volatility and disruption for nearly three years. Liquidity in the global credit market has been severely contracted by these market disruptions, making it costly to obtain new lines of credit. We will rely on debt financing to finance our properties and possibly other real estate-related investments. As a result of the ongoing credit market turmoil, we may not be able to obtain debt financing on attractive terms. As such, we may be forced to use a greater proportion of our offering proceeds to finance our acquisitions, reducing the number of acquisitions we would otherwise make, and/or to dispose of some of our assets. If the current debt market environment persists we may modify our investment strategy in order to optimize our portfolio performance. Our options would include limiting or eliminating the use of debt and focusing on those higher yielding investments that do not require the use of leverage to meet our portfolio goals.
The continued disruptions in the financial markets and challenging economic conditions could adversely affect the values of investments we will acquire. Turmoil in the capital markets has constrained equity and debt capital available for investment in commercial real estate, resulting in fewer buyers seeking to acquire commercial properties and increases in capitalization rates and lower property values. Furthermore, these challenging economic conditions could further negatively impact commercial real estate fundamentals and
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result in lower occupancy, lower rental rates and declining values of real estate properties and in the collateral securing any loan investments we may make. These could have the following negative effects on us:
| the values of our investments in retail properties could decrease below the amounts we will pay for these investments; |
| the value of collateral securing any loan investment that we may make could decrease below the outstanding principal amounts of these loans; |
| revenues from properties we acquire could decrease due to fewer tenants and/or lower rental rates, making it more difficult for us to pay dividends or meet our debt service obligations on future debt financings; and/or |
| revenues on the properties and other assets underlying any loan investments we may make could decrease, making it more difficult for the borrower to meet its payment obligations to us, which could in turn make it more difficult for us to pay dividends or meet our debt service obligations on future debt financings. |
All of these factors could impair our ability to make distributions to our investors and decrease the value of an investment in us.
A retail propertys revenues and value may be adversely affected by a number of factors, many of which apply to real estate investment generally, but which also include trends in the retail industry and perceptions by retailers or shoppers of the safety, convenience and attractiveness of the retail property. Our properties will be located in public places such as shopping centers and malls, and any incidents of crime or violence would result in a reduction of business traffic to tenant stores in our properties. Any such incidents may also expose us to civil liability. In addition, to the extent that the investing public has a negative perception of the retail sector, the value of our common stock may be negatively impacted.
Some of our leases may provide for base rent plus contractual base rent increases. A number of our retail leases also may include a percentage rent clause for additional rent above the base amount based upon a specified percentage of the sales our tenants generate. Under those leases which contain percentage rent clauses, our revenue from tenants may increase as the sales of our tenants increase. Generally, retailers face declining revenues during downturns in the economy. As a result, the portion of our revenue which we may derive from percentage rent leases could be adversely affected by a general economic downturn.
Our retail tenants will face potentially changing consumer preferences and increasing competition from other forms of retailing, such as discount shopping centers, outlet centers, upscale neighborhood strip centers, catalogues and other forms of direct marketing, discount shopping clubs, internet websites and telemarketing. Other retail centers within the market area of our properties will compete with our properties for customers, affecting their tenants cash flows and thus affecting their ability to pay rent. In addition, some of our tenants rent payments may be based on the amount of sales revenue that they generate. If these tenants experience competition, the amount of their rent may decrease and our cash flow will decrease.
We expect that our properties will be located in developed areas. Any competitive properties that are developed close to our existing properties also may impact our ability to lease space to creditworthy tenants. Increased competition for tenants may require us to make capital improvements to properties that we would not have otherwise planned to make. Any unbudgeted capital improvements may negatively impact our financial position. Also, to the extent we are unable to renew leases or re-let space as leases expire, it would result in decreased cash flow from tenants and reduce the income produced by our properties. Excessive vacancies (and related reduced shopper traffic) at one of our properties may hurt sales of other tenants at that property and may discourage them from renewing leases.
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In the event that we have a concentration of properties in any particular geographic area, any adverse situation that disproportionately effects that geographic area would have a magnified adverse effect on our portfolio. Similarly, if tenants of our properties are concentrated in a certain industry or retail category or if we have a large number of tenants that are affiliated with a single company, any adverse effect to that industry, retail category or company generally would have a disproportionately adverse effect on our portfolio.
The market for retail space has been and could be adversely affected by weaknesses in the national, regional and local economies, the adverse financial condition of some large retailing companies, the ongoing consolidation in the retail sector, excess amounts of retail space in a number of markets and competition for tenants with other shopping centers in our markets. Customer traffic to these shopping areas may be adversely affected by the closing of stores in the same shopping center, or by a reduction in traffic to these stores resulting from a regional economic downturn, a general downturn in the local area where our store is located, or a decline in the desirability of the shopping environment of a particular shopping center. A reduction in customer traffic could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Long-term leases do not allow for significant changes in rental payments and do not expire in the near term. If we do not accurately judge the potential for increases in market rental rates when negotiating these long-term leases, significant increases in future property operating costs could result in receiving less than fair value from these leases. These circumstances would adversely affect our revenues and funds available for distribution.
We expect that in most instances, we will acquire real properties by using either existing financing or borrowing new funds. In addition, we may incur mortgage debt and pledge all or some of our real properties as security for that debt to obtain funds to acquire additional real properties. We may borrow if we need funds to satisfy the REIT tax qualification requirement that we generally distribute annually to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (which does not equal net income as calculated in accordance with GAAP), determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding capital gain. We also may borrow if we otherwise deem it necessary or advisable to assure that we maintain our qualification as a REIT.
There is no limitation on the amount we may borrow against any single improved property. Under our charter, our borrowings may not exceed 300% of our total net assets (as defined by the NASAA REIT Guidelines) as of the date of any borrowing, which is generally expected to be approximately 75% of the cost of our investments; however, we may exceed that limit if approved by a majority of our independent directors and disclosed to stockholders in our next quarterly report following such borrowing along with justification for exceeding such limit. This charter limitation, however, does not apply to individual real estate assets or investments. In addition, it is our intention to limit our borrowings to 45% of the aggregate fair market value of our assets (calculated after the close of this offering and once we have invested substantially all the proceeds of this offering), unless excess borrowing is approved by a majority of the independent directors and disclosed to stockholders in our next quarterly report following such borrowing along with justification for
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such excess borrowing. However, subsequent events, including changes in the fair market value of our assets, could result in our exceeding these limits. We expect that during the period of this offering we seek independent director approval of borrowings in excess of these limitations since we will then be in the process of raising our equity capital to acquire our portfolio. As a result, we expect that our debt levels will be higher until we have invested most of our capital.
If there is a shortfall between the cash flow from a property and the cash flow needed to service mortgage debt on a property, then the amount available for distributions to stockholders may be reduced. In addition, incurring mortgage debt increases the risk of loss since defaults on indebtedness secured by a property may result in lenders initiating foreclosure actions. In that case, we could lose the property securing the loan that is in default, thus reducing the value of your investment. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, a foreclosure of any of our properties would be treated as a sale of the property for a purchase price equal to the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage. If the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage exceeds our tax basis in the property, we would recognize taxable income on foreclosure, but would not receive any cash proceeds. In such event, we may be unable to pay the amount of distributions required in order to maintain our REIT status. We may give full or partial guarantees to lenders of mortgage debt to the entities that own our properties. When we provide a guaranty on behalf of an entity that owns one of our properties, we will be responsible to the lender for satisfaction of the debt if it is not paid by such entity. If any mortgages contain cross-collateralization or cross-default provisions, a default on a single property could affect multiple properties. If any of our properties are foreclosed upon due to a default, our ability to pay cash distributions to our stockholders will be adversely affected which could result in our losing our REIT status and would result in a decrease in the value of your investment.
The domestic and international commercial real estate debt markets are currently experiencing volatility as a result of certain factors including the tightening of underwriting standards by lenders and credit rating agencies. This is resulting in lenders increasing the cost for debt financing. Should the overall cost of borrowings increase, either by increases in the index rates or by increases in lender spreads, we will need to factor such increases into the economics of future acquisitions. This may result in future acquisitions generating lower overall economic returns and potentially reducing future cash flow available for distribution. If these disruptions in the debt markets persist, our ability to borrow monies to finance the purchase of, or other activities related to, real estate assets will be negatively impacted. If we are unable to borrow monies on terms and conditions that we find acceptable, we likely will have to reduce the number of properties we can purchase, and the return on the properties we do purchase may be lower. In addition, we may find it difficult, costly or impossible to refinance indebtedness which is maturing.
In addition, the state of the debt markets could have an impact on the overall amount of capital investing in real estate which may result in price or value decreases of real estate assets. Although this may benefit us for future acquisitions, it could negatively impact the current value of our existing assets.
If we place mortgage debt on properties, we run the risk of being unable to refinance the properties when the loans come due, or of being unable to refinance on favorable terms. If interest rates are higher when the properties are refinanced, we may not be able to finance the properties and our income could be reduced. If any of these events occur, our cash flow would be reduced. This, in turn, would reduce cash available for distribution to you and may hinder our ability to raise more capital by issuing more stock or by borrowing more money.
In connection with providing us financing, a lender could impose restrictions on us that affect our distribution and operating policies and our ability to incur additional debt. Loan documents we enter into may contain covenants that limit our ability to further mortgage the property, discontinue insurance coverage or
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replace our advisor. These or other limitations may adversely affect our flexibility and our ability to achieve our investment and operating objectives.
We expect that we will incur indebtedness in the future. To the extent that we incur variable rate debt, increases in interest rates would increase our interest costs, which could reduce our cash flows and our ability to pay distributions to you. In addition, if we need to repay existing debt during periods of rising interest rates, we could be required to liquidate one or more of our investments in properties at times that may not permit realization of the maximum return on such investments.
Under our charter, our borrowings may not exceed 300% of our total net assets (as defined by the NASAA REIT Guidelines) as of the date of any borrowing, which is generally expected to be approximately 75% of the cost of our investments; however, we may exceed that limit if approved by a majority of our independent directors and disclosed to stockholders in our next quarterly report following such borrowing along with justification for exceeding such limit. This charter limitation, however, does not apply to individual real estate assets or investments. In addition, it is our intention to limit our aggregate borrowings to 45% of the fair market value of all of our assets (calculated after the close of this offering and once we have invested substantially all the proceeds of this offering), unless any excess borrowing is approved by a majority of our independent directors and disclosed to our stockholders in our next quarterly report, along with a justification for such excess borrowing. This limitation, however, will not apply to individual real estate assets or investments. At the date of acquisition of each asset, we anticipate that that the cost of investment for such asset will be substantially similar to its fair market value, which will enable us to satisfy our requirements under the NASAA REIT Guidelines. However, subsequent events, including changes in the fair market value of our assets, could result in our exceeding these limits. We expect that during the period of this offering we will seek independent director approval of borrowings in excess of these limitations since we will then be in the process of raising our equity capital to acquire our portfolio. As a result, we expect that our debt levels will be higher until we have invested most of our capital. High debt levels would cause us to incur higher interest charges, would result in higher debt service payments and could be accompanied by restrictive covenants. These factors could limit the amount of cash we have available to distribute and could result in a decline in the value of your investment.
We may invest in collateralized mortgage-backed securities, or CMBS, which may increase our exposure to credit and interest rate risk. We have not adopted, and do not expect to adopt, any formal policies or procedures designed to manage risks associated with our investments in CMBS. In this context, credit risk is the risk that borrowers will default on the mortgages underlying the CMBS. While we may invest in CMBS guaranteed by U.S. government agencies, such as the Government National Mortgage Association, or GNMA, or U.S. government sponsored enterprises, such as the Federal National Mortgage Association, or FNMA, or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, or FHLMC, there is no guarantee that such will be available or continue to be guaranteed by the U.S. government. Interest rate risk occurs as prevailing market interest rates change relative to the current yield on the CMBS. For example, when interest rates fall, borrowers are more likely to prepay their existing mortgages to take advantage of the lower cost of financing. As prepayments occur, principal is returned to the holders of the CMBS sooner than expected, thereby lowering the effective yield on the investment. On the other hand, when interest rates rise, borrowers are more likely to maintain their existing mortgages. As a result, prepayments decrease, thereby extending the average maturity of the mortgages underlying the CMBS. If we are unable to manage these risks effectively, our results of operations, financial condition and ability to pay distributions to you will be adversely affected.
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We may originate and purchase real estate debt securities, which are subject to risks of delinquency and foreclosure and risks of loss. Typically, we will not have recourse to the personal assets of our borrowers. The ability of a borrower to repay a real estate debt security secured by an income-producing property depends primarily upon the successful operation of the property, rather than upon the existence of independent income or assets of the borrower. If the net operating income of the property is reduced, the borrowers ability to repay the real estate debt security may be impaired. A propertys net operating income can be affected by, among other things:
| increased costs, added costs imposed by franchisors for improvements or operating changes required, from time to time, under the franchise agreements; |
| property management decisions; |
| property location and condition; |
| competition from comparable types of properties; |
| changes in specific industry segments; |
| declines in regional or local real estate values, or occupancy rates; and |
| increases in interest rates, real estate tax rates and other operating expenses. |
We bear the risks of loss of principal to the extent of any deficiency between the value of the collateral and the principal and accrued interest of the real estate debt security, which could have a material adverse effect on our cash flow from operations and limit amounts available for distribution to you. In the event of the bankruptcy of a real estate debt security borrower, the real estate debt security to that borrower will be deemed to be collateralized only to the extent of the value of the underlying collateral at the time of bankruptcy (as determined by the bankruptcy court), and the lien securing the real estate debt security will be subject to the avoidance powers of the bankruptcy trustee or debtor-in-possession to the extent the lien is unenforceable under state law. Foreclosure of a real estate debt security can be an expensive and lengthy process that could have a substantial negative effect on our anticipated return on the foreclosed real estate debt security. We also may be forced to foreclose on certain properties, be unable to sell these properties and be forced to incur substantial expenses to improve operations at the property.
