Global Net Lease, Inc.: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2023

Overview

We are a real estate investment trust for United States (“U.S.”) federal income tax purposes (“REIT”) that focuses on acquiring and managing a global portfolio of income producing net lease assets across the U.S., and Western and Northern Europe. Historically, we focused on acquiring and managing a globally diversified portfolio of strategically-located commercial real estate properties, which consisted primarily of mission-critical, single tenant net-lease assets. As a result of acquiring RTL in the quarter ended September 30, 2023, we acquired a diversified portfolio of 989 properties consisting of primarily necessity-based retail single-tenant and multi-tenant properties located in the U.S. Until September 12, 2023, we were managed by Global Net Lease Advisors, LLC (the “Advisor”), who managed our day-to-day business with the assistance of the property manager, Global Net Lease Properties, LLC (the “Property Manager”), who managed and leased our properties to third parties. Prior to September 12, 2023, the former Advisor and the Property Manager were under common control with AR Global Investments, LLC (“AR Global”), and these related parties had historically received compensation and fees for various services provided to us. On September 12, 2023, we internalized our advisory and property management functions as well as the advisory and property management functions of RTL. For additional details on our acquisition of RTL and the internalization of our advisory and property management services, see Note 1 — Organization, Note 3 — The Mergers and Note 12 — Related Party Transactions to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

As of December 31, 2023, we owned 1,296 properties consisting of 66.8 million rentable square feet, which were 96% leased, with a weighted-average remaining lease term of 6.8 years. Based on the percentage of annualized rental income on a straight-line basis as of December 31, 2023, approximately 80% of our properties were located in the U.S. and Canada and approximately 20% were located in Europe. In addition, as of December 31, 2023, our portfolio was comprised of 32% Industrial & Distribution properties, 27% Multi-Tenant retail properties, 21% Single-Tenant Retail properties and 20% Office properties. These represent our four reportable segments and the percentages are calculated using annualized straight-line rent converted from local currency into the U.S. Dollar (“USD”) as of December 31, 2023. The straight-line rent includes amounts for tenant concessions.

Investment Strategy

We seek to:

• generate stable and consistent cash flows by acquiring properties, or entering into new leases, with long lease terms;
• acquire properties utilizing a well-defined investment strategy and rigorous underwriting process to identify and select high-quality net lease investment opportunities;
• lease properties to tenants with logistical and local advantages, strong operating performance, strong business financials, financial visibility, and corporate-level profitability;
• enter into new leases with contractual rent escalations or inflation adjustments included in the lease terms;
• enhance the diversity of our asset base by continuously evaluating opportunities in different geographic regions of the U.S., Canada, and Europe; and
• manage our leverage, which we expect will include strategic or opportunistic dispositions.

In evaluating prospective investments, we consider relevant real estate and financial factors, including the location of the property, the leases and other agreements affecting it, the creditworthiness of its major tenants, its income producing capacity, its physical condition, its prospects for appreciation and liquidity, tax considerations and other factors. In this regard, we have substantial discretion with respect to the selection of specific investments, subject to approval by and any guidelines established by our board of directors (the “Board”). We may change our business strategy, including the assets we seek to acquire, in the absolute discretion of our Board.

We may also originate or acquire first mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity or securitized loans (secured by real estate) but do not currently own any of these asset types.

We own assets located in eleven different countries. As of December 31, 2023, we leased space to 803 different tenants doing business across 94 different industries. As of December 31, 2023, no industry represented more than 10% of our portfolio’s rental income on a straight-line basis and our portfolio was 96% occupied.

Tenants and Leasing

We are focused over the long term on acquiring strategically located properties in the U.S. and strong sovereign debt rated countries in Western and Northern Europe. Over the short term, we are focused on managing our leverage, which we expect will include strategic or opportunistic dispositions. We continuously monitor improving or deteriorating credit quality for asset management opportunities which we review in-house using Moody’s Analytics. Our single-tenant properties and our multi-tenant anchor spaces are leased to primarily “Investment Grade” rated tenants in well established markets in the U.S. and Europe. A total of 57.6% of our rental income on an annualized straight-line basis for leases in place as of December 31, 2023 was derived from Investment Grade rated tenants, comprised of 33.4% leased to tenants with an actual investment grade rating and 24.2% leased to tenants with an implied investment grade rating. “Investment Grade” for our purposes includes both actual investment grade ratings of the tenant or guarantor, if available, or implied investment grade. Implied investment grade may include actual ratings of the tenant parent, guarantor parent (regardless of whether or not the parent has guaranteed the tenant’s obligation under the lease) or tenants that are identified as investment grade by using a proprietary Moody’s Analytics tool, which generates an implied rating by measuring an entity’s probability of default. Ratings information is as of December 31, 2023.

As of December 31, 2023, our portfolio had a weighted-average remaining lease term of 6.8 years (based on square feet as of the last day of the applicable quarter), as compared to 8.0 years as of December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2023, approximately 78.0% of our leases with our tenants contained rent escalation provisions that increase the cash rent that is due over time by an average cumulative increase of 1.3% per year. For additional information, see Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - “Inflation” found later in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our business is generally not seasonal.

Financing Strategies and Policies

We use various sources to fund our business including acquisitions and other investments as well as property and tenant improvements, leasing commissions and other working capital needs. In addition to cash flows from operations, other sources of capital which we have used and may use in the future include, proceeds received from our senior unsecured multi-currency credit facility (the “Revolving Credit Facility), proceeds from secured or unsecured financings (which may include note issuances), proceeds from offerings of equity securities, including offerings of our Preferred Stock and offerings pursuant to our at-the-market programs and proceeds from any future sales of properties.

We expect to incur additional indebtedness in the future and issue additional equity to fund our future needs including acquisitions. The form of our indebtedness will vary and could be long-term or short-term, secured or unsecured, or fixed-rate or floating rate. We will not enter into interest rate swaps or caps, or similar hedging transactions or derivative arrangements for speculative purposes, but have entered into, and expect to continue to enter into, these types of transactions in order to manage or mitigate our interest rate risk on variable rate debt. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources” herein for further discussion.

As noted above, our Board may reevaluate and change our investment and financing policies in its sole discretion without a stockholder vote. Factors that we would consider when reevaluating or changing our investment and financing policies include among other things, current economic conditions, the relative cost and availability of debt and equity capital, our expected investment opportunities, and the ability of our investments to generate sufficient cash flow.

Organizational Structure

Substantially all of our business is conducted through Global Net Lease Operating Partnership, L.P. (the “OP”), a Delaware limited partnership, and The Necessity Retail REIT Operating Partnership, L.P. (“RTL OP,” and together with the OP, the “OPs”) and each of their wholly-own subsidiaries.