We intend to elect and qualify to be taxed as a REIT commencing with our taxable year ending December 31, 2013 and intend to operate in a manner that would allow us to continue to qualify as a REIT. However, we may terminate our REIT qualification, if our board of directors determines that not qualifying as a REIT is in our best interests, or inadvertently. Our qualification as a REIT depends upon our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, stockholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. The REIT qualification requirements are extremely complex and interpretation of the U.S. federal income tax laws governing qualification as a REIT is limited. Furthermore, any opinion of our counsel, including tax counsel, as to our eligibility to qualify or remain qualified as a REIT is not binding on the IRS and is not a guarantee that we will qualify, or continue to qualify, as a REIT. Accordingly, we cannot be certain that we will be successful in operating so we can qualify or remain qualified as a REIT. Our ability to satisfy the asset tests depends on our analysis of the characterization and fair market values of our assets, some of which are not susceptible to a precise determination, and for which we will not obtain independent appraisals. Our compliance with the REIT income or quarterly asset requirements also depends on our ability to successfully manage the composition of our income and assets on an ongoing basis. Accordingly, if certain of our operations were to be recharacterized by the IRS, such recharacterization would jeopardize our ability
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to satisfy all requirements for qualification as a REIT. Furthermore, future legislative, judicial or administrative changes to the U.S. federal income tax laws could be applied retroactively, which could result in our disqualification as a REIT.
If we fail to qualify as a REIT for any taxable year, and we do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income at corporate rates. In addition, we would generally be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year of losing our REIT qualification. Losing our REIT qualification would reduce our net earnings available for investment or distribution to stockholders because of the additional tax liability. In addition, distributions to stockholders would no longer qualify for the dividends paid deduction, and we would no longer be required to make distributions. If this occurs, we might be required to borrow funds or liquidate some investments in order to pay the applicable tax.
Even if we qualify and maintain our status as a REIT, we may be subject to U.S. federal, state and local income taxes. For example, net income from the sale of properties that are dealer properties sold by a REIT (a prohibited transaction under the Code) will be subject to a 100% tax. We may not make sufficient distributions to avoid excise taxes applicable to REITs. We also may decide to retain net capital gain we earn from the sale or other disposition of our property and pay U.S. federal income tax directly on such income. In that event, our stockholders would be treated as if they earned that income and paid the tax on it directly. However, stockholders that are tax-exempt, such as charities or qualified pension plans, would have no benefit from their deemed payment of such tax liability unless they file U.S. federal income tax returns and thereon seek a refund of such tax. We also will be subject to corporate tax on any undistributed REIT taxable income. We also may be subject to state and local taxes on our income or property, including franchise, payroll and transfer taxes, either directly or at the level of our operating partnership or at the level of the other companies through which we indirectly own our assets, such as our taxable REIT subsidiaries, which are subject to full U.S. federal, state, local and foreign corporate-level income taxes. Any taxes we pay directly or indirectly will reduce our cash available for distribution to you.
In order to qualify as a REIT, we must distribute annually to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (which does not equal net income as calculated in accordance with GAAP), determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gain. We will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our undistributed REIT taxable income and net capital gain and to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on any amount by which distributions we pay with respect to any calendar year are less than the sum of (a) 85% of our ordinary income, (b) 95% of our capital gain net income and (c) 100% of our undistributed income from prior years. These requirements could cause us to distribute amounts that otherwise would be spent on investments in real estate assets and it is possible that we might be required to borrow funds, possibly at unfavorable rates, or sell assets to fund these distributions. It is possible that we might not always be able to make distributions sufficient to meet the annual distribution requirements and to avoid U.S. federal income and excise taxes on our earnings while we qualify as a REIT.
For so long as we qualify as a REIT, our ability to dispose of property during the first few years following acquisition may be restricted to a substantial extent as a result of our REIT qualification. Under applicable provisions of the Code regarding prohibited transactions by REITs, while we qualify as a REIT, we will be subject to a 100% penalty tax on any gain recognized on the sale or other disposition of any property (other than foreclosure property) that we own, directly or indirectly through any subsidiary entity, including our operating partnership, but generally excluding taxable REIT subsidiaries, that is deemed to be inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business. Whether property is
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inventory or otherwise held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business depends on the particular facts and circumstances surrounding each property. No assurance can be given that any particular property we own, directly or through any subsidiary entity, including our operating partnership, but generally excluding taxable REIT subsidiaries, will not be treated as inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business.
A REIT may own up to 100% of the stock of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. Both the subsidiary and the REIT must jointly elect to treat the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary. A corporation of which a taxable REIT subsidiary directly or indirectly owns more than 35% of the voting power or value of the stock will automatically be treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary. Overall, no more than 25% of the gross value of a REITs assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. A taxable REIT subsidiary may hold assets and earn income that would not be qualifying assets or income if held or earned directly by a REIT, including gross income from operations pursuant to management contracts. Accordingly, we may use taxable REIT subsidiaries generally to hold properties for sale in the ordinary course of a trade or business or to hold assets or conduct activities that we cannot conduct directly as a REIT. A taxable REIT subsidiary will be subject to applicable U.S. federal, state, local and foreign income tax on its taxable income. In addition, the rules, which are applicable to us as a REIT, also impose a 100% excise tax on certain transactions between a taxable REIT subsidiary and its parent REIT that are not conducted on an arms-length basis.
If the IRS were to successfully challenge the status of our operating partnership as a partnership or disregarded entity for such purposes, it would be taxable as a corporation. In such event, this would reduce the amount of distributions that the operating partnership could make to us. This also would result in our failing to qualify as a REIT, and becoming subject to a corporate level tax on our income. This substantially would reduce our cash available to pay distributions and the yield on your investment. In addition, if any of the partnerships or limited liability companies through which our operating partnership owns its properties, in whole or in part, loses its characterization as a partnership and is otherwise not disregarded for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it would be subject to taxation as a corporation, thereby reducing distributions to the operating partnership. Such a recharacterization of an underlying property owner could also threaten our ability to maintain our REIT qualification.
In connection with our qualification as a REIT, we are required to distribute annually to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (which does not equal net income as calculated in accordance with GAAP), determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gain. In order to satisfy this requirement, we may make distributions that are payable in cash and/or shares of our common stock (which could account for up to 80% of the aggregate amount of such distributions) at the election of each stockholder. Taxable stockholders receiving such distributions will be required to include the full amount of such distributions as ordinary dividend income to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, U.S. stockholders may be required to pay U.S. federal income taxes with respect to such distributions in excess of the cash portion of the distribution received. Accordingly, U.S. stockholders receiving a distribution of our shares may be required to sell shares received in such distribution or may be required to sell other stock or assets owned by them, at a time that may be disadvantageous, in order to satisfy any tax imposed on such distribution. If a U.S. stockholder sells the stock that it receives as part of the distribution in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the distribution, depending on the market price of our stock at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to certain non-U.S. stockholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. tax with respect to such distribution, including in respect of all or a portion of
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such distribution that is payable in stock, by withholding or disposing of part of the shares included in such distribution and using the proceeds of such disposition to satisfy the withholding tax imposed. In addition, if a significant number of our stockholders determine to sell shares of our common stock in order to pay taxes owed on dividend income, such sale may put downward pressure on the market price of our common stock.
Various tax aspects of such a taxable cash/stock distribution are uncertain and have not yet been addressed by the IRS. No assurance can be given that the IRS will not impose requirements in the future with respect to taxable cash/stock distributions, including on a retroactive basis, or assert that the requirements for such taxable cash/stock distributions have not been met.
Distributions that we make to our taxable stockholders out of current and accumulated earnings and profits (and not designated as capital gain dividends, or, for tax years beginning before January 1, 2013, qualified dividend income) generally will be taxable as ordinary income. However, a portion of our distributions may (1) be designated by us as capital gain dividends generally taxable as long-term capital gain to the extent that they are attributable to net capital gain recognized by us, (2) be designated by us, for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2013, as qualified dividend income generally to the extent they are attributable to dividends we receive from our taxable REIT subsidiaries, or (3) constitute a return of capital generally to the extent that they exceed our accumulated earnings and profits as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A return of capital is not taxable, but has the effect of reducing the basis of a stockholders investment in our common stock.
If our stockholders participate in our distribution reinvestment plan, they will be deemed to have received, and for U.S. federal income tax purposes will be taxed on, the amount reinvested in shares of our common stock to the extent the amount reinvested was not a tax-free return of capital. In addition, our stockholders will be treated for tax purposes as having received an additional distribution to the extent the shares are purchased at a discount to fair market value. As a result, unless a stockholder is a tax-exempt entity, it may have to use funds from other sources to pay its tax liability on the value of the shares of common stock received.
The maximum tax rate applicable to qualified dividend income payable to U.S. stockholders that are individuals, trusts and estates has been reduced to 15% for tax years beginning before January 1, 2013. Dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for the reduced rates. Although this legislation does not adversely affect the taxation of REITs or dividends payable by REITs, the more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate qualified dividends could cause investors who are individuals, trusts and estates to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the shares of REITs, including our common stock. Tax rates could be changed in future legislation.
In order to qualify as a REIT, we must distribute annually to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (which does not equal net income as calculated in accordance with GAAP), determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gain. In order for distributions to be counted as satisfying the annual distribution requirements for REITs, and to provide us with a REIT-level tax deduction, the distributions must not be preferential dividends. A dividend is not a preferential dividend if the distribution is pro rata among all outstanding shares of stock within a particular class, and in accordance with the preferences among different classes of stock as set forth in our organizational documents. Currently,
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there is uncertainty as to the IRSs position regarding whether certain arrangements that REITs have with their stockholders could give rise to the inadvertent payment of a preferential dividend (e.g., the pricing methodology for stock purchased under a distribution reinvestment plan inadvertently causing a greater than 5% discount on the price of such stock purchased). There is no de minimis exception with respect to preferential dividends. Therefore, if the IRS were to take the position that we inadvertently paid a preferential dividend, we may be deemed either to (a) have distributed less than 100% of our REIT taxable income and be subject to tax on the undistributed portion, or (b) have distributed less than 90% of our REIT taxable income and our status as a REIT could be terminated for the year in which such determination is made if we were unable to cure such failure.
The REIT provisions of the Code may limit our ability to hedge our liabilities. Any income from a hedging transaction we enter into to manage risk of interest rate changes, price changes or currency fluctuations with respect to borrowings made or to be made to acquire or carry real estate assets, if properly identified under applicable Treasury Regulations, does not constitute gross income for purposes of the 75% or 95% gross income tests. To the extent that we enter into other types of hedging transactions, the income from those transactions will likely be treated as non-qualifying income for purposes of both of the gross income tests. As a result of these rules, we may need to limit our use of advantageous hedging techniques or implement those hedges through a taxable REIT subsidiary. This could increase the cost of our hedging activities because our taxable REIT subsidiaries would be subject to tax on gains or expose us to greater risks associated with changes in interest rates than we would otherwise want to bear. In addition, losses in a taxable REIT subsidiary generally will not provide any tax benefit, except for being carried forward against future taxable income of such taxable REIT subsidiary.
To qualify as a REIT, we must ensure that we meet the REIT gross income tests annually and that at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% of the value of our assets consists of cash, cash items, government securities and qualified REIT real estate assets, including certain mortgage loans and certain kinds of mortgage-related securities. The remainder of our investment in securities (other than government securities and qualified real estate assets) generally cannot include more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% of the value of our assets (other than government securities and qualified real estate assets) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, and no more than 25% of the value of our total securities can be represented by securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must correct the failure within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter or qualify for certain statutory relief provisions to avoid losing our REIT qualification and suffering adverse tax consequences. As a result, we may be required to liquidate assets from our portfolio or not make otherwise attractive investments in order to maintain our qualification as a REIT. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.
Our charter provides that our board of directors may revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, without the approval of our stockholders, if it determines that it is no longer in our best interest to continue to qualify as a REIT. While we intend to elect and qualify to be taxed as a REIT, we may not elect to be treated as a REIT or may terminate our REIT election if we determine that qualifying as a REIT is no longer in our best interests. If we cease to be a REIT, we would become subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income and would no longer be required to distribute most of our taxable income to our stockholders, which may have adverse consequences on our total return to our stockholders and on the market price of our common stock.
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In recent years, numerous legislative, judicial and administrative changes have been made in the provisions of U.S. federal income tax laws applicable to investments similar to an investment in shares of our common stock. Additional changes to the tax laws are likely to continue to occur, and we cannot assure you that any such changes will not adversely affect the taxation of a stockholder. Any such changes could have an adverse effect on an investment in our shares or on the market value or the resale potential of our assets. You are urged to consult with your tax advisor with respect to the impact of recent legislation on your investment in our shares and the status of legislative, regulatory or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in our shares. You also should note that our counsels tax opinion is based upon existing law, applicable as of the date of its opinion, all of which will be subject to change, either prospectively or retroactively.
Although REITs generally receive better tax treatment than entities taxed as regular corporations, it is possible that future legislation would result in a REIT having fewer tax advantages, and it could become more advantageous for a company that invests in real estate to elect to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a corporation. As a result, our charter provides our board of directors with the power, under certain circumstances, to revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election and cause us to be taxed as a regular corporation, without the vote of our stockholders. Our board of directors has fiduciary duties to us and our stockholders and could only cause such changes in our tax treatment if it determines in good faith that such changes are in the best interest of our stockholders.
In order to qualify as a REIT, five or fewer individuals, as defined in the Code, may not own, actually or constructively, more than 50% in value of our issued and outstanding shares of stock at any time during the last half of each taxable year, other than the first year for which a REIT election is made. Attribution rules in the Code determine if any individual or entity actually or constructively owns our shares of stock under this requirement. Additionally, at least 100 persons must beneficially own our shares of stock during at least 335 days of a taxable year for each taxable year, other than the first year for which a REIT election is made. To help insure that we meet these tests, among other purposes, our charter restricts the acquisition and ownership of our shares of stock.
Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT while we so qualify. Unless exempted by our board of directors, for so long as we qualify as a REIT, our charter prohibits, among other limitations on ownership and transfer of shares of our stock, any person from beneficially or constructively owning (applying certain attribution rules under the Code) more than 9.8% in value of the aggregate of our outstanding shares of stock and more than 9.8% (in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive) of any class or series of our shares of stock. Our board of directors may not grant an exemption from these restrictions to any proposed transferee whose ownership in excess of the 9.8% ownership limit would result in the termination of our qualification as a REIT. These restrictions on transferability and ownership will not apply, however, if our board of directors determines that it is no longer in our best interest to continue to qualify as a REIT or that compliance with the restrictions is no longer required in order for us to continue to so qualify as a REIT.
These ownership limits could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for our common stock or otherwise be in the best interest of the stockholders.
Subject to certain exceptions, distributions received from us will be treated as dividends of ordinary income to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits. Such dividends ordinarily will be subject to U.S. withholding tax at a 30% rate, or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable income tax treaty, unless the distributions are treated as effectively connected with the conduct by the non-U.S. stockholder of a U.S. trade or business. Pursuant to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980,
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or FIRPTA, capital gain distributions attributable to sales or exchanges of U.S. real property interests, or USRPIs, generally will be taxed to a non-U.S. stockholder as if such gain were effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. However, a capital gain dividend will not be treated as effectively connected income if (a) the distribution is received with respect to a class of stock that is regularly traded on an established securities market located in the United States and (b) the non-U.S. stockholder does not own more than 5% of the class of our stock at any time during the one-year period ending on the date the distribution is received. We do not anticipate that our shares will be regularly traded on an established securities market for the foreseeable future, and therefore, this exception is not expected to apply.
Gain recognized by a non-U.S. stockholder upon the sale or exchange of our common stock generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxation unless such stock constitutes a USRPI under FIRPTA. Our common stock will not constitute a USRPI so long as we are a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity. A domestically-controlled qualified investment entity includes a REIT if at all times during a specified testing period, less than 50% in value of such REITs stock is held directly or indirectly by non-U.S. stockholders. We believe, but cannot assure you, that we will be a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity.
Even if we do not qualify as a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity at the time a non-U.S. stockholder sells or exchanges our common stock, gain arising from such a sale or exchange would not be subject to U.S. taxation under FIRPTA as a sale of a USRPI if: (a) our common stock is regularly traded, as defined by applicable Treasury regulations, on an established securities market, and (b) such non-U.S. stockholder owned, actually and constructively, 5% or less of our common stock at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of the sale. However, it is not anticipated that our common stock will be regularly traded on an established market. We encourage you to consult your tax advisor to determine the tax consequences applicable to you if you are a non-U.S. stockholder.
If (a) we are a pension-held REIT, (b) a tax-exempt stockholder has incurred (or is deemed to have incurred) debt to purchase or hold our common stock, or (c) a holder of common stock is a certain type of tax-exempt stockholder, dividends on, and gains recognized on the sale of, common stock by such tax-exempt stockholder may be subject to U.S. federal income tax as unrelated business taxable income under the Code.
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Depending primarily on the number of shares we sell in this offering, the amounts listed in the table below represent our current estimates concerning the use of the offering proceeds. Since these are estimates, they may not accurately reflect the actual receipt or application of the offering proceeds. The first scenario assumes we sell the minimum number of 80,000 shares of common stock in this offering and the second scenario assumes that we sell the maximum number of 68,000,000 shares in this offering, with both scenarios contemplating a price of $25.00 per share. We estimate that for each share sold in this offering, approximately $21.75 (assuming no shares available under the DRIP are sold) will be available for the purchase of real estate. We will use the remainder of the offering proceeds to pay the costs of the offering, including selling commissions and the dealer manager fee, and to pay a fee to our advisor for its services in connection with the selection and acquisition of properties. We will not pay selling commissions or a dealer manager fee on shares sold under the DRIP.
Subject to the discretion of our board of directors, 90% of our investment will be in freestanding, single tenant retail properties and the remaining 10% will be investments in debt. This will be the case no matter how much we raise in connection with the offering. We will use the remainder of the offering proceeds to pay the costs of the offering, including selling commissions and the dealer manager fee, and to pay a fee to our advisor for its services in connection with the selection and acquisition of properties. We will not pay selling commissions or a dealer manager fee on shares sold under our distribution reinvestment plan. If we encounter delays in the selection, acquisition or development of income-producing properties, we may pay all or a substantial portion of our distributions from the proceeds of this offering or from borrowings in anticipation of future cash flow. We have not established any limit on the amount of proceeds from this offering that may be used to fund distributions, except that, in accordance with our organizational documents and Maryland law, we may not make distributions that would: (1) cause us to be unable to pay our debts as they become due in the usual course of business, or (2) cause our total assets to be less than the sum of our total liabilities plus senior liquidation preferences, if any.
The table does not give effect to special sales or volume discounts which could reduce selling commissions and many of the figures represent managements best estimate because they cannot be precisely calculated at this time.
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Minimum Offering (Not Including Distribution Reinvestment Plan) |
Maximum Offering (Not Including Distribution Reinvestment Plan) |
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Amount | Percent | Amount | Percent | |||||||||||||
Gross offering proceeds | $ | 2,000,000 | 100.0 | % | $ | 1,700,000,000 | 100.0 | % | ||||||||
Less offering expenses: |
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Selling commissions and dealer manager fee (1) | $ | 200,000 | 10.0 | $ | 170,000,000 | 10.0 | (9) | |||||||||
Organization and offering expenses(2) | $ | 30,000 | 1.5 | $ | 25,500,000 | 1.5 | ||||||||||
Amount available for investment(3) | $ | 1,770,000 | 88.5 | % | $ | 1,504,500,000 | 88.5 | % | ||||||||
Acquisition:(4) |
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Acquisition fees(5) | $ | 17,700 | 0.9 | $ | 15,045,000 | 0.9 | ||||||||||
Acquisition expenses(6) | $ | 8,850 | 0.4 | $ | 7,522,500 | 0.4 | ||||||||||
Amount invested in properties(7)(8)* | $ | 1,743,450 | 87.2 | % | $ | 1,481,932,500 | 87.2 | % |
* | This amount may be impacted by proceeds used to pay distributions, if any. |
(1) | Includes selling commissions equal to 7.0% of aggregate gross offering proceeds and a dealer manager fee equal to 3.0% of aggregate gross offering proceeds, both of which are payable to the dealer manager, our affiliate. We will not pay any selling commissions or a dealer manager fee on sales of shares under the DRIP. Our dealer manager, in its sole discretion, intends to reallow selling commissions of up to 7.0% of aggregate gross offering proceeds to unaffiliated broker-dealers participating in this offering attributable to the amount of shares sold by them. In addition, our dealer manager may reallow up to 1.5% of the gross offering proceeds it receives as its dealer manager fees to participating dealers to be paid to such participating dealers as marketing fees, based upon such factors as the volume of sales of |
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such participating dealers, the level of marketing support provided by such participating dealers and the assistance of such participating dealers in marketing the offering, or to reimburse representatives of such participating dealers for the costs and expenses of attending our educational conferences and seminars. Alternatively, a participating broker-dealer may elect to receive a fee equal to 7.5% of gross proceeds from the sale of shares by such participating broker-dealer, with 2.5% thereof paid at the time of such sale and 1.0% thereof paid on each anniversary of the closing of such sale up to and including the fifth anniversary of the closing of such sale, in which event, a portion of the dealer manager fee will be reallowed such that the combined selling commission and dealer manager fee do not exceed 10.0% of gross proceeds of our primary offering. The amount of selling commissions may be reduced under certain circumstances for volume discounts. Our dealer manager anticipates, based on its past experience, that, on average, it will reallow 1.0% of the dealer manager fee to participating broker-dealers. The total amount of all items of compensation from any source, payable to our dealer manager or the soliciting dealers will not exceed an amount that equals 10.0% of the gross proceeds of the offering (excluding securities purchased through the DRIP). See the section entitled Plan of Distribution in this prospectus for a description of such provisions. |
(2) | Organization and offering expenses include all expenses (other than selling commissions and the dealer manager fee) to be paid by us in connection with the offering, including our legal, accounting, printing, mailing and filing fees, charge of our escrow holder, due diligence expense reimbursements to soliciting dealers and amounts to reimburse our advisor for its portion of the salaries of the employees of its affiliates who provide services to our advisor and other costs in connection with administrative oversight of the offering and marketing process and preparing supplemental sales materials, holding educational conferences and attending retail seminars conducted by soliciting dealers. Based on the experience of our sponsor and its affiliates, we anticipate that organization and offering expenses, excluding selling commissions and the dealer manager fee, will not exceed 1.5% of the gross proceeds from our primary offering. Our advisor will not be reimbursed for the direct payment of such organization and offering expenses that exceed 1.75% of the aggregate gross proceeds of this offering over the life of the offering, which may include reimbursements to be paid to the dealer manager and soliciting dealers for due diligence fees included in a detailed and itemized invoice. |
(3) | Until required in connection with the acquisition and/or development of properties, substantially all of the net proceeds of the offering and, thereafter, any working capital reserves we may have, may be invested in short-term, highly-liquid investments, including government obligations, bank certificates of deposit, short-term debt obligations and interest-bearing accounts. |
(4) | Working capital reserves will be maintained at the property level and are typically are utilized for extraordinary expenses that are not covered by revenue generation of the property, such as tenant improvements, leasing commissions and major capital expenditures. Alternatively, a lender party may require its own formula for escrow of working capital reserves. |
(5) | Acquisition fees are defined generally as fees and commissions paid by any party to any person in connection with identifying, reviewing, evaluating, investing in and the purchase of properties. We will pay to our advisor acquisition and advisory fees up to a maximum amount of 1.0% of the contract purchase price of each property acquired (including our pro rata share of debt attributable to such property) and up to 1.0% of the amount advanced for a loan or other investment (including our pro rata share of debt attributable to such investment). Once the proceeds from this offering have been fully invested, the aggregate amount of acquisition fees and financing coordination fees shall not exceed 1.5% of the contract purchase price and the amount advanced for a loan or other investment, as applicable, for all of the assets acquired. Assuming that we incur leverage up to 45% of the aggregate fair market value of our assets, as set forth in our investment guidelines, the minimum and maximum acquisition fees would be $32,182 and $27,354,545, respectively. Assuming we incur leverage up to 300% of our total net assets (as defined in our charter and in accordance with the NASAA REIT Guidelines) as of the date of any borrowing, which is generally expected to be approximately 75% of the cost of our investments, the minimum and maximum acquisition fees would be $70,800 and $60,180,000, respectively. |
(6) | Acquisition expenses include legal fees and expenses, travel and communications expenses, costs of appraisals, accounting fees and expenses, title insurance premiums and other closing costs and miscellaneous expenses relating to the selection, evaluation and acquisition of real estate properties, whether or not acquired. For purposes of this table, we have assumed expenses of 0.5% of the purchase price of each property (including our pro rata share of debt attributable to such property) and 0.5% of the amount advanced for a loan or other investment (including our pro rata share of debt attributable to such |
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investment); however, expenses on a particular acquisition may be higher. Acquisition fees and expenses for any particular property will not exceed 4.5% of the contract purchase price of each property (including our pro rata share of debt attributable to such property) or 4.5% of the amount advanced for a loan or other investment (including our pro rata share of debt attributable to such investment). Assuming that we incur leverage up to 45% of the aggregate fair market value of our assets, as set forth in our investment guidelines, the minimum and maximum acquisition expenses would be $16,091 and $13,677,273, respectively. Assuming we incur leverage up to 300% of our total net assets (as defined in our charter and in accordance with the NASAA REIT Guidelines) as of the date of any borrowing, which is generally expected to be approximately 75% of the cost of our investments, the minimum and maximum acquisition expenses would be $35,400 and $30,090,000, respectively. |
(7) | This table does not give effect to any leverage, the use of which would entitle our advisor or its assignees to a financing coordination fee and, as a result, would decrease the percentage of offering proceeds that would be invested in properties. If our advisor provides services in connection with the origination or refinancing of any debt that we obtain and use to finance properties or other permitted investments, or that is assumed, directly or indirectly, in connection with the acquisition of properties or other permitted investments, we will pay the advisor or its assignees a financing coordination fee equal to 0.75% of the amount available and/or outstanding under such financing or such assumed debt, subject to certain limitations. The advisor may reallow some of or all of this financing coordination fee to reimburse third parties with whom it may subcontract to procure such financing. Once the proceeds from this offering have been fully invested, the aggregate amount of acquisition fees and financing coordination fees shall not exceed 1.5% of the contract purchase price and the amount advanced for a loan or other investment, as applicable, for all the assets acquired. Assuming that we incur leverage up to 45% of the aggregate fair market value of our assets, as set forth in our investment guidelines, the minimum and maximum financing coordination fees would be $24,136 and $20,515,600, respectively. Assuming we incur leverage up to 300% of our total net assets (as defined by the NASAA REIT Guidelines) as of the date of any borrowing, which is generally expected to be approximately 75% of the cost of our investments, the minimum and maximum financing coordination fees would be $39,825 and $29,868,750, respectively. |
(8) | Includes amounts anticipated to be invested in properties net of fees, expenses and initial working capital reserves. Such amounts do not reflect any distributions that may be paid to our stockholders. Our organizational documents permit us to use unlimited amounts of any source to pay distributions, including offering proceeds and financings. Any of these distributions may reduce the amount of capital we ultimately invest in properties. |
(9) | Until the NAV pricing date, the per share purchase price for our shares in our primary offering will be up to $25.00 (including the maximum allowed to be charged for commissions and fees, subject to certain discounts as described in this prospectus). In determining the amount of selling commissions and dealer manager fees, we have assumed the sale of 30,800,000 shares at a purchase price of $25.00 per share, and 37,200,000 shares at a per share NAV of $22.73 (plus applicable commissions and fees). |
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We intend to acquire a diversified portfolio of freestanding, single tenant retail real estate assets primarily triple-net leased long term to investment grade and other creditworthy tenants. The assembled portfolio will be well-diversified by tenant, industry and geography, comprised primarily of retail, office and industrial properties, including pharmacies, bank branches, freight, home repair, supermarket, healthcare, discounters, fast food and casual dining, auto care centers, gas and convenience stores and other similar uses. From a geographical standpoint, our target properties: (i) will enjoy a strong location on Main Street, USA; or (ii) will be situated along high traffic transit corridors at locations carefully selected by the corporate tenant to support operationally essential corporate distribution/warehouse and logistical facilities.