Tax Status

We elected to be taxed as a REIT under Sections 856 through 860 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2013. We believe that, commencing with such taxable year, we have been organized and have operated in a manner so that we qualify for taxation as a REIT under the Code. We intend to continue to operate in such a manner to qualify for taxation as a REIT, but can provide no assurances that we will operate in a manner so as to remain qualified as a REIT. To continue to qualify for taxation as a REIT, we must distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (which does not equal net income as calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”)), determined without regard for the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains, and must comply with a number of other organizational and operational requirements. If we continue to qualify for taxation as a REIT, we generally will not be subject to federal corporate income tax on the portion of our REIT taxable income that we distribute to our stockholders. Even if we qualify for taxation as a REIT, we may be subject to certain state, and local taxes on our income and properties, and federal income and excise taxes on our undistributed income.

In addition, our international assets and operations, including those owned through direct or indirect subsidiaries that are disregarded entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes, continue to be subject to taxation in the foreign jurisdictions where those assets are held or those operations are conducted.

Competition

The commercial real estate market is highly competitive. We compete for tenants in all of our markets based on various factors that include location, rental rates, security, suitability of the property’s design for a tenant’s needs and the manner in which the property is operated and marketed. The number of competing properties in a particular market could have a material effect on our occupancy levels, rental rates and on the operating expenses of certain of our properties.

In addition, we compete for acquisitions with other REITs, specialty finance companies, savings and loan associations, banks, mortgage bankers, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, mutual funds and other entities. Some of these competitors, including larger REITs, have greater financial resources than we have and generally may be able to accept more risk than we can prudently manage, including risks with respect to the creditworthiness of tenants.

Competition from these and other third-party real estate investors may limit the number of suitable investment opportunities available to us and increase prices which will lower yields, making it more difficult for us to acquire new investments on attractive terms.

Regulations - General

Our investments are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws, ordinances and regulations, including, among other things, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, zoning regulations, land use controls, environmental controls relating to air and water quality, noise pollution and indirect environmental impacts such as increased motor vehicle activity. We believe that we have all permits and approvals necessary under current law to operate our investments. These regulations have not and are not expected to have a material impact on our capital expenditures, competitive position, financial condition or results of operations.

Regulations - Environmental

As an owner of real estate, we are subject to various environmental laws of federal, state and local governments and foreign governments at various levels. Compliance with existing laws has not had a material adverse effect on our capital expenditures, competitive position, financial condition or results of operations, and management does not believe it will have such an impact in the current fiscal year. However, we cannot predict the impact of unforeseen environmental contingencies or new or changed laws or regulations on properties in which we hold an interest, or on properties that may be acquired directly or indirectly in the future. As part of our efforts to mitigate these risks, we typically engage third parties to perform assessments of potential environmental risks when evaluating a new acquisition of property, and we frequently require sellers to address them before closing or obtain contractual protection (indemnities, cash reserves, letters of credit, or other instruments) from property sellers, tenants, a tenant’s parent company, or another third party to address known or potential environmental issues in the current fiscal year.

Employees and Human Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2023, we had 77 employees located across the United States (73 employees) and Europe (four employees). As of December 31, 2022, we did not have any employees except for one person located in Europe that we directly employed to provide certain tax services.

Prior to the internalization of our advisory and property management services on September 12, 2023, we had retained the former Advisor to manage our affairs on a day-to-day basis and our properties were managed and leased to third parties by the Property Manager. During that time, the employees of the former Advisor, Property Manager and their respective affiliates performed a full range of services for us, including acquisitions, property management, accounting, legal, asset management, investor relations and all general administrative services. The employees of the former Advisor, Property Manager and their respective affiliates were also eligible to participate in our stock option plan and our employee and director incentive restricted share plan, the 2021 Omnibus Incentive Compensation Plan of Global Net Lease, Inc. (the “Individual Plan”). We depended on the former Advisor and the Property Manager for services that were essential to us.

As noted above, we internalized our advisory and property management services and the advisory and property management functions of RTL on September 12, 2023, resulting in the termination or assumption of arrangements with the former Advisor and Property Manager (and the advisor and property manager of RTL) and the hiring of our own dedicated workforce. As a result, we no longer incur fees from contracts with those parties which were recorded in operating fees to related parties in our consolidated statement of operations. Instead, we now incur and will continue to incur costs for employee compensation, which are included in general and administrative expenses in our consolidated statement of operations.

For additional details on the internalization of our advisory and property management services, see Note 1 — Organization, Note 3 — The Mergers and Note 12 — Related Party Transactions to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Available Information

We electronically file annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports, and proxy statements, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). You may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Internet address at http://www.sec.gov. The website contains reports, proxy statements and information statements, and other information, which you may obtain free of charge. In addition, copies of our filings with the SEC may be obtained from our website at www.globalnetlease.com (http://www.globalnetlease.com). Access to these filings is free of charge. We are not incorporating our website or any information from the website into this Form 10-K.

Set forth below are the risk factors that we believe are material to our investors and a summary thereof. The occurrence of any of the risks discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to pay dividends and they may also impact the trading price of our common and our preferred stock. The risk factors contained herein are not necessarily comprehensive and we may be subject to other risks.

Summary Risk Factors

• We may be unable to integrate the operations of RTL and the other entities we acquired in the Mergers successfully and may not realize the anticipated synergies and other benefits of the Mergers or do so within the anticipated time frame.
• We may be unable to acquire or dispose of properties on advantageous terms or our property acquisitions may not perform as we expect.
• Our ability to grow depends on our ability to access additional debt or equity financing on attractive terms, and there can be no assurance we will be able to so on favorable terms or at all.
• Certain of the agreements governing our indebtedness may limit our ability to pay dividends on our common stock, $0.01 par value per share (“Common Stock”), our 7.25% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value per share (“Series A Preferred Stock”), our 6.875% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value per share (“Series B Preferred Stock”), our 7.50% Series D Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value per share (“Series D Preferred Stock”), our 7.375% Series E Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 (“Series E Preferred Stock”, together with the Series A Preferred Stock, the Series B Preferred Stock and the Series D Preferred Stock, the “Preferred Stock”), or any other equity securities we may issue.
• If we are not able to generate sufficient cash from operations, we may have to reduce the amount of dividends we pay or identify other financing sources.
• Funding dividends from other sources such as borrowings, asset sales or equity issuances limits the amount we can use for property acquisitions, investments and other corporate purposes.
• Market and economic challenges experienced by the U.S. and global economies may adversely impact our operating results and financial condition.
• We are subject to risks associated with our international investments, including compliance with and changes in foreign laws and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.
• Inflation and continuing increases in the inflation rate will have an adverse effect on our investments and results of operations.
• We are subject to risks associated with a pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of a contagious disease, including negative impacts on our tenants and their respective businesses.
• We depend on tenants for our rental revenue and, accordingly, our rental revenue depends upon the success and economic viability of our tenants. If a tenant or lease guarantor declares bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, we may be unable to collect balances due under relevant leases.
• Retail conditions and decreased demand for office space may adversely affect our rental revenues.
• In owning properties we may experience, among other things, unforeseen costs associated with complying with laws and regulations and other costs, potential difficulties selling properties and potential damages or losses resulting from climate change.
• We have substantial indebtedness and may be unable to repay, refinance, restructure or extend our indebtedness as it becomes due. Increases in interest rates could increase the amount of our debt payments. We may continue to incur additional indebtedness in the future.
• Because the board of directors will not be fully declassified until 2025, the classified board may have the effect of delaying, deferring, or preventing a change of control of the Company until then.
• Restrictions on share ownership contained in our charter may inhibit market activity in shares of our stock and restrict our business combination opportunities.
• We may fail to continue to qualify as a REIT.

Risks Related to Our Properties and Operations

We may be unable to integrate the operations of RTL and the other entities we acquired in the Mergers successfully and may not realize the anticipated synergies and other benefits of the Mergers or do so within the anticipated time frame.

Prior to the Mergers, we and RTL were externally-managed REITs. Neither of us had employees, other than a limited tax-service employee in Europe that we employed. After the Internalization Merger, we became an internally-managed REIT and are responsible for hiring and maintaining our own workforce to facilitate the advisory and property management services. Because we are now internally managed, we are responsible for directly compensating our officers, employees, and consultants, as well as paying overhead expenses associated with our workforce. There is no assurance that we will realize all, or any, of the anticipated cost-saving synergies. We are now also subject to potential liabilities that are commonly faced by employers, such as workers’ disability and compensation claims, potential labor disputes, and other employee-related liabilities and grievances. We bear the cost of establishing and maintaining employee compensation plans. In addition, as we have never previously operated as a self-managed REIT, we may encounter unforeseen costs, expenses, and difficulties associated with providing these services on a self-advised basis.

In addition, the REIT Merger involved the combination of two companies that previously operated as independent public companies, together with their respective operating partnerships. We may encounter difficulties and unexpected costs in the integration process, including, but not limited to: the inability to sell assets; economic or industry downturns, including interest rate increases; potential unknown liabilities; negative market perception of our revised plan for investment; and performance shortfalls as a result of the diversion of management’s attention by completing the REIT Merger and executing our business plan.

We may be unable to enter into contracts for and complete property acquisitions or dispositions on advantageous terms and our property acquisitions may not perform as we expect.

In the near term, we expect to focus on disposing properties to reduce our existing indebtedness. Over the longer term, we expect to continue acquiring properties, including both single-tenant and multi-tenant properties. There is no assurance that we will be able to dispose of properties on terms that are found favorable to us or at the time we wish to do so. Further, pursuing our investment objective exposes us to numerous risks, including:

• competition from other real estate investors with significant capital resources;
• we may acquire properties that are not accretive or dispose of properties at prices less than we originally contemplated;
• we may not successfully integrate, manage and lease the properties we acquire to meet our expectations or market conditions may result in future vacancies and lower-than expected rental rates;
• we may be unable to obtain debt financing or raise equity required to fund acquisitions on favorable terms, or at all;
• we may need to spend more than budgeted amounts to make necessary improvements or renovations to acquired properties;
• agreements to acquire properties are typically subject to customary conditions to closing that may or may not be completed, and we may spend significant time and money on potential acquisitions that we do not consummate;
• the process of acquiring or pursuing the acquisition of a new property may divert the attention of our management team from our existing business operations; and
• we may acquire properties without recourse, or with only limited recourse, for liabilities, whether known or unknown.

Our ability to grow our assets depends on our ability to access capital from external sources, and there can be no assurance we will be able to so on favorable terms or at all.

In order to meet our strategic goals, which include acquiring additional properties, we will need to access sources of capital beyond the cash we generate from our operations. Our access to capital depends, in part, on:

• general market conditions;
• the market’s perception of our assets and growth potential;
• our current and expected debt levels;
• our current and expected future earnings, cash flow and dividend payments;
• market price per share of our Common Stock and Preferred Stock, and any other class or series of equity security we may seek to issue.

We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain debt financing or raise equity on terms favorable or acceptable to us or at all. If we are unable to do so, our ability to successfully pursue our strategy of growth through property acquisitions will be limited.

If we are not able to increase the amount of cash we have available to pay dividends, we may have to reduce dividend payments or identify other financing sources to fund the payment of dividends at their current levels.

We cannot guarantee that we will be able to pay dividends on a regular basis on our Common Stock, Preferred Stock or any other class or series of stock we may issue in the future. Any accrued and unpaid dividends payable with respect to our Preferred Stock must be paid upon redemption of those shares. Decisions regarding the frequency and amount of any future dividends we pay on our Common Stock will remain at all times entirely at the discretion of our board of directors, which reserves the right to change our dividend policy at any time and for any reason.

As noted herein, our debt agreements, including the indentures governing the 4.50% Senior Notes and the 3.75% Senior Notes (collectively, our “Senior Notes”) as well as our Credit Agreement, which consists of our senior unsecured multi-currency revolving credit facility (the “Revolving Credit Facility”), contain various covenants that limit our ability to pay dividends. For example, our Credit Agreement prohibits us from paying distributions, including cash dividends payable on our Common Stock, Preferred Stock or any other class or series of stock we may issue in the future, or redeem or otherwise repurchase shares of any of these outstanding securities, or any other class or series of stock we may issue in the future, that exceed 100% of our Adjusted FFO as defined in the Credit Agreement (which is different from the definition of AFFO disclosed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K) for any period of four consecutive fiscal quarters, except in limited circumstances, including that for one fiscal quarter in each calendar year, we may pay cash dividends and other distributions and make redemptions and other repurchases in an aggregate amount equal to no more than 105% of our Adjusted FFO. We have used this exception in the past and may need to do so in the future.

Our ability to pay dividends in the future and comply with the restrictions on the payment of dividends depends on our ability to operate profitably and to generate sufficient cash flows from the operations of our existing properties and any properties we may acquire. In the past, the lenders under our Credit Agreement have consented to increase the maximum amount of our Adjusted FFO we may use to pay cash dividends and other distributions and make redemptions and other repurchases in certain periods. There can be no assurance that they will do so again in the future if we need to do so.

Our cash flows provided by operations were $143.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. During this period, we paid total dividends of $236.4 million, including payments to holders of our Common Stock, Preferred Stock and distributions to holders of LTIP Units. In prior periods, we have funded a larger portion of the amounts required to fund the dividends we pay from cash on hand, consisting of proceeds from borrowings, and we may need to do so in the future.

If we are not able to generate sufficient cash from operations, we may have to reduce the amount of dividends we pay or identify other financing sources. There can be no assurance that other sources will be available on favorable terms, or at all. Funding dividends from other sources such as borrowings, asset sales or equity issuances limits the amount we can use for property acquisitions, investments and other corporate purposes.

Market and economic challenges experienced by the U.S. and global economies may adversely impact our operating results and financial condition.

Our business may be affected by market and economic challenges experienced by the U.S. and global economies. These conditions may materially affect the commercial real estate industry, the businesses of our tenants and the value and performance of our properties and the availability or the terms of financing that we may utilize, among other things. Challenging economic conditions may also impact the ability of certain of our tenants to enter into new leasing transactions or satisfy rental payments under existing leases.