| Freestanding, Single Tenant Real Estate We will pursue an investment strategy focused on acquiring a diversified portfolio of newly constructed and existing freestanding, single tenant retail and commercial real estate assets comprised primarily of retail, office and industrial properties, including pharmacies, bank branches, fast food and casual dining, auto care centers, gas and convenience stores and other similar uses, which are located in the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. While most of our investment will be directly in such properties, we may also invest in entities that own or invest in such properties. |
| Net Leases We expect to primarily acquire triple-net and double-net leased properties, with contractual rent increases. NNN leases typically require the tenant to pay substantially all of the costs associated with operating and maintaining the property such as maintenance and repair, insurance, taxes, structural repairs and all other operating and capital expenses. NN leases typically provide that the landlord is responsible for maintaining the roof and structure, or other structural aspects of the property, while the tenant is responsible for all remaining expenses associated with the property. Landlord responsibilities are generally mitigated by manufacturer warranties, construction guaranties and insurance. |
| Investment Grade Tenants We intend to purchase properties leased to investment grade (as determined by major credit rating agencies) and other creditworthy tenants. We will seek to build a portfolio where at least 50% of the portfolio net operating income will be derived from properties leased to investment grade tenants. |
| Industry, Geography and Tenant Diversity We shall strive to assemble a portfolio of real estate that is diversified by industry, geography and tenancy. We do not anticipate any single tenant or geographic concentration to comprise more than 10% of our portfolio. |
| Real Estate Related Assets Although we expect our portfolio will consist primarily of freestanding, single tenant properties, we will not forgo opportunities to invest in other types of real estate investments that meet our overall investment objectives. We may also further diversify our portfolio by making first mortgage, bridge or mezzanine loans on single tenant net-leased properties. |
| Discount to Replacement Cost We intend to purchase properties valued at a substantial discount to replacement cost using current market rents. |
| Low Leverage We will finance our portfolio conservatively at a target leverage level of not more than 45% loan-to-value, which ratio will be determined after the close of this offering and once we have invested substantially all the proceeds of this offering. |
| Long-Term Leases We expect to acquire real estate leased long-term with minimum, non- cancellable lease terms of ten or more years, the majority of which will be fifteen years or greater. |
| Monthly Distributions We intend to pay distributions monthly, covered by FFO, as described under Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations Funds from Operations. |
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| Maximize Total Returns We intend to maximize total returns to our stockholders through a combination of current income and realized appreciation. |
| Exit Strategy We intend to maximize stockholder total returns through a highly disciplined acquisitions strategy, with a constant view towards a seamless and profitable exit. |
The current real estate equity and debt markets are creating a unique window of opportunity for buyers of retail real estate. The lack of liquidity and the stress in the market caused by falling rents, reduced occupancies and expanding capitalization rates has resulted in substantially reduced prices. Moreover, the real estate and capital markets dislocation has further re-priced real estate equities in favor of the purchaser at levels not seen since the early 1990s. We intend to take advantage of this buyers market, which we believe will extend through our offering period. As the markets begin to stabilize, we anticipate capitalization rates to fall, rents to increase and occupancy rates to firm. We believe one or more of such events should cause property values to increase, thus creating profitable exit opportunities for us.
Our investment strategy is well suited for the current real estate environment. Many owners of commercial single tenant real estate are experiencing increasing pressure as rents fall and loans secured by their real estate come due. Additionally, many owners of commercial single tenant real estate are experiencing difficulties re-financing the debt on their properties.
We believe that American corporations, seeking to reduce the costs of distributing their goods and services, are re-evaluating supply chain management and distribution/warehouse capabilities. We believe that this has led to an increased need for well-located real estate from which corporations may cost-efficiently aggregate from suppliers and deploy to their regional retail stores. We consider these two operationally essential categories as complementary to our overall portfolio.
Our real estate team is led by seasoned professionals who have institutional investing experience throughout various real estate cycles. The senior executives have acquired over $10 billion of real estate and real estate related assets. We believe a number of factors differentiate us from other non-traded REITs, including our targeted investment strategy, lack of legacy assets, close relationships with financial institutions and institutional investors that own substantial portfolios of our targeted assets, and our institutional management team.
Our real estate professionals have expertise in real estate and finance which will enable the REIT to acquire a diversified portfolio of properties providing stockholders with a competitive risk-adjusted return. The management team is capable of purchasing and financing a large number of properties simultaneously, while minimizing risk, creating diversification, protecting yield and achieving the stated investment objectives. The management team has a track-record of having acquired over $7 billion of net-leased properties and enjoys a broad network of relationships within most major real estate financial institutions. These relationships provide access to debt capital and the ability to negotiate favorable debt terms on a property by property basis. The ability to achieve favorable debt terms allows us to lever stockholder equity prudently and meet our established investment objectives and returns.
The real estate team is made up of persons with extensive legal, accounting, finance, operations and underwriting experience. We will approach sale-leaseback opportunities by structuring and implementing leases that provide a business solution to the tenants financial, accounting, legal and strategic objectives. We will create value for tenants through specific business-oriented lease structures not offered by other real estate buyers. The experience in structuring operating leases, as well as incorporating specific tenant requests, will provide tenants the opportunity to create flexibility not typically found in traditional sale-leaseback transactions. We expect that this in turn will make us the landlord of choice for many tenants and provide us with opportunities not readily available in the broader market place.
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In recent years, rental rates have fallen, resulting in reduced property values and prices. Under current market conditions, we believe we can acquire properties at a significant discount to replacement cost and thus position our investors for asset appreciation.
We believe a number of factors differentiate us from other non-traded REITs, including:
| Diversified Portfolio We will pursue an investment strategy focused on acquiring a diversified portfolio of newly constructed and existing freestanding single tenant retail real estate assets primarily triple-net leased long term to investment grade and other credit worthy tenants. We will be selective in investing capital in high quality assets in strong locations. We shall strive to assemble a portfolio of real estate that is diversified by industry, geography, tenancy, credit, and use. We do not anticipate any single tenant or geographic concentration to comprise more than 10% of our portfolio. We intend to purchase properties leased to investment grade (as determined by major credit rating agencies) and other creditworthy tenants. We will seek to build a portfolio where at least 50% of the portfolio will be comprised of properties leased to investment grade tenants. Since we intend to acquire long-term leases with minimum, non-cancellable lease terms of ten or more years, the majority of which will be fifteen years or greater, we are less subject to vacancy risk and tenant turnover than our competitors who invest in multi-tenant properties. This allows us to better withstand periods of economic uncertainty when compared with properties with a number of short-term leases. Our individual investments also tend to be smaller because we buy freestanding single tenant properties versus multi-tenant properties such as malls, shopping centers and office buildings. This allows us to achieve much greater diversification by geography, tenant mix and property type. By achieving such diversification, we are less likely to be negatively affected by economic downturns in local markets. Although we expect our portfolio will consist primarily of freestanding, single tenant properties, we will not forgo opportunities to invest in other types of real estate investments that meet our overall investment objectives. Additionally, we expect to further diversify our portfolio by making first mortgage, bridge or mezzanine loans on single tenant net-leased properties. We will acquire or invest in properties and loans located only in the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. |
| Investment-Grade Tenants We intend to build a portfolio where 50% or more of our distributions are from rents guaranteed by investment grade tenants. We believe that in addition to simply having investment grade tenants in our portfolio, the majority of the properties must be tenanted by investment grade (as determined by major credit rating agencies) companies in order to provide durable, predictable investor returns. While we intend to pay distributions equivalent to those of our competitors, we believe that the risk-adjusted returns on our intended portfolio will be superior to those of our competitors due to the high concentration of investment grade tenants, the duration of our leases, i.e., 10 years and greater, and the net lease structure of these leases. |
| Net Leases The net leases with the types of tenants we intend to have would allow us to pass through all operating and capital expense items directly to such tenants. The tenant would be billed directly for all expense items and capital costs and the tenant would pay such costs, directly to the provider without having to go through us. Multi-tenant retail and commercial properties, unlike net lease properties, are subject to much greater volatility in operating results due to unexpected increases in operating costs or unforeseen capital items and repair expenses. Our leases would allow us to pass through these costs to the tenant. We do not currently have a portfolio of properties, nor have we yet generated returns. |
| Unique Buy and Sell Strategy and Timing We will focus on helping our investors take advantage of the current retail real estate buyers market. We intend to acquire high-quality properties at a discount to replacement cost, increase the cash flow of the properties through rent increases and thus improve the value of the properties. |
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| No Legacy Issues Because we will begin with no inventory, and purchase properties at current values, and will not be burdened with legacy assets, we are better positioned to deliver stockholder value. Additionally, we are not asking our stockholders to invest in previously acquired real estate that is not performing as originally expected or overvalued in todays environment. We will build an entirely new portfolio that meets our investment criteria. |
| Experienced Management Team The executives of our advisor have acquired over $10 billion of net-leased real estate. |
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We operate under the direction of our board of directors, the members of which are accountable to us and our stockholders as fiduciaries. The board is responsible for the overall management and control of our affairs. The board has retained our advisor to manage our day-to-day affairs and the acquisition and disposition of our investments, subject to the boards supervision. As described in greater detail under section entitled The Advisor below, our advisor will be responsible for making investment decisions subject to the approval of our board of directors.
Our charter has been reviewed and ratified by a majority of our board of directors, including the independent directors. This ratification by our board of directors is required by the NASAA REIT Guidelines.
Our charter and bylaws provide that the number of our directors may be established by a majority of the entire board of directors but may not be fewer than three nor more than ten. We have a total of five directors, including three independent directors. Our charter provides that, after we commence this offering, a majority of the directors must be independent directors except for a period of up to 60 days after the death, resignation or removal of an independent director pending the election of such independent directors successor. An independent director is defined in accordance with article IV of our charter and in light of Section I.B. 14 of the NASAA REIT Guidelines. There are no family relationships among any of our directors or officers, or officers of our advisor. Each director must have at least three years of relevant experience demonstrating the knowledge and experience required to successfully acquire and manage the type of assets being acquired by us. Currently, each of our directors has substantially in excess of three years of relevant real estate experience. At least one of the independent directors must have at least three years of relevant real estate experience and at least one of our independent directors must be a financial expert with at least three years of financial experience.