Our operating results and value of our properties 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 mortgage financing on favorable terms, or at all;
• changes in tax, real estate, environmental and zoning laws;
• the possibility that one or more of our tenants will be unable to pay their rental obligations;
• decreased demand for our properties due to among other things, significant job losses that occur or may occur in the future, resulting in lower rents and occupancy levels;
• an increase in the number of bankruptcies or insolvency proceedings of our tenants and lease guarantors, which could delay or preclude our efforts to collect rent and any past due balances under the relevant leases;
• widening credit spreads as investors demand higher risk premiums, resulting in lenders increasing the cost for debt financing;
• reduction in the amount of capital that is available to finance real estate, which, in turn, could lead to a decline in real estate values generally, slow real estate transaction activity, a reduction in the loan-to-value ratio upon which lenders are willing to lend, and difficulty refinancing our debt;
• a decrease in the market value of our properties, which may limit our ability to obtain debt financing
• a need for us to establish significant provisions for losses or impairments;
• reduction in the value and liquidity of our short-term investments and increased volatility in market rates for such investments; and
• reduced cash flows from our operations due to changing exchange rates impacting conditions from our operations in continental Europe, the United Kingdom and Canada.

We are subject to additional risks from our international investments.

Based on the percentage of annualized rental income on a straight-line basis as of December 31, 2023, 20% of our properties were located in Europe, primarily in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Finland, France, Germany, and the Channel Islands, and 80% of our properties were located in the U.S. and Canada. These investments may be affected by factors peculiar to the laws and business practices of the jurisdictions in which the properties are located. These laws and business practices may expose us to risks that are different from and in addition to those commonly found in the U.S. Foreign investments pose several risks, including the following:

• the ongoing uncertainties as a result of instability or changes in geopolitical conditions, including military or political conflicts, such as those caused by the ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine or Israel and Hamas;
• the burden of complying with a wide variety of foreign laws;
• changing governmental rules and policies, including changes in land use and zoning laws, more stringent environmental laws or changes in such laws;
• existing or new laws relating to the foreign ownership of real property or loans and laws restricting the ability of foreign persons or companies to remove profits earned from activities within the country to the person’s or company’s country of origin;
• the potential for expropriation;
• possible currency transfer restrictions;
• imposition of adverse or confiscatory taxes;
• changes in real estate and other tax rates and changes in other operating expenses in particular countries;
• possible challenges to the anticipated tax treatment of the structures that allow us to acquire and hold investments;
• adverse market conditions caused by terrorism, civil unrest and changes in national or local governmental or economic conditions;
• the willingness of domestic or foreign lenders to make loans in certain countries and changes in the availability, cost and terms of loan funds resulting from varying national economic policies;
• general political and economic instability in certain regions; and
• the potential difficulty of enforcing obligations in other countries.

Investments in properties or other real estate investments outside the U.S. subject us to foreign currency risk.

Investments we make outside the U.S. are generally subject to foreign currency risk due to fluctuations in exchange rates between foreign currencies and the USD. Revenues generated from properties or other real estate investments located in foreign countries are generally denominated in the local currency but reflected as USD on our consolidated financial statements. As of December 31, 2023, we had $2.7 billion ($2.3 billion, £101.0 million and €191.5 million) of gross mortgage notes payable. Further, as of December 31, 2023, we had $1.7 billion ($1.0 billion, £261.0 million, €319.1 million and C$38.0 million) in outstanding debt under the Revolving Credit Facility.

We may continue to borrow in foreign currencies when purchasing properties located outside the Unites States, including draws under our Revolving Credit Facility. Changes in exchange rates of any of these foreign currencies to USD may affect our revenues, operating margins and the amount of cash generated by these properties and the amount of cash we have available to pay dividends. We are generally a net receiver of these foreign currencies (we receive more cash than we pay out), and therefore our results of operations of our foreign properties benefit from a weaker USD, and are adversely affected by a stronger USD, relative to the foreign currency. Any positive impact to revenue from tenants in prior years from a weaker USD may not continue in the future. Changes to exchange rates have affected and may continue to affect the book value of our assets and the amount of stockholders’ equity.

Changes in foreign currency exchange rates may impact the value of our assets. These changes may adversely affect our status as a REIT. Foreign exchange rates may be influenced by many factors, including:

• changing supply and demand for a particular currency;
• the prevailing interest rates in one country as compared to another country;
• monetary policies of governments (including exchange control programs, restrictions on local exchanges or markets and limitations on foreign investment in a country or an investment by residents of a country in other countries);
• trade restrictions and other factors that could lead to changes in balances of payments and trade; and
• currency devaluations and revaluations.

Also, governments from time to time intervene in the currency markets, directly and by regulation, in order to influence exchange rates. These events and actions are unpredictable.

We have used and may continue to use foreign currency derivatives, including options, currency forward and cross currency swap agreements, to manage a portion of our exposure to fluctuations in GBP-USD and EUR-USD exchange rates, but there can be no assurance our hedging strategy will be successful. If we fail to effectively hedge our currency exposure, or if we experience other losses related to our exposure to foreign currencies, our operating results could be negatively impacted and cash flows could be reduced.

We are subject to risks associated with a pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of a contagious disease, which can cause severe disruptions in the U.S., and global economy.

Another pandemic in the future could have repercussions across many sectors and areas of the global economy and financial markets, leading to significant adverse impacts on economic activity as well as significant volatility and negative pressure in financial markets. COVID-19 has impacted, and new variants or other potential pandemics could continue to impact in-person commerce which has and may continue to impact the revenues generated by our tenants which may further impact their ability to pay their rent to us when due. We may also potentially experience a negative impact on the health of our personnel, particularly if a significant number of them are impacted, which could result in a deterioration in our ability to ensure business continuity during this disruption

Additionally, a continuing or permanent impact on the business of our tenants could make it difficult for us to renew or re-lease our properties at rental rates equal to or above historical rates. We could also incur more significant re-leasing costs, and the re-leasing process could take longer. In addition, there has been a shift away from in-person work environments to remote or hybrid work environments which has had an adverse effect on the overall demand for office space including in our portfolio.

Reliance on major tenants make us more susceptible to adverse events with respect to those tenants.

The value of our investment in real estate assets is historically driven by the credit quality of the underlying tenant, and an adverse change in a major tenant’s financial condition or a decline in the credit rating of such tenant may result in a decline in the value of our investments. No single tenant accounted for 5% or more of our consolidated annualized rental income on a straight-line basis as of December 31, 2023, however this may change in the future.

A high concentration of our properties in a particular geographic area magnifies the effects of downturns in that geographic area and could have a disproportionate adverse effect on the value of our investments and results of operations.

As of December 31, 2023, the following countries and states accounted for 5% or more of our consolidated annualized rental income on a straight-line basis:

Likewise, a high concentration of our tenants in a similar industry magnifies the effects of downturns in that industry and would have a disproportionate adverse effect on the value of investments and results of operations.

If tenants of our properties are concentrated in a certain industry category, any adverse effect to that industry generally would have a disproportionately adverse effect on our portfolio. As of December 31, 2023, the following industries had concentrations of properties accounting for 5.0% or more of our consolidated annualized rental income on a straight-line basis:

Any adverse situation that disproportionately affects the industries listed above may have a magnified adverse effect on our portfolio.

The inability of a tenant in single-tenant properties to pay rent will materially reduce our revenues.

Presently, the majority of our properties are occupied by single tenants and, therefore, the success of our investments is materially dependent on the financial stability of these individual tenants. Many of our single tenant leases require that certain property level operating expenses and capital expenditures, such as real estate taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance and repairs (other than, in certain circumstances structural repairs, such as repairs to the foundation, exterior walls and rooftops) including increases with respect thereto, be paid, or reimbursed to us, by our tenants. A default of any tenant on its lease payments to us would cause us to lose the revenue from the property and potentially increase our expenses and cause us to have to find an alternative source of revenue to fund related debt payment and prevent a foreclosure if the property is subject to a mortgage. We may experience delays in enforcing our rights as landlord and may incur substantial costs in protecting our investment including potentially leasing the property to a new tenant. 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 tenant’s election not to extend a lease upon its expiration, could have an adverse effect.

Single-tenant properties may be difficult to sell or re-lease.

If a lease for one of our single-tenant properties is terminated or not renewed or, in the case of a mortgage loan, if we take possession through a foreclosure action, 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. Some of our properties are “special use single-tenant properties” that may be relatively illiquid compared to other types of real estate and financial assets limiting our ability to quickly change our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions.

Retail conditions and decreased demand for office space may adversely affect our revenues.

Approximately 27% of our annualized straight-line rent (calculated as of December 31, 2023) is attributable to our Multi-Tenant Retail segment. 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 anchored shopping centers and other large retailing companies, the ongoing consolidation in the retail and grocery sector, changes in consumer preferences and spending, excess amounts of retail space in a number of markets and competition for tenants in the markets, as well as the increasing use of the Internet by retailers and consumers. Customer traffic to these shopping areas may be adversely affected by the closing of stores in the same multi-tenant property, or by a reduction in traffic to these stores resulting from a regional economic downturn, a general downturn in the local area where our property is located, or a decline in the desirability of the shopping environment of a particular retail property.

Revenue generated by a retail property and its value may be adversely affected by negative perceptions of the safety, convenience and attractiveness of the property. The majority of our leases in the Multi-Tenant Retail sector require the tenant to pay base rent plus contractual base rent increases but these base increases may not be sufficient to fund increased expenses or may still be below market rates.

In addition, approximately 20% of our annualized straight-line rent (calculated as of December 31, 2023) is attributable to our Office segment. In recent years, the market for office space has seen a shift in the use of space due to the widespread practices of telecommuting, videoconferencing, and renting shared workspaces, which accelerated at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. These trends have led, and may in the future lead, to more efficient office layouts and a decrease in square feet leased per employee. The impact of alternative workspaces and technology could result in tenant downsizings upon renewal, or tenants seeking office space outside of typical central business districts. These trends could cause an increase in vacancy rates at office buildings and a decrease in demand for new supply, and could materially and adversely affect us.

A shift in retail shopping from brick-and-mortar stores to online shopping may have an adverse impact on our Multi-Tenant Retail segment tenants.

Many retailers operating brick and mortar stores have made online sales a piece of their business. There can be no assurance that our Multi-Tenant Retail segment strategy of building a diverse portfolio focused on properties leased to necessity-based, service retail and experiential retail tenants, will insulate us from the effects online commerce has had on some retail operators. The shift to online shopping, including online orders for immediate delivery or pickup in store, has further accelerated, and may cause further declines in brick-and-mortar sales generated by retail tenants and may cause certain of our tenants to reduce the size or number of their retail locations. Our grocery store tenants are incorporating e-commerce concepts through home delivery or curbside pickup, which could reduce foot traffic at our properties and reduce the demand for these properties. Traditional grocery chains are also subject to increasing competition from new market participants and food retailers who have incorporated the Internet as a direct-to-consumer channel and Internet-only retailers that sell grocery products. This shift may adversely affect our occupancy and rental rates, which would affect our revenues and cash flows. Changes in shopping trends as a result of the growth in e-commerce may also affect the profitability of retailers that do not adapt to changes in market conditions. These conditions may adversely impact our results of operations and cash flows if we are unable to meet the needs of our tenants or if our tenants encounter financial difficulties as a result of changing market conditions. We cannot predict with certainty the future needs or wants tenants, what retail spaces will look like, or how much revenue will be generated at traditional brick and mortar locations. If we are unable to anticipate and respond promptly to trends in the market (such as space for a drive through or curbside pickup), our occupancy levels and rental rates may decline in our Multi-Tenant Retail segment.

Our revenue in our Multi-Tenant Retail segment is impacted by the success and economic viability of our anchor retail tenants. Our reliance on single or significant tenants in certain buildings may decrease our ability to lease vacated space.

Any anchor tenant, which we define as a tenant that occupies over 10,000 square feet of one of our Multi-Tenant Retail properties, may become insolvent, may suffer a downturn in its business, or may decide not to renew its lease. Any of these events would likely result in the tenant reducing, or ceasing to make, rental payments. A lease termination by an anchor tenant could result in lease terminations or reductions in rent payments by other tenants whose leases permit cancellation or rent reduction if another tenant’s lease is terminated.

We own properties where the tenants may have rights to terminate their leases if certain other tenants are no longer open for business. These “co-tenancy” provisions also exist in some leases where we own a portion of a retail property and one or more of the anchor tenants lease space in that portion of the center not owned or controlled by us. If these tenants were to vacate their space, tenants with co-tenancy provisions would have the right to terminate their leases or seek a rent reduction. Even if co-tenancy rights do not exist, other tenants may experience downturns in their businesses that could threaten their ongoing ability to continue paying rent and remain solvent. In such event, we may be unable to re-lease the vacated space at attractive rents or at all. In some cases, it may take extended periods of time to re-lease a space, particularly one previously occupied by a major tenant or non-owned anchor. Additionally, tenants are involved in mergers or acquisitions with or by third parties or undertake other restructurings may choose to consolidate, downsize or relocate operations, resulting in terminating or not renewing their leases with us or vacating the leases premises. The transfer to a new anchor tenant, or the bankruptcy, insolvency or downturn in business of any of our anchor tenants, could cause customer traffic in the retail center to decrease and thereby reduce the income generated by that retail center. Many expenses associated with properties (such as operating expenses and capital expenses) cannot be reduced, and may even increase due to inflation or otherwise, in the case of a termination. A lease transfer to a new anchor tenant could also allow other tenants to make reduced rental payments or to terminate their leases at the retail center.

If an anchor tenant vacates its space for any reason and we are unable to re-lease the vacated space to a new anchor tenant, we may incur additional expenses in order to remodel the space to be able to re-lease the space to more than one tenant. There can be no assurance that any re-leasing of a vacated space, either to a single new anchor tenant or to more than one tenant, will be on comparable terms to the prior lease, which could adversely affect our cash flow.

A sale-leaseback transaction may be recharacterized in a tenant’s bankruptcy proceeding.