During the discussion of a proposed transaction, independent directors may offer ideas for ways in which transactions may be structured to offer the greatest value to us, and our management will take these suggestions into consideration when structuring transactions. Each director will serve until the next annual meeting of stockholders and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualifies. Although the number of directors may be increased or decreased, a decrease will not have the effect of shortening the term of any incumbent director.
Any director may resign at any time and may be removed with or without cause by the stockholders upon the affirmative vote of at least a majority of all the votes entitled to be cast generally in the election of directors. The notice of any special meeting called to remove a director will indicate that the purpose, or one of the purposes, of the meeting is to determine if the director shall be removed. Neither our advisor, any member of our board of directors nor any of their affiliates may vote or consent on matters submitted to the stockholders regarding the removal of our advisor or any director or any of their affiliates or any transaction between us and any of them. In determining the requisite percentage in interest required to approve such a matter, any shares owned by such persons will not be included.
Any vacancy created by an increase in the number of directors or the death, resignation, removal, adjudicated incompetence or other incapacity of a director may be filled only by a vote of a majority of the remaining directors. Independent directors shall nominate replacements for vacancies in the independent director positions. Each director will be bound by the charter and the bylaws.
The directors are not required to devote all of their time to our business and are only required to devote the time to our affairs as their duties require. The directors meet quarterly or more frequently if necessary. Our directors are not required to devote a substantial portion of their time to discharge their duties as our directors. Consequently, in the exercise of their responsibilities, the directors heavily rely on our advisor. Our directors must maintain their fiduciary duty to us and our stockholders and supervise the relationship between us and our advisor. The board is empowered to fix the compensation of all officers that it selects and approve the payment of compensation to directors for services rendered to us in any other capacity.
Our board of directors has established policies on investments and borrowing, the general terms of which are set forth in this prospectus. The directors may establish further policies on investments and borrowings.
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The directors will monitor our and our advisors administrative procedures, investment operations and performance to ensure that the policies are fulfilled and are in the best interest of our stockholders.
The independent directors are responsible for reviewing our fees and expenses on at least an annual basis and with sufficient frequency to determine that the expenses incurred are reasonable in light of our investment performance, our net assets, our net income and the fees and expenses of other comparable unaffiliated REITs. In addition, a majority of the directors, including a majority of the independent directors, who are not otherwise interested in the transaction must determine that any transaction with our advisor or its affiliates is fair and reasonable to us. The independent directors also are responsible for reviewing the performance of our advisor and determining that the compensation to be paid to our advisor is reasonable in relation to the nature and quality of services to be performed and that the provisions of the advisory agreement are being carried out. Specifically, the independent directors consider factors such as:
| the amount of the fees paid to our advisor or its affiliates in relation to the size, composition and performance of our investments; |
| the success of our advisor in generating appropriate investment opportunities; |
| rates charged to other REITs, especially REITs of similar structure, and other investors by advisors performing similar services; |
| additional revenues realized by our advisor and its affiliates through their relationship with us, whether we pay them or they are paid by others with whom we do business; |
| the quality and extent of service and advice furnished by our advisor and the performance of our investment portfolio; and |
| the quality of our portfolio relative to the investments generated by our advisor or its affiliates for its other clients. |
If the independent directors determine that the compensation to be paid to our advisor is not reasonable, our board of directors may request that our advisor reduce its fees, terminate the advisory agreement, renegotiate the advisory agreement or retain a new advisor. Neither our advisor nor any of its affiliates nor any director may vote or consent to the voting of shares of our common stock they now own or hereafter acquire on matters submitted to the stockholders regarding either (1) the removal of such director our advisor, or (2) any transaction between us and our advisor, such director or any of their respective affiliates. In determining the requisite percentage in interest of shares necessary to approve a matter on which a director, our advisor or any of their respective affiliates may not vote or consent, any shares owned by such director, our advisor or any of their respective affiliates will not be included.
Our board of directors has appointed a lead independent director to provide an additional measure of balance, ensure the boards independence, and enhance the boards ability to fulfill its management oversight responsibilities. David Gong, the chairman of the audit committee, currently serves as our lead independent director. Our lead independent director chairs meetings or executive sessions of the independent directors, reviews and comments on board of directors meeting agendas, represents the views of the independent directors to management, facilitates communication among the independent directors and between management and the independent directors, acts as a liaison with service providers, officers, attorneys, and other directors generally between meetings, serves as a representative and speaks on behalf of the company at external seminars, conferences, in the media and otherwise and otherwise assumes such responsibilities as may be assigned to him by the board.
Our management believes that having a combined chairman and chief executive officer, coupled with a majority of independent, experienced directors, including a lead independent director with specified responsibilities on behalf of the board, provides the right leadership structure for the company and is best for the company and its stockholders at this time.
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Our entire board of directors considers all major decisions concerning our business, including property acquisitions. However, our charter and bylaws provide that our board may establish such committees as the board believes appropriate. The board will appoint the members of the committee in the boards discretion. Our charter and bylaws require that a majority of the members of each committee of our board be independent directors.
Our board of directors has established an audit committee, which consists of our two independent directors. The audit committee, by approval of at least a majority of the members, selects the independent registered public accounting firm to audit our annual financial statements, reviews with the independent registered public accounting firm the plans and results of the audit engagement, approves the audit and non-audit services provided by the independent registered public accounting firm, reviews the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm, considers the range of audit and non-audit fees and reviews the adequacy of our internal accounting controls. One of our initial independent directors, David Gong, is our audit committee financial expert. Our board of directors has adopted a charter for the audit committee that sets forth its specific functions and responsibilities.
We have provided below certain information about our executive officers and directors. The primary function of our executive officer is to oversee the advisor, who will provide the day-to-day services for, and operations of, the Company.
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Name* | Age | Position(s) | ||
Nicholas S. Schorsch | 51 | Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer | ||
Edward M. Weil, Jr. | 45 | President, Chief Operating Officer, Treasurer, Secretary and Director | ||
Peter M. Budko | 52 | Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer | ||
Brian S. Block | 40 | Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | ||
David Gong | 63 | Lead Independent Director | ||
Robin A. Ferracone | 59 | Independent Director | ||
Robert H. Burns | 83 | Independent Director |
Nicholas S. Schorsch has served as the chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of our company since our formation in January 2013. Mr. Schorsch served as chairman of the board of directors of ARCT until January 2013 when ARCT closed its merger with Realty Income Corporation and, until March 2012, the chief executive officer, of ARCT, the ARCT advisor and the ARCT property manager since their formation in August 2007. Mr. Schorsch has served as chairman and the chief executive officer of NYRR, the NYRR property manager and the NYRR advisor since their formation in October 2009. Mr. Schorsch has served as the chief executive officer of the PE-ARC advisor since its formation in December 2009. Mr. Schorsch has been the chairman and the chief executive officer of ARC RCA and the ARC RCA advisor since their formation in July 2010 and May 2010, respectively. Mr. Schorsch has been the chairman and the chief executive officer of ARC HT, the ARC HT advisor and the ARC HT property manager since their formation in August 2010. Mr. Schorsch has been chairman and the chief executive officer of BDCA since its formation in May 2010. Mr. Schorsch has been the chairman and chief executive officer of ARC DNAV, the ARC DNAV advisor and the ARC DNAV property manager since their formation in September 2010. Mr. Schorsch also has been the chairman and chief executive officer of ARCP and the ARCP advisor since their formation December 2010 and November 2010, respectively. Mr. Schorsch has been chairman and chief executive officer ARCT III, the ARCT III advisor and the ARCT III property manager since their formation in October 2010. Mr. Schorsch has been the chairman and chief executive officer of ARC Global, the ARC Global advisor and the ARC Global property manager since their formation in July 2011, July 2011 and January 2012, respectively. Mr. Schorsch has served as the chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors of ARCT IV since its formation February 2012 and as the chief executive officer of the ARCT IV advisor and the ARCT IV property manager since their formation in February 2012. Mr. Schorsch has served as the chairman of the board of directors of ARC HT II since its
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formation in October 2012. Mr. Schorsch has served as the chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of ARC RFT since its formation in November 2012 and as chief executive officer of the ARC RFT advisor since its formation in November 2012. From September 2006 to July 2007, Mr. Schorsch was chief executive officer of an affiliate, American Realty Capital, a real estate investment firm. Mr. Schorsch founded and formerly served as president, chief executive officer and vice chairman of American Financial Realty Trust, or AFRT, from its inception as a REIT in September 2002 until August 2006. AFRT was a publicly traded REIT (which was listed on the NYSE within one year of its inception) that invested exclusively in offices, operation centers, bank branches, and other operating real estate assets that are net leased to tenants in the financial services industry, such as banks and insurance companies. Through American Financial Resource Group, or AFRG, and its successor corporation, AFRT, Mr. Schorsch executed in excess of 1,000 acquisitions, both in acquiring businesses and real estate property with transactional value of approximately $5 billion, while also operating offices in Europe that focused on sale and leaseback and other property transactions in Spain, France, Germany, Finland, Norway and the United Kingdom. In 2003, Mr. Schorsch received an Entrepreneur of the Year award from Ernst & Young. From 1995 to September 2002, Mr. Schorsch served as chief executive officer and president of AFRG, AFRTs predecessor, a private equity firm founded for the purpose of acquiring operating companies and other assets in a number of industries. Prior to AFRG, Mr. Schorsch served as president of a non-ferrous metal product manufacturing business, Thermal Reduction. He successfully built the business through mergers and acquisitions and ultimately sold his interests to Corrpro (NYSE) in 1994. Mr. Schorsch attended Drexel University. We believe that Mr. Schorschs current experience as chairman and chief executive officer of NYRR, ARC RCA, ARC DNAV, ARC HT, ARCP, ARCT III, ARC Global, ARCT IV and ARC RFT, his current experience as chairman of ARC HT II, his previous experience as president, chief executive officer and vice chairman of AFRT and chairman and chief executive officer of ARCT, and his significant real estate acquisition experience, make him well qualified to serve as our chairman of our board of directors.
Edward M. Weil, Jr. has served as president, chief operating officer, treasurer, secretary and director of our company and as president, chief operating officer, treasurer and secretary of our advisor and our property manager since their formation in January 2013. Mr. Weil served as an executive officer of ARCT, the ARCT advisor and the ARCT property manager from their formation in August 2007 through March 2012. Mr. Weil has served as an executive officer of NYRR, the NYRR property manager and the NYRR advisor since their formation in October 2009. He has served as the executive vice president and secretary of the PE-ARC advisor since its formation in December 2009. Mr. Weil has served as an executive officer of ARC RCA and the ARC RCA advisor since their formation in July 2010 and May 2010, respectively. Mr. Weil has served as an executive officer of ARC HT, the ARC HT advisor and the ARC HT property manager since their formation in August 2010. Mr. Weil has served as a director of ARCT III since February 2012 and as an executive officer of ARCT III, the ARCT III advisor and the ARCT III property manager since their formation in October 2010. Mr. Weil has served as an executive officer, and, beginning in March 2012, a director, of ARC DNAV, and has served as an executive officer of the ARC DNAV advisor and the ARC DNAV property manager since their formation in September 2010. Mr. Weil has served as an executive officer, and, beginning in March 2012, a director, of ARCP since its formation in December 2010 and has served as an executive officer of the ARCP advisor since its formation in November 2010. Mr. Weil has been a director and an executive officer of ARC Global, the ARC Global advisor and the ARC Global property manager since their formation in July 2011, July 2011 and January 2012, respectively. Mr. Weil has served as the president, chief operating officer, treasurer and secretary of ARCT IV, the ARCT IV advisor and the ARCT IV property manager since their formation in February 2012. Mr. Weil was appointed as a director of ARCT in January 2013. Mr. Weil has served as the president, chief operating officer, treasurer and secretary of ARC HT II, the ARC HT II advisor and the ARC HT II property manager since their formation in October 2012. Mr. Weil served as the president, treasurer and secretary of ARC RFT and the ARC RFT advisor from November 2012 until January 2013. Mr. Weil has served as the executive vice president and secretary of the BDCA advisor since its formation in June 2010. Mr. Weil has been the chief executive officer of our dealer manager, since December 2010. Mr. Weil was formerly the senior vice president of sales and leasing for AFRT from April 2004 to October 2006, where he was responsible for the disposition and leasing activity for a 33 million square foot portfolio of properties. Under the direction of Mr. Weil, his department was the sole contributor in the increase of occupancy and portfolio revenue through the sales of over 200 properties and
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the leasing of over 2.2 million square feet, averaging 325,000 square feet of newly executed leases per quarter. After working at AFRT, from October 2006 to May 2007, Mr. Weil was managing director of Milestone Partners Limited and prior to joining AFRT, from 1987 to April 2004, Mr. Weil was president of Plymouth Pump & Systems Co. Mr. Weil attended George Washington University. Mr. Weil holds FINRA Series 7, 24 and 63 licenses. We believe that Mr. Weils current experience as an executive officer of NYRR, ARC RCA, ARC DNAV, ARC HT, ARCP, ARCT III, ARC Global, ARCT IV and ARC HT II, his current experience as a director of ARC DNAV, ARCT III, ARCP, ARC Global and ARCT IV, his previous experience as senior vice president at AFRT and his real estate experience, make him well qualified to serve on our board of directors.