We have entered and may continue to enter into sale-leaseback transactions, in which we purchase a property and then lease the same property back to the seller, who then becomes a tenant. In a bankruptcy of a tenant, a transaction structured as a sale-leaseback may be recharacterized as either a financing or a joint venture, either one of which may negatively impact us. If the transaction was recharacterized 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 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. The tenant/debtor might have the ability to propose a plan restructuring the term, interest rate and amortization schedule. If confirmed by the bankruptcy court, we would be bound by the new terms. If the transaction was recharacterized as a joint venture, we would be treated as a joint venture partner with our tenant changing the nature of our legal relationship regarding the property. We could, for example, be held liable, under some circumstances, for debts incurred by the tenant relating to the property.

If a tenant or lease guarantor declares bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, we may be unable to collect balances due under relevant leases.

Any of our tenants, or any guarantor of a tenant’s lease obligations, could become insolvent or be subject to a bankruptcy proceeding pursuant to Title 11 of the United States Code. A bankruptcy filing of our tenants or any guarantor of a tenant’s lease obligations in the United States would result in a stay of all efforts by us to collect pre-bankruptcy debts from these entities or their assets, unless we receive an enabling order from the bankruptcy court. Post-bankruptcy debts would be required to be paid currently. If a lease is assumed by the tenant, all pre-bankruptcy balances owing under it must be paid in full. If a lease is rejected by a tenant in bankruptcy, we would only 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 as of the date of the bankruptcy filing (post-bankruptcy rent would be payable in full). This claim could be paid only if funds were available, and then only in the same percentage as that realized on other unsecured claims. There is no assurance the debtor in possession or bankruptcy trustee will assume the lease in a bankruptcy proceeding.

Highly leveraged tenants that experience downturns in their operating results due to adverse changes to their business may have a higher probability of filing for bankruptcy or insolvency. In bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings in the United States, a tenant may have the option of vacating a property instead of paying rent reducing our revenues and limiting our options until the impacted property is released from the bankruptcy or insolvency proceeding.

A bankruptcy could delay efforts to collect past due balances under the relevant leases, and could ultimately preclude full collection of these sums and may decrease or eliminate rental payments from the impacted tenant reducing our cash flow.

For any foreign tenant or lease guarantor, the tenant or lease guarantor could become insolvent or be subject to an insolvency or bankruptcy proceeding pursuant to a foreign jurisdiction instead of Title 11 of the United States Code. The effect of the insolvency or bankruptcy proceeding on us will depend in each case on the relevant jurisdiction and its own insolvency regime or code but in all events we will face difficulties in collecting amounts owed to us with respect to the applicable lease under these circumstances.

The credit profile of our tenants may create a higher risk of lease defaults and therefore lower revenues.

Based on annualized rental income on a straight-line basis as of December 31, 2023, 42% of our tenants were not evaluated or ranked by credit rating agencies, or were ranked below “investment grade,” which, for our purposes, includes both actual investment grade ratings of the tenant and “implied investment grade rating,” which includes ratings of the tenant’s parent (regardless of whether the parent has guaranteed the tenant’s obligation under the lease) or lease guarantor. The term “parent” for these purposes includes any entity, including any governmental entity owning more than 50% of the voting stock of the tenant. Implied Investment Grade ratings are also determined using a proprietary Moody’s Analytics tool, which creates an implied rating by measuring an entity’s probability of default. Leases with certain of these tenants may therefore pose a higher risk of default than would long-term leases with tenants who have actual investment grade ratings.

Long-term leases may result in income lower than short term leases.

We generally seek to enter into long-term leases with our tenants. As of December 31, 2023, 21% of our annualized rental income on a straight-line basis was generated from net leases, with remaining lease term of more than ten years. Leases of long duration, or with renewal options that specify a maximum rate increase, may not result in market rent over time if we do not accurately judge the potential for increases in market rental rates.

As of December 31, 2023, 22.0% of our annualized rental income on a straight-line basis was generated from leases that did not contain any rent escalation provisions, which impacts our ability to cover increased operating costs at properties with these leases. Further, properties leased subject to long term leases at below market rental rates will be less attractive to potential buyers, which could affect our ability to sell the property at an advantageous price.

Properties may have vacancies for a significant period.

A property may have vacancies either due to tenant defaults or the expiration of leases. If vacancies continue for a long period of time, we may suffer reduced revenues resulting in less cash available for things such as dividends. In addition, because the market value of a property depends principally on the cash generated by the property, the resale value of a property with prolonged vacancies could decline significantly.

We generally obtain only limited warranties when we purchase a property and would therefore have only limited recourse if our due diligence did not identify any issues that lower the value of our property.

We have acquired, and may continue to acquire, properties in “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 we entered into 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 of our invested capital in the property as well as the loss of rental income from that property.

We may be unable to secure funds for future tenant improvements or capital needs, which could impact the value of the applicable property or our ability to lease the applicable property on favorable terms.

If a tenant does not renew its lease or otherwise vacate its space, we likely will be required to expend substantial funds to improve and refurbish 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, even if our leases with tenants require tenants to pay routine property maintenance costs. We may have to obtain financing from sources such as borrowings, property sales or future equity offerings to fund these capital requirements. These sources of funding may not be available on attractive terms or at all. If we cannot procure additional funding for capital improvements, the value of the applicable property or our ability to lease space at the applicable property on favorable terms could be adversely impacted.

We may be unable to sell a property when we desire to do so.

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. In addition, we may not have funds available to correct defects or make improvements that are necessary or desirable before the sale of a property. 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. In addition, as a REIT, our ability to sell properties that have been held for less than two years is limited as any gain recognized on the sale or other disposition of such property could be subject to the 100% prohibited transaction tax, as discussed in more detail below.

We have acquired or financed, and may continue to acquire or finance, properties with lock-out provisions which may prohibit us from selling a property, or may require us to maintain specified debt levels for a period of years on some properties.

Lock-out provisions, such as the provisions contained in certain mortgage loans we have entered into, could materially restrict our ability to sell or otherwise dispose of or refinance properties, including by requiring a yield maintenance premium to be paid in connection with prepaying principal upon a sale or disposition. Lock-out provisions may also 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 also impair our ability to take other actions during the lock-out period that may otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders. 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. Payment of yield maintenance premiums in connection with dispositions or refinancings could adversely affect our cash flow.

Rising expenses could reduce cash flow.

The properties that we own or may acquire are 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 fund these expenses. Property expense may increase because of changes 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 that basis, in which event we may have to pay these 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 expenses, or if tenants fail to pay required tax, utility and other impositions, we could be required to pay these costs which would, among other things, limit the amount of funds we have available for other purposes, including to pay dividends or fund future acquisitions.

Real estate-related taxes may increase and if these increases are not passed on to tenants, our cash flow will be reduced.

Some local real property tax assessors may seek to reassess a property that we acquire, and, from time to time, our property taxes may 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 the cash flow generated by the impacted property.

Our properties and our tenants may face competition that may affect tenants’ ability to pay rent.

Our properties typically are, and we expect properties we acquire in the future will be, located in developed areas. Therefore, there are and will be numerous other properties within the market area of each of our properties that will compete with us 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. Tenants may also face competition from such properties if they are leased to tenants in a similar industry. For example, as of December 31, 2023, 48% of our properties, based on annualized rental income on a straight-line basis, were retail properties. Our retail tenants face competition from numerous retail channels such as discount or value retailers, factory outlet centers and wholesale clubs as well as from alternative retail channels, such as mail order catalogs and operators, television shopping networks and the internet. Competition that we face from other properties within our market areas, and competition our tenants face from tenants in such properties could result in decreased cash flow from tenants and may require us to make capital improvements to maintain competitiveness.

We may incur significant costs to comply with governmental laws and regulations, including those related to environmental matters.

All real property and the operations conducted on real property are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations, and various foreign 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 them, may adversely affect our ability to sell, rent or pledge a property as collateral for future borrowings.

Some of these laws and regulations have been amended 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.

State and federal laws, and various foreign laws and regulations, in this area are constantly evolving, and we monitor these laws and take commercially reasonable steps to protect ourselves from the impact of these laws, including obtaining environmental assessments of most properties that we acquire; however, we do not obtain an independent third-party environmental assessment for every property we acquire. In addition, any assessment that we do obtain may not reveal all environmental liabilities or reveal that a prior owner of a property created a material environmental condition unknown to us. We may incur significant costs to defend against claims of liability, comply with environmental regulatory requirements, remediate any contaminated property, or pay personal injury claims.

Risk of Stockholder Activism and Proxy Contests.

We have been subject to stockholder activism and may be subject to such activism in the future, which could result in substantial costs and divert management’s and our board of director’s attention and resources from our business. Stockholder activism could give rise to perceived uncertainties as to our future and adversely affect our operations and business relationships. We may be required to incur significant fees and other expenses related to activist stockholder matters including related to a proxy contest or to litigation.

Damage from catastrophic weather and other natural events and climate change could result in losses to us.

Certain of our properties are located in areas that may experience catastrophic weather and other natural events from time to time, including hurricanes or other severe weather, flooding, fires, snow or ice storms, windstorms or, earthquakes. These adverse weather and natural events could cause substantial damages or losses to our properties which could exceed our insurance coverage. In the event of a loss in excess of insured limits, we could lose our capital invested in the affected property, as well as anticipated future revenue from that property. We could also continue to be obligated to repay any mortgage indebtedness or other obligations related to the property.

To the extent that significant changes in the climate occur, we may experience extreme weather and changes in precipitation and temperature and rising sea levels, all of which may result in physical damage to or a decrease in demand for properties located in these areas or affected by these conditions. Should the impact of climate change be material in nature, including destruction of our properties, or occur for lengthy periods of time, our cash flow may be adversely affected.

Growing public concern about climate change and investor expectations have resulted in the increased focus of local, state, regional, national and international regulatory bodies on greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions and climate change issues. Legislation to regulate GHG emissions has periodically been introduced in the U.S. Congress, and there has been a wide-ranging policy debate, both in the U.S. and internationally, regarding the impact of these gases and possible means for their regulation. Federal, state or foreign legislation or regulation on climate change could result in increased capital expenditures to improve the energy efficiency of our existing properties or to protect them from the consequence of climate change, and could also result in increased compliance costs or additional operating restrictions that could adversely impact the businesses of our tenants and their ability to pay rent.

In addition, tenants of net-leased properties are responsible for maintenance and other day-to-day management of the properties. This lack of control over our net-leased properties makes it difficult for us to collect property-level environmental metrics and to enforce sustainability initiatives, which may impact our ability to comply with certain regulatory disclosure requirements to which we are subject (such as the anticipated changes to the SEC’s climate-related disclosure rules) or comply effectively with established ESG frameworks and standards, such as the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmarks, the TCFD and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. If we are unable to collect the data necessary to comply with these disclosure requirements, we may be subject to increased regulatory risk. If the data is incomplete or unfavorable, our relationship with our stockholders, our stock price, and our access to capital may be negatively impacted.

If we sell properties by providing financing to purchasers, we will be exposed to defaults by the purchasers.

In some instances, we may sell our properties by providing financing to purchasers. If we provide financing to purchasers, we will bear the risk that the purchaser may default, which could negatively impact our cash flow. 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.

We may incur a material amount of costs associated with complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Our domestic properties must also comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“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 Act’s 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. A determination that a property does not comply with the Disabilities Act could result in liability for both governmental fines and damages. If we are required to make unanticipated major modifications to any of our properties to comply with the Disabilities Act which are determined not to be the responsibility of our tenants, we could incur unanticipated expenses that could be material in amount.

Actual or threatened terrorist attacks and other acts of violence, civilian unrest, or war may affect the markets in which we operate our business and our profitability.

We own and acquire real estate assets located in major metropolitan areas as well as densely populated sub-markets that are susceptible to terrorist attack. In addition, any actual or threatened terrorist activity or violent criminal acts, including terrorist acts against public institutions or buildings or modes of public transportation (including airlines, trains or buses) could have a negative effect on our business. These events may directly impact the value of our assets and our results of operations through damage, destruction, loss or increased security costs. Although we may obtain terrorism insurance, we may not be able to obtain sufficient coverage to fund any losses we may incur. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, which was designed for a sharing of terrorism losses between insurance companies and the federal government, will expire on December 31, 2027, and there can be no assurance that Congress will act to renew or replace it.

More generally, any terrorist attack, other act of violence or war, including armed conflicts, could result in increased volatility in, or damage to, the worldwide financial markets and economy. Increased economic volatility could adversely affect us and our properties.

Inflation and continuing increases in the inflation rate may have an adverse effect on our investments and results of operations.

Increases in the rate of inflation, both real and anticipated may impact our investments and results of operations. Inflation could erode the value of long-term leases that do not contain indexed escalation provisions, or contain fixed annual rent escalation provisions that are at rates lower than the rate of inflation, and increase expenses including those that cannot be passed through under our leases. Increased inflation could also increase our general and administrative expenses and, as a result of an increase in market interest rates in response to higher than anticipated inflation rate, increase our mortgage and other debt interest costs, and these costs have and could continue to increase at a rate higher than any rent increases. An increase in our expenses, or a failure of revenues to increase at least with inflation could adversely impact our results of operations. Certain of our leases for properties located in foreign countries are only adjusted upward to fair market value only once every five years or contain capped indexed escalation provisions. Approximately 59.7% of our leases, based on straight line rent, are fixed-rate increase averaging 1.7%, 14.3% are based on the Consumer Price Index, subject to certain caps, 4.0% are based on other measures, and 22.0% do not contain any escalation provisions.

We may be adversely impacted by inflation on the leases that do not contain indexed escalation provisions, or those leases which have escalations at rates which do not exceed or approximate current inflation rates, as was the case during 2022. However, our net leases require the tenant to pay its allocable share of operating expenses, which may include common area maintenance costs, real estate taxes and insurance. This may reduce our exposure to increases in costs and operating expenses resulting from inflation. Future leases may not even contain escalation provisions and these provisions may not be sufficient to protect our revenues or expenses from the adverse effects of inflation. In addition, increased operating costs paid by our tenants could have an adverse impact on our tenants if increases in their operating expenses exceed increases in their revenue, which may adversely affect our tenants’ ability to pay rent owed to us or property expenses to be paid, or reimbursed to us, by our tenants.