Peter M. Budko has served as executive vice president and chief investment officer of our company, our advisor and our property manager since their formation in January 2013. Mr. Budko has served as executive vice president and chief investment officer of ARCT, the ARCT advisor and the ARCT property manager from their formation in 2007 through March 2012. Mr. Budko has also served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of NYRR, the NYRR property manager and the NYRR advisor since their formation in October 2009. Mr. Budko has served as executive vice president and chief investment officer of the PE-ARC advisor since its formation in December 2009. Mr. Budko has served as executive vice president and chief investment officer of ARC RCA and the ARC RCA advisor since their formation in July 2010 and May 2010, respectively. Mr. Budko has served as executive vice president and chief investment officer of ARC HT, the ARC HT advisor and the ARC HT property manager since their formation in August 2010. Mr. Budko has served as an executive officer of ARCT III, the ARCT III advisor and the ARCT III property manager since their formation in October 2010. Mr. Budko has served as an executive officer of BDCA and the BDCA advisor since their formation in May 2010 and June 2010, respectively. Mr. Budko has served as executive vice president and chief investment officer of ARC DNAV, the ARC DNAV advisor and the ARC DNAV property manager since their formation in September 2010. Mr. Budko also has been executive vice president and chief investment officer of ARCP and the ARCP advisor since their formation December 2010 and November 2010, respectively. Mr. Budko also has been an executive officer of ARC Global, the ARC Global advisor and the ARC Global property manager since their formation in July 2011, July 2011 and January 2012, respectively. He has also served as executive vice president and chief investment officer of ARCT IV, the ARCT IV advisor and the ARCT IV property manager since their formation in February 2012. Mr. Budko has served as the executive vice president of ARC HT II, the ARC HT II advisor and the ARC HT II property manager since their formation in October 2012. Mr. Budko has served as an executive officer of ARC RFT and the ARC RFT advisor since their formation in November 2012. Mr. Budko was appointed as a director of ARC RFT in January 2013. From January 2007 to July 2007, Mr. Budko was chief operating officer of an affiliated American Realty Capital real estate investment firm. Mr. Budko founded and formerly served as managing director and group head of the Structured Asset Finance Group, a division of Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC from 1997 2006. The Structured Asset Finance Group structures and invests in real estate that is net leased to corporate tenants. While at Wachovia, Mr. Budko acquired over $5 billion of net leased real estate assets. From 1987 1997, Mr. Budko worked in the Corporate Real Estate Finance Group at NationsBank Capital Market (predecessor to Bank of America Securities), becoming head of the group in 1990. Mr. Budko received a B.A. in physics from the University of North Carolina.
Brian S. Block has served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of our company, our advisor and our property manager since their formation in January 2013. Mr. Block has served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of ARCT, the ARCT advisor and the ARCT property manager from their formation in 2007 through March 2012. Mr. Block has served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of NYRR, the NYRR property manager and the NYRR advisor since their formation in October 2009. Mr. Block has served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of the PE-ARC advisor since its formation in December 2009. Mr. Block has served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of and the ARC RCA advisor since their formation in July 2010 and May 2010, respectively. Mr. Block has served as executive vice president and chief financial officer ARC HT, the ARC HT advisor and the ARC HT property manager since their formation in August 2010. Mr. Block has served as an executive officer of ARCT III, the ARCT III advisor and the ARCT III property manager since their formation in October 2010. Mr. Block has served as chief financial officer and treasurer of BDCA since its formation in May 2010, and has served as chief financial officer of the BDCA advisor since its formation in June 2010. Mr.
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Block has served as chief financial officer of ARC DNAV since its formation in September 2010. Mr. Block has served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of ARC DNAV, the ARC DNAV advisor and the ARC DNAV property manager since their formation in September 2010. Mr. Block also has been executive vice president and chief financial officer of ARCP and the ARCP advisor since their formation December 2010 and November 2010, respectively. Mr. Block also has been executive vice president and chief financial officer of ARC Global, the ARC Global advisor and the ARC Global property manager since their formation in July 2011, July 2011 and January 2012, respectively. Mr. Block has served as the executive vice president and chief financial officer of ARCT IV, the ARCT IV advisor and the ARCT IV property manager since their formation in February 2012. Mr. Block served as the executive vice president and chief financial officer of ARC RFT and the ARC RFT advisor from November 2012 until January 2013. Mr. Block is responsible for the accounting, finance and reporting functions at the American Realty Capital group of companies. He has extensive experience in SEC reporting requirements, as well as REIT tax compliance matters. Mr. Block has been instrumental in developing the American Realty Capital group of companies infrastructure and positioning the organization for growth. Mr. Block began his career in public accounting at Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen from 1994 to 2000. Subsequently, Mr. Block was the chief financial officer of a venture capital-backed technology company for several years prior to joining AFRT in 2002. While at AFRT, Mr. Block served as senior vice president and chief accounting officer and oversaw the financial, administrative and reporting functions of the organization. Mr. Block discontinued working for AFRT in August 2007. He is a certified public accountant and is a member of the AICPA and PICPA. Mr. Block serves on the REIT Committee of the Investment Program Association. Mr. Block received a B.S. from Albright College and an M.B.A. from La Salle University.
David Gong was appointed as the lead independent director of our company in January 2013. He was appointed as an independent director of ARCT III in January 2011. He also has served as a director of ARC RCA since February 2011 and served as a director of ARCP from July 2011 until October 2012. Mr. Gong has over 25 years of experience in global asset management. From August 2004 to February 2005, Mr. Gong served as a consultant to AFRT. During such time, he sourced and structured, from a tax and legal perspective, potential bank branch acquisitions in Asia. From August 2002 to July 2004, Mr. Gong served as the managing director of Ankar Capital Management, a New York based investment advisory firm. While at Ankar, Mr. Gong managed the firms private equity group in the Singapore office. From February 1990 to January 2001, Mr. Gong served as a senior partner and international portfolio manager at Ardsley Partners, also New York based investment advisory firm, where he managed several emerging market hedge funds, including the Ardsley Pacific Fund. From September 1981 to January 1990, Mr. Gong served as an equity portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price where he also assisted in the establishment of the firms Hong Kong office. Mr. Gong has served as a director of Helios Capital LLCs Helios Strategic Fund since its inception in January 2005. He previously served as a director of Alliance Capital Management, LLCs Turkish Growth Fund from October 1993 to December 2000 and India Liberalization Fund from December 1993 to December 2003. Mr. Gong received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, a J.D. from the University of California, Davis where he earned Order of the Coif honors and an M.B.A. from Stanford Universitys Graduate School of Business. We believe that Mr. Gongs current experience as a director of ARC RCA and ARCT III, his prior experience as a director of ARCP, his extensive experience in global asset management, his experience in sourcing and structuring potential bank branch acquisitions in Asia for AFRT and his educational background, make him well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.
Robert H. Burns was appointed as an independent director of our companying in January 2013. He was appointed as an independent director of ARC HT in March 2012. Mr. Burns has also served as an independent director of NYRR since October 2009 and ARCT III from January 2011 to March 2012. He also served as an independent director of ARCT from January 2008 until January 2013 when ARCT closed its merger with Realty Income Corporation. Mr. Burns is a hotel industry veteran with an international reputation and over thirty years of hotel, real estate, food and beverage and retail experience. He founded and built the luxurious Regent International Hotels brand, which he sold in 1992. From 1970 to 1992, Mr. Burns served as chairman and chief executive officer of Regent International Hotels, where he was personally involved in all strategic and major operating decisions. Mr. Burns and his team of professionals performed site selection, obtained land use and zoning approvals, performed all property due diligence, financed each project by raising both equity and arranging debt, oversaw planning, design and construction of each hotel property, and managed each
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asset. Each Regent hotel typically contained a significant food and beverage element and high-end retail component, frequently including luxury goods such as clothing, jewelry, as well as retail shops. Mr. Burns opened the first Regent hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1970. From 1970 to 1979, the company opened and managed a number of prominent hotels, but gained international recognition in 1980 with the opening of The Regent Hong Kong, which had many amenities and great service to hotels in the city and attracted attention throughout the world. In all, Mr. Burns developed over 18 major hotel projects including the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City, the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, the Four Seasons Hotel in Milan, Italy, and the Four Seasons Hotel in Bali, Indonesia. Mr. Burns currently serves as chairman of Barings Chrysalis Emerging Markets Fund, a position he has held since 1991, and as a director of Barings Asia Pacific Fund, a position he has held since 1986. Additionally, he has been a member of the executive committee of the board of directors of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City since 2000. He also chairs the Robert H. Burns Foundation which he founded in 1992. The Robert H. Burns Foundation funds the education of Asian students at American schools. Mr. Burns frequently lectures at Stanford Business School. Mr. Burns served as a faculty member at the University of Hawaii from 1963 to 1994 and as president of the Hawaii Hotel Association from 1968 to 1970. Mr. Burns began his career in Sheratons Executive Training Program in 1958, and advanced within Sheraton and then within Westin Hotels from 1962 to 1963. He later spent eight years with Hilton International Hotels from 1963 to 1970. Mr. Burns graduated from the School of Hotel Management at Michigan State University in 1958 and the University of Michigans Graduate School of Business in 1960 after serving three years in the U.S. Army in Korea. For the past five years Mr. Burns has devoted his time to owning and operating Villa Feltrinelli on Lago di Garda, in Northern Italy, a small, luxury hotel, and working on developing hotel projects in Asia, focusing on Vietnam and China. We believe that Mr. Burns current experience as a director of ARC HT and NYRR, his prior experience as a director of ARCT III and ARCT and his experience as a real estate developer for over 40 years, during which he developed over 18 major hotel projects, make him well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.
Robin A. Ferracone was appointed as an independent director of our company in January 2013. Ms. Ferracone has been an independent director of ARC DNAV since May 2012 and ARCP since October 2012. Ms. Ferracone is founder and executive chair of Farient Advisors, an independent executive compensation and performance consulting firm. Prior to forming Farient in 2007, Ms. Ferracone was president of the Human Capital business of Mercer, a business which included talent and compensation consulting, software, and data services globally. Before that role, Ms. Ferracone was chairman of the U.S. West Region for Mercer's parent company, Marsh & McLennan Companies, market leader and worldwide partner at Mercer, president and chairman of SCA Consulting, a firm she co-founded in 1985 and sold to Mercer in 2001, and strategy consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton. With more than 30 years of consulting experience, Ms. Ferracone has advised clients in the areas of business and talent strategies, executive compensation, value management, and performance measurement. Ms. Ferracone is the author of a recently published book entitled, Fair Pay Fair Play: Aligning Executive Performance and Pay. She is a frequent presenter for organizations such as the Council of Institutional Investors and the National Association of Corporate Directors, and testified before a Congressional sub-committee in Washington, D.C. regarding the salary of the President of the United States. In 2011, Ms. Ferracone was named to the NACD Director 100 as one of the most influential people in corporate governance and the boardroom. Ms. Ferracone is currently a member of the Duke University Board of Trustees, the PayScale Board (a venture-backed company), The Committee of 200, and the World Presidents' Organization. Ms. Ferracone received an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School, where she was a Baker Scholar and a B.A. summa cum laude in Management Science and Economics from Duke University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. We believe that Ms. Ferracones current experience as an independent director of ARCP and ARC DNAV and her extensive corporate governance and executive compensation consulting experience, make her well qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors.
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We pay to each of our independent directors the fees described in the table below. All directors also receive reimbursement of reasonable out of pocket expenses incurred in connection with attendance at meetings of our board of directors. If a director also is our employee or an employee of our advisor or any of their affiliates, we do not pay compensation for services rendered as a director.
Our board of directors also may approve the acquisition of real property and other related investments valued at $20,000,000 or less, and in which any portfolio of properties is valued in the aggregate of $75,000,000 or less, via electronic board meetings whereby the directors cast their votes in favor or against a proposed acquisition via email.
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Name | Fees Earned or Paid in Cash ($) | Restricted Shares | ||
Independent Directors(2) |
Additional yearly retainer of $55,000 for the lead independent director and $30,000 for each independent director annually; $2,000 for each meeting personally attended by the directors and $1,500 for each meeting attended via telephone; $750 per transaction reviewed and voted upon via electronic board meeting up to a maximum of $2,250 for three or more transactions reviewed and voted upon per meeting.(1) We also will pay each independent director for each external seminar, conference, panel, forum or other industry-related event attended in person and in which the independent director actively participates, solely in his or her capacity as an independent director of the company, in the following amounts: |
Pursuant to our employee and director initiative restricted share plan adopted in 2013, each independent director will receive an automatic grant of 1,333 restricted shares on the date of each annual stockholders meeting. Each independent director is also granted 1,333 restricted shares of common stock on the date of initial election to the board of directors. The restricted shares vest over a five year period following the grant date in increments of 20% per annum. | ||
$2,500 for each day of an external seminar, conference, panel, forum or other industry-related event that does not exceed four hours, or | ||||
$5,000 for each day of an external seminar, conference, panel, forum or other industry-related event that exceeds four hours. | ||||
In either of the above cases, we will reimburse, to the extent not otherwise reimbursed, an independent directors reasonable expenses associated with attendance at such external seminar, conference, panel, forum or other industry-related event. An independent director cannot be paid or reimbursed for attendance at a single external seminar, conference, panel, forum or other industry-related event by us and another company for which he or she is a director. |
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(1) | If there is a board meeting and one or more committee meetings in one day, the directors fees shall not exceed $2,500 ($3,000 for the chairperson of the audit committee if there is a meeting of such committee). |
(2) | An independent director who is also an audit committee chairperson will receive an additional $500 for personal attendance of all audit committee meetings. |
We have adopted an employee and director incentive restricted share plan to:
| furnish incentives to individuals and entities chosen to receive restricted shares because they are considered capable of improving our operations and increasing profits; |
| encourage selected persons to accept or continue employment with our advisor and its affiliates; and |
| increase the interest of our employees, officers and directors in our welfare through their participation in the growth in the value of shares of our common stock. |
Our employee and director incentive restricted share plan will be administered by the board of directors. The board of directors will have the full authority: (1) to administer and interpret the employee and director incentive restricted share plan; (2) to determine the eligibility of directors, officers and employees (if we ever have employees), employees of our advisor and its affiliates, employees of entities that provide services to us, directors of the advisor or of entities that provide services to us, certain of our consultants and certain consultants to the advisor and its affiliates or to entities that provide services to us, to receive an award; (3) to determine the number of shares of common stock to be covered by each award; (4) to determine the terms, provisions and conditions of each award (which may not be inconsistent with the terms of the employee and director incentive restricted share plan); (5) to make determinations of the fair market value of shares; (6) to waive any provision, condition or limitation set forth in an award agreement; (7) to delegate its duties under the employee and director incentive restricted share plan to such agents as it may appoint from time to time; and (8) to make all other determinations, perform all other acts and exercise all other powers and authority necessary or advisable for administering the employee and director incentive restricted share plan, including the delegation of those ministerial acts and responsibilities as the board of directors deems appropriate. The total number of shares of common stock that may be issued under the employee and director incentive restricted share plan will not exceed 5.0% of our outstanding shares on a fully diluted basis at any time, and in any event will not exceed 3,400,000 shares (as such number may be adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, combinations and similar events).
Our restricted share plan provides for the automatic grant of 1,333 restricted shares of common stock to each of our independent directors, without any further action by our board of directors or the stockholders, when he or she joins the board of directors and on the date of each annual stockholders meeting thereafter. Restricted stock issued to independent directors will vest over a five-year period following the first anniversary of the date of grant in increments of 20% per annum.
Restricted share awards entitle the recipient to shares of common stock from us under terms that provide for vesting over a specified period of time or upon attainment of pre-established performance objectives. Such awards would typically be forfeited with respect to the unvested shares upon the termination of the recipients employment or other relationship with us. Restricted shares may not, in general, be sold or otherwise transferred until restrictions are removed and the shares have vested. Holders of restricted shares may receive cash dividends prior to the time that the restrictions on the restricted shares have lapsed. Any dividends payable in shares of common stock shall be subject to the same restrictions as the underlying restricted shares. We have agreed that the aggregate amount of acquisition fees, acquisition expense reimbursements, financing coordination fees, disposition fees, the asset management subordinated participation and subordinated distributions by the operating partnership, in each case as paid to the advisor (and its affiliates and assignees), together with the fair market value of all shares of restricted stock granted under our restricted share plan, shall not exceed an amount equal to the aggregate of (a) 6% percent of all properties aggregate gross contract purchase price, (b) as determined annually, the greater, in the aggregate, of 2% of average invested assets and 25% of net income other than any additions to reserves for depreciation, bad debt or other similar non-cash
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reserves and excluding any gain from the sale of assets for that period, (c) disposition fees, if any, of up to 3% of the contract sales price of all properties that we sell, and (d) 15% of remaining net sales proceeds after return of capital contributions plus payment to investors of a 6% cumulative, pre-tax, non-compounded return on the capital contributed by investors.
As part of our strategy for compensating our independent directors, we intend to issue restricted share awards under our employee and director incentive restricted share plan, which is described above. Stock options or warrants to purchase shares issued to our advisor, our directors or any of their affiliates will not exceed an amount equal to 10% of the outstanding shares of our company on the date of the grant of the options and warrants. This method of compensating individuals may possibly be considered to be a nonqualified deferred compensation plan under Code Section 409A.
Under Code Section 409A, nonqualified deferred compensation plans must meet certain requirements regarding the timing of distributions or payments and the timing of agreements or elections to defer payments, and must also prohibit any possibility of acceleration of distributions or payments, as well as certain other requirements. The guidance under Code Section 409A provides that there is no deferral of compensation merely because the value of property (received in connection with the performance of services) is not includible in income by reason of the property being substantially nonvested (as defined in Code Section 83). Accordingly, it is intended that the restricted share awards will not be considered nonqualified deferred compensation.
If Code Section 409A applies to any of the awards issued under either plan described above, or if Code Section 409A applies to any other arrangement or agreement that we may make, and if such award, arrangement or agreement does not meet the timing and other requirements of Code Section 409A, then (i) all amounts deferred for all taxable years under the award, arrangement or agreement would be currently includible in the gross income of the recipient of such award or of such deferred amount to the extent not subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture and not previously included in the gross income of the recipient, (ii) interest at the underpayment rate plus 1% would be imposed on the underpayments that would have occurred had the compensation been includible in income when first deferred (or, if later, when not subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture) would be imposed upon the recipient and (iii) a 20% additional tax would be imposed on the recipient with respect to the amounts required to be included in the recipients income. Furthermore, if the affected individual is our employee, we would be required to withhold U.S. federal income taxes on the amount deferred but includible in income due to Code Section 409A, although there may be no funds currently being paid to the individual from which we could withhold such taxes. We would also be required to report on an appropriate form (W-2 or 1099) amounts which are deferred, whether or not they meet the requirements of Code Section 409A, and if we fail to do so, penalties could apply.
We do not intend to issue any award, or enter into any agreement or arrangement that would be considered a nonqualified deferred compensation plan under Code Section 409A, unless such award, agreement or arrangement complies with the timing and other requirements of Code Section 409A. It is our current belief, based upon the statute, the regulations issued under Code Section 409A and legislative history, that the restricted share awards we have granted and that we currently intend to grant will not be subject to taxation under Code Section 409A because such restricted share awards will be considered a nonqualified deferred compensation plan. Nonetheless, there can be no assurances that any restricted share awards which we have granted or which hereafter may be granted will not be affected by Code Section 409A, or that restricted share awards will not be subject to income taxation under Code Section 409A.
We are permitted to limit the liability of our directors and officers to us and our stockholders for monetary damages and to indemnify and advance expenses to our directors, officers and other agents, to the extent permitted by Maryland law and the NASAA REIT Guidelines.
Maryland law permits us to include in our charter a provision limiting the liability of our directors and officers to our stockholders and us for money damages, except for liability resulting from (i) actual receipt of an improper benefit or profit in money, property or services or (ii) active and deliberate dishonesty established by a final judgment and that is material to the cause of action.
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The Maryland General Corporation Law, or MGCL, requires us (unless our charter provides otherwise, which our charter does not) to indemnify a director or officer who has been successful in the defense of any proceeding to which he or she is made or threatened to be made a party by reason of his or her service in that capacity. The MGCL allows directors and officers to be indemnified against judgments, penalties, fines, settlements and reasonable expenses actually incurred in a proceeding unless the following can be established:
| an act or omission of the director or officer was material to the cause of action adjudicated in the proceeding and was committed in bad faith or was the result of active and deliberate dishonesty; |
| the director or officer actually received an improper personal benefit in money, property or services; or |
| with respect to any criminal proceeding, the director or officer had reasonable cause to believe his or her act or omission was unlawful. |
A court may order indemnification if it determines that the director or officer is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnification, even though the director or officer did not meet the prescribed standard of conduct or was adjudged liable on the basis that personal benefit was improperly received. However, indemnification for an adverse judgment in a suit by the corporation or in its right, or for a judgment of liability on the basis that personal benefit was improperly received, is limited to expenses. The MGCL permits a corporation to advance reasonable expenses to a director or officer upon receipt of a written affirmation by the director or officer of his or her good faith belief that he or she has met the standard of conduct necessary for indemnification and a written undertaking by him or her or on his or her behalf to repay the amount paid or reimbursed if it is ultimately determined that the standard of conduct was not met.
Subject to the limitations of Maryland law and to any additional limitations contained therein, our charter limits directors and officers liability to us and our stockholders for monetary damages, requires us to indemnify and pay or reimburse reasonable expenses in advance of final disposition of a proceeding to our directors, our officers, our advisor or any of its affiliates and permits us to provide such indemnification and advance of expenses to our employees and agents. This provision does not reduce the exposure of directors and officers to liability under federal or state securities laws, nor does it limit the stockholders ability to obtain injunctive relief or other equitable remedies for a violation of a directors or an officers duties to us, although the equitable remedies may not be an effective remedy in some circumstances.
However, as set forth in the NASAA REIT Guidelines, our charter further limits our ability to indemnify our directors, our advisor and its affiliates for losses or liability suffered by them and to hold them harmless for losses or liability suffered by us by requiring that the following additional conditions are met:
| the person seeking indemnification has determined, in good faith, that the course of conduct which caused the loss or liability was in our best interests; |
| the person seeking indemnification was acting on our behalf or performing services for us; |
| the liability or loss was not the result of negligence or misconduct on the part of the person seeking indemnification, except that if the person seeking indemnification is or was an independent director, the liability or loss was not the result of gross negligence or willful misconduct; and |
| the indemnification or agreement to indemnify is recoverable only out of our net assets and not from the assets of our stockholders. |
In addition, we will not indemnify any director, our advisor or any of its affiliates for losses, liabilities or expenses arising from or out of an alleged violation of federal or state securities laws unless one or more of the following conditions are met:
| there has been a successful adjudication on the merits of each count involving alleged material securities law violations; |
| the claims have been dismissed with prejudice on the merits by a court of competent jurisdiction; or |
| a court of competent jurisdiction approves a settlement of the claims against the indemnitee and finds that indemnification of the settlement and related costs should be made, and the court considering the request for indemnification has been advised of the position of the SEC and the published position of any state securities regulatory authority of a jurisdiction in which our securities were offered and sold as to indemnification for securities law violations. |
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We have agreed to indemnify and hold harmless our advisor and its affiliates performing services for us from specific claims and liabilities arising out of the performance of their obligations under the advisory agreement. As a result, our stockholders and we may be entitled to a more limited right of action than they and we would otherwise have if these indemnification rights were not included in the advisory agreement.
The general effect to investors of any arrangement under which we agree to insure or indemnify any persons against liability is a potential reduction in distributions resulting from our payment of premiums associated with insurance or indemnification payments in excess of amounts covered by insurance. In addition, indemnification could reduce the legal remedies available to our stockholders and us against the officers and directors.
Finally, our charter provides that we may pay or reimburse reasonable legal expenses and other costs incurred by a director, our advisor or any of its affiliates in advance of final disposition of a proceeding only if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
| the legal action relates to acts or omissions relating to the performance of duties or services for us or on our behalf by the person seeking indemnification; |
| the legal action is initiated by a third party who is not a stockholder or the legal action is initiated by a stockholder acting in his or her capacity as such and a court of competent jurisdiction specifically approves advancement; |
| the person seeking indemnification provides us with a written affirmation of his or her good faith belief that he or she has met the standard of conduct necessary for indemnification; and |
| the person seeking indemnification undertakes in writing to repay us the advanced funds, together with interest at the applicable legal rate of interest, if the person seeking indemnification is found not to have complied with the requisite standard of conduct. |
Our officers and two of our directors also are officers, key personnel and/or members of our advisor. Our advisor will have contractual responsibility to us and our stockholders pursuant to the advisory agreement, dated as of , 2013. Our advisor is indirectly majority-owned and controlled by Messrs. Schorsch and Kahane.
The officers and key personnel of our advisor are as follows:
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Name | Age | Position(s) | ||
Nicholas S. Schorsch | 51 | Chief Executive Officer | ||
Edward M. Weil, Jr. | 45 | President, Chief Operating Officer, Treasurer and Secretary | ||
Peter M. Budko | 52 | Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer | ||
Brian S. Block | 40 | Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer |
The backgrounds of Messrs. Schorsch, Weil, Budko and Block are described in the Management Executive Officers and Directors section of this prospectus.
Affiliates of our advisor may sponsor one or more other real estate investment programs in the future, including NYRR, PE-ARC, ARC RCA, ARC HT, ARC DNAV, ARCT III, ARC Global, ARCP, ARCT IV, ARC HT II and ARC RFT. In addition, our directors, officers and certain of our stockholders may engage for their own account in business activities of the types conducted or to be conducted by our subsidiaries and us.
For a description of some of the risks related to these conflicts of interest, see the section of this prospectus captioned Risk Factors Risks Related to Conflicts of Interest.
The officers and key personnel of our advisor may spend a portion of their time on activities unrelated to us. Each of the officers and key personnel, including Mr. Schorsch, is currently expected to spend a significant portion of their time on our behalf but may not always spend a majority of their time on our behalf. In addition to the key personnel listed above, our advisor employs personnel who have extensive experience in selecting and managing commercial properties similar to the properties sought to be acquired by us. As of the date of this prospectus our advisor is the sole limited partner of our operating partnership.
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The anticipated amount of reimbursement to our advisor for personnel costs will be evaluated on an ongoing basis. Such reimbursement will be subject to limitation and based on a number of factors, including profitability, funds available and our ability to pay distributions from cash flow generated from operations. The anticipated amount of reimbursement on an annual basis for our executive officers is $0.5 million for all executives, including base salary, bonuses and related benefits.
Many of the services to be performed by our advisor in managing our day-to-day activities are summarized below. This summary is provided to illustrate the material functions that we expect our advisor will perform for us as our advisor, and it is not intended to include all of the services that may be provided to us by third parties. Under the terms of the advisory agreement, our advisor has undertaken to use its reasonable best efforts to present to us investment opportunities consistent with our investment policies and objectives as adopted by our board of directors. In its performance of this undertaking, our advisor, either directly or indirectly by engaging an affiliate, shall, among other duties and subject to the authority of our board of directors:
| find, evaluate, present and recommend to us investment opportunities consistent with our investment policies and objectives; |
| serve as our investment and financial advisor and provide research and economic and statistical data in connection with our assets and our investment policies; |
| provide the daily management and perform and supervise the various administrative functions reasonably necessary for our management and operations; |
| investigate, select, and, on our behalf, engage and conduct business with such third parties as the advisor deems necessary to the proper performance of its obligations under the advisory agreement; |
| consult with our officers and board of directors and assist the board of directors in the formulating and implementing of our financial policies; |
| structure and negotiate the terms and conditions of our real estate acquisitions, sales or joint ventures; |
| review and analyze each propertys operating and capital budget; |
| acquire properties and make investments on our behalf in compliance with our investment objectives and policies; |
| arrange, structure and negotiate financing and refinancing of properties; |
| enter into leases of property and service contracts for assets and, to the extent necessary, perform all other operational functions for the maintenance and administration of such assets, including the servicing of mortgages; and |
| prepare and review on our behalf, with the participation of one designated principal executive officer and principal financial officer, all reports and returns required by the SEC, IRS and other state or federal governmental agencies. |
The advisor may not acquire any property or finance any such acquisition, on our behalf, without the prior approval of a majority of our board of directors.
The advisory agreement has a one-year term ending, 2014, and may be renewed for an unlimited number of successive one-year periods. Upon 60 days written notice, the advisory agreement may be terminated (i) by our independent directors or by the advisor without cause (as defined in the advisory agreement) or penalty, (ii) by the advisor for good reason (i.e., the failure to obtain a satisfactory assumption agreement from a successor to us or the operating partnership or a material breach of the agreement by us or the operating partnership) or (iii) by the advisor upon a change of control of the company; provided that the termination of the advisory agreement with cause (as defined in the advisory agreement) shall be upon 45 days prior written notice.
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A majority of our independent directors may elect to terminate the advisory agreement. In the event of the termination of our advisory agreement, our advisor is required to cooperate with us and take all reasonable steps requested by us to assist our board of directors in making an orderly transition of the advisory function. In addition, upon termination of the agreement, our advisor will be entitled to a subordinated distribution upon termination, as described below.
We will pay our advisor fees and distributions and reimburse it for certain expenses incurred on our behalf; provided, however, that our advisor has agreed that (i) it will not be entitled to acquisition fees or reimbursement of acquisition expenses if there are insufficient offering proceeds or capital proceeds to pay such expenses and (ii) such expenses not paid to our advisor will not be accrued and paid in subsequent periods to the extent that there are not sufficient offering or capital proceeds to pay them. For a detailed description of the fees and expense reimbursements payable to our advisor, see the section in this prospectus entitled Management Compensation.
Our advisor and its officers, employees and affiliates engage in other business ventures and, as a result, their resources are not dedicated exclusively to our business. However, pursuant to the advisory agreement, our advisor is required to devote sufficient resources to our administration to discharge its obligations. Our advisor currently has no paid employees; however, as of January 31, 2013, its affiliates had approximately 108 full-time employees, each of whom may dedicate a portion of his or her time providing services to our advisor. Our advisor is responsible for a pro rata portion of each employees compensation based upon the approximate percentage of time the employee dedicates to our advisor. Our advisor may assign the advisory agreement to an affiliate upon approval of a majority of our independent directors. We may assign or transfer the advisory agreement to a successor entity if at least a majority of our independent directors determines that any such successor advisor possesses sufficient qualifications to perform the advisory function and to justify the compensation payable to the advisor. Our independent directors will base their determination on the general facts and circumstances that they deem applicable, including the overall experience and specific industry experience of the successor advisor and its management. Other factors that will be considered are the compensation to be paid to the successor advisor and any potential conflicts of interest that may occur.
Our properties will be managed and leased initially by our property manager. Our property manager is indirectly wholly-owned and controlled by Messrs. Schorsch and Kahane. Nicholas S. Schorsch serves as chief executive officer of our property manager. Edward M. Weil, Jr. serves as its president, chief operating officer, treasurer and secretary. Peter M. Budko serves as executive vice president and chief investment officer of our property manager. Brian S. Block serves as executive vice president and chief financial officer of our property manager. See the section entitled Conflicts of Interest in this prospectus.
Our property manager was organized in 2013 to lease and manage properties that we or our affiliated entities acquire. We will pay our property manager fees and distributions and reimburse it for certain expenses incurred on our behalf. For a detailed description of the fees and expense reimbursements payable to our property manager or its affiliates, see the section in this prospectus entitled Management Compensation.
We entered in a property management and leasing agreement on , 2013, with our operating partnership and our property manager. The property management and leasing agreement has a one-year term ending, 2014, and is subject to successive one-year renewals unless any party gives sixty (60) days written notice to the other parties of its intention to terminate the agreement. We or our operating partnership may terminate the agreement immediately in the event that our property manager commits an act of gross negligence or willful misconduct in the performance of its duties under the agreement.
We intend to build a portfolio comprised almost entirely of real estate with NNN and NN leases. Given the terms of these leases, tenant improvements will almost always be the responsibility of the tenant. There may be limited circumstances where tenant improvements become the landlords responsibility, e.g., Governmental Services Administration, or GSA, leases, at which point the property manager will have to seek approval from our advisors on our behalf pursuant to the terms of the Advisory Agreement prior to providing tenant improvement services. In the event that our property manager assists a tenant with tenant
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improvements, a separate fee may be charged to, and payable by, us. This fee will not exceed 5% of the cost of the tenant improvements. The property manager will only provide these services if it does not cause any of our income from the applicable property to be treated as other than rents from real property for purposes of the applicable REIT requirements described under Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations below.
The property manager also directs the purchase of equipment and supplies, and supervises all maintenance activity, for our properties. The management fees paid to the property manager cover, without additional expense to us, all of the property managers general overhead costs. The principal office of the property manager is located at 405 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10022.
Our dealer manager, is a member firm of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA. Our dealer manager was organized on August 29, 2007 for the purpose of participating in and facilitating the distribution of securities of real estate programs sponsored by American Realty Capital, its affiliates and its predecessors.
Our dealer manager provides certain wholesaling, sales, promotional and marketing assistance services to us in connection with the distribution of the shares offered pursuant to this prospectus. It also may sell a limited number of shares at the retail level. The compensation we will pay to our dealer manager in connection with this offering is described in the section of this prospectus captioned Management Compensation. See also Plan of Distribution Dealer Manager and Compensation We Will Pay for the Sale of Our Shares. Our dealer manager also serves as dealer manager for PE-ARC, NYRR, ARC HT, ARC RCA, ARC DNAV, ARC Global, ARCT IV, ARC HT II, ARC RFT, United Development Funding IV and BDCA.
Our dealer is a wholly owned subsidiary of our sponsor. Accordingly, Messrs Schorsch and Kahane are indirect owners of our dealer manager. Our dealer manager is an affiliate of both our advisor and the property manager. See the section entitled Conflicts of Interest in this prospectus.
The current officers of our dealer manager are:
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Name | Age | Position(s) | ||
Edward M. Weil, Jr. | 45 | Chief Executive Officer | ||
Louisa Quarto | 45 | President | ||
John H. Grady | 51 | Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer | ||
Alex MacGillivray | 51 | Executive Vice President and National Sales Manager | ||
Steve Rokoszewski | 36 | Executive Vice President |
The background of Mr. Weil is described in the Management Executive Officers and Directors section of this prospectus and the backgrounds of Ms. Quarto and Messrs. Grady, MacGillivray and Rokoszewski are described below:
Louisa Quarto has been the president of our dealer manager since September 2009. Ms. Quarto served as senior vice president and chief compliance officer for our dealer manager from May 2008 until February 2009, as executive managing director from November 2008 through July 2009 and co-president from July 2009 through August 2009. Ms. Quarto also has been senior vice president for American Realty Capital Advisors, LLC since April 2008. Ms. Quartos responsibilities for our dealer manager include overseeing sales, national accounts, operations and compliance activities. From February 1996 through April 2008, Ms. Quarto was with W. P. Carey & Co. LLC and its broker dealer subsidiary, Carey Financial LLC, beginning as an associate marketing director in 1996, becoming second vice president in 1999, vice president in 2000 and senior vice president in 2004. From July 2005 through April 2008 Ms. Quarto served as executive director and chief management officer of Carey Financial where she managed relationships with the broker-dealers that were part of the CPA® REIT selling groups. Ms. Quarto earned a B.A. from Bucknell University and an M.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from The Stern School of Business at New York University. She holds FINRA Series 7, 63 and 24 licenses and is a member of the IPAs Executive Committee, its Board of Trustees and serves as the IPAs Treasurer and chair of its Finance Committee.
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John H. Grady has served as the chief operating officer and chief compliance officer of our dealer manager since October 2012. He has also served as the chief compliance officer of BDCA and the BDCA advisor since October 2012. Prior to October 2012, Mr. Grady was the chief operating officer and general counsel at Steben & Company from December 2009 to September 2012. Prior to joining Steben and Company, Mr. Grady served as a senior adviser to Coil Investment Group, from April 2008 to December 2009. From October 2006 to February 2008, Mr. Grady held a number of positions at Nationwide Funds Group, including president and chief executive officer. From February 2001 to June 2006, Mr. Grady worked at Turner Investment Partners and its mutual fund company spin-off, Constellation Funds Group. Prior to February 2001, Mr. Grady was a partner at Morgan, Lewis LLP (1995 2001), and an associate with Ropes & Gray LLP and Steptoe & Johnson LLP. Mr. Grady received his J.D. from The University of Pennsylvania Law School and his B.A. from Colgate University. Mr. Grady maintains his FINRA 3, 7, 24 and 63 licenses and is a member of the bar in Pennsylvania, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Alex MacGillivray has been the senior vice president and national sales manager of our dealer manager since June 2009 and, in January 2010, was promoted to Executive Vice President. Mr. MacGillivray has over 20 years of sales experience and his current responsibilities include sales, marketing, and managing the distribution of all products offered by our dealer manager. From January 2006 to December 2008, he was a director of sales at Prudential Financial with responsibility for managing a team focused on variable annuity sales through numerous channels. From December 2003 to January 2006, he was a national sales manager at Lincoln Financial, overseeing a team focused on variable annuity sales. From June 1996 to October 2002, he was a senior sales executive at AXA Equitable, initially as division sales manager, promoted to national sales manager, and promoted again to chief executive officer and president of AXA Distributors, with responsibility for variable annuity and life insurance distribution. From February 1992 to May 1996, Mr. MacGillivray was a regional vice president at Fidelity Investments with responsibility for managing the sales and marketing of mutual funds to broker-dealers. While at Fidelity Investments, he was promoted to senior vice president and district sales manager in 1994. From October 1987 to 1990, Mr. MacGillivray was a regional vice president at Van Kampen Merritt where he represented mutual funds, unit investment trusts, and closed end funds. Mr. MacGillivray holds FINRA Series 7, 24 and 63 licenses.
Steve Rokoszewski joined our dealer manager in March of 2009 as vice president, national sales desk manager, and is responsible for the hiring, training and the ongoing management of all our dealer managers internal wholesalers. In June 2010, Mr. Rokoszewski was promoted to senior vice president, and, in April 2012, he was promoted to executive vice president. Mr. Rokoszewski has over 12 years experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining our dealer manager, he was Sales Desk Manager for KBS Capital Markets Group, or KBS, from November 2005 through February 2009. While at KBS, he participated in the development of a distribution company that raised over $1.2 billion in 2008. From March 2001 through October 2005, Mr. Rokoszewski served as AVP Sales Desk Manager for MetLife Investors, where he led a team of 24 internal wholesalers who helped raise $1.1 billion in sales in 2004. From August 1998 through March 2001, Mr. Rokoszewski was a financial advisor at PaineWebber, Inc. He received a degree in International Relations from the University of Southern California and currently holds FINRA Series 7, 24 and 63 licenses.