Conversely, unusually low inflation can cause deflation, or an outright decline in prices. Deflation can lead to a negative cycle where consumers delay purchases in anticipation of lower prices, causing businesses to stop hiring and postpone investments as sales weaken. Deflation would have a serious impact on economic growth and may adversely affect the financial condition of our tenants and the rental rates at which we renew or enter into leases.

Our business and operations could suffer if we experience system failures or cyber incidents or a deficiency in cybersecurity.

Our internal information technology networks and related systems are vulnerable to damage from any number of sources, including computer viruses, unauthorized access, energy blackouts, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication failures. Any system failure or accident that causes interruptions in our operations could result in a material disruption to our business. We may also incur additional costs to remedy damages caused by these disruptions.

As reliance on technology has increased, so have the risks posed to those systems. We must continuously monitor and develop networks and information technology to prevent, detect, address and mitigate the risk of unauthorized access, misuse, computer viruses, and social engineering, such as phishing. We are continuously working including with the aid of third party service providers, to install new, and to upgrade existing, network and information technology systems, to create processes for risk assessment, testing, prioritization, remediation, risk acceptance, and reporting, and to provide awareness training around phishing, malware and other cyber risks to ensure they provide us with services essential to our operations are protected against cyber risks and security breaches and that we are also therefore so protected. However, these upgrades, processes, new technology and training may not be sufficient to protect us from all risks. Even the most well protected information, networks, systems and facilities remain potentially vulnerable because the techniques and technologies used in attempted attacks and intrusions evolve and generally are not recognized until launched against a target. In some cases, attempted attacks and intrusions are designed not to be detected and, in fact, may not be detected.

The remediation costs and lost revenues experienced by a subject of an intentional cyberattack or other event which results in unauthorized third party access to systems to disrupt operations, corrupt data or steal confidential information may be significant and significant resources may be required to repair system damage, protect against the threat of future security breaches or to alleviate problems, including reputational harm, loss of revenues and litigation, caused by any breaches. Additionally, any failure to adequately protect against unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal data, or to take appropriate action in cases of infringement may result in significant penalties under privacy law.

Furthermore, a security breach or other significant disruption involving our information technology networks and related systems could:

• result in misstated financial reports, violations of loan covenants, missed reporting or permitting deadlines;
• affect our ability to properly monitor our compliance with the rules and regulations regarding our qualification as a REIT;
• result in the unauthorized access to, and destruction, loss, theft, misappropriation or release of, proprietary, confidential, sensitive or otherwise valuable information (including information about tenants), which others could use to compete against us or for disruptive, destructive or otherwise harmful purposes and outcomes;
• result in our inability to maintain the building systems relied upon by our tenants for the efficient use of their leased space;
• require significant management attention and resources to remedy any damages that result;
• subject us to claims for breach of contract, damages, credits, penalties or termination of leases or other agreements; or
• adversely impact our reputation among our tenants and investors generally.

There can be no assurance that the measures we have adopted will be sufficient. Further, while we carry cyber liability insurance, such insurance may not be adequate to cover all losses related to such events.

We may acquire or originate commercial real estate debt or invest in commercial real estate-related securities which would expose us to additional risks.

We may in the future acquire or originate mortgage debt loans, mezzanine loans, preferred equity or securitized loans, CMBS, preferred equity and other higher-yielding structured debt and equity investments. Doing so would expose us not only to the risks and uncertainties we are currently exposed to through our direct investments in real estate but also to additional risks and uncertainties attendant to investing in and holding these types of investments, such as:

• risk of defaults by borrowers in paying debt service on outstanding indebtedness and to other impairments of our loans and investments;
• increased competition from entities engaged in mortgage lending and, or investing in our target assets;
• deterioration in the performance of properties securing our investments may cause deterioration in the performance of our investments and, potentially, principal losses to us;
• fluctuations in interest rates and credit spreads could reduce our ability to generate income on our loans and other investments;
• difficulty in redeploying the proceeds from repayments of our existing loans and investments;
• the illiquidity of certain of these investments;
• lack of control over certain of our loans and investments;
• the potential need to foreclose on certain of the loans we originate or acquire, which could result in losses additional risks, including the risks of the securitization process, posed by investments in CMBS and other similar structured finance investments, as well as those we structure, sponsor or arrange; use of leverage may create a mismatch with the duration and interest rate of the investments that we financing;
• risks related to the operating performance or trading price volatility of any publicly-traded and private companies primarily engaged in real estate businesses we invest in; and
• the need to structure, select and more closely monitor our investments such that we continue to maintain our qualification as a REIT and our exemption from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

Risks Related to our Indebtedness

We have substantial indebtedness and we will have the ability to incur significant additional indebtedness and other liabilities.

As of December 31, 2023, we had $5.4 billion of total gross indebtedness outstanding, including $2.7 billion of secured indebtedness, $1.7 billion outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility, and $1.0 billion of our Senior Notes. We had availability to borrow an additional $14.2 million, under our Revolving Credit Facility as of December 31, 2023. Our high level of indebtedness may have the following important consequences to us including:

• requiring us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow to make principal and interest payments on our indebtedness, thereby reducing our cash flow available to fund working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes;
• requiring us to maintain certain debt coverage and other financial ratios at specified levels, thereby reducing our financial flexibility;
• making it more difficult for us to satisfy our financial obligations, including servicing our debt obligations;
• increasing our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions or a downturn in our business;
• exposing us to increases in interest rates for our variable rate debt;
• limiting, along with the financial and other restrictive covenants in our indebtedness, our ability to borrow additional funds on favorable terms or at all to expand our business or ease liquidity constraints;
• limiting our ability to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness on or before maturity on the same or more favorable terms or at all;
• limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and our industry;
• placing us at a competitive disadvantage relative to competitors that have less indebtedness, particularly in making future acquisitions;
• limiting our ability to enter into transactions that may otherwise be in our interest, including mergers or other combinations;
• increasing our risk of property losses as the result of foreclosure actions initiated by lenders under our secured debt obligations;
• requiring us to dispose of one or more of our properties at disadvantageous prices in order to service our indebtedness or to raise funds to pay such indebtedness at maturity; and
• resulting in an event of default if we fail to pay our debt obligations when due or fail to comply with the financial and other restrictive covenants contained in the agreements governing our debt obligations which event of default could result in all of our debt becoming immediately due and payable and could permit certain of our lenders to foreclose on our assets securing the debt.

We may be unable to service our indebtedness.

Our ability to make scheduled payments on and to refinance our indebtedness depends on and is subject to our future financial and operating performance, which in turn is affected by general and regional economic, financial, competitive, business and other factors beyond our control. Our business may fail to generate sufficient cash flow from operations or future borrowings may be unavailable to us under the Revolving Credit Facility or from other sources in an amount sufficient to enable us to service our debt, to refinance our debt or to fund our other liquidity needs. If we are unable to meet our debt obligations or to fund our other liquidity needs, we will need to restructure or refinance all or a portion of our debt. We may be unable to refinance any of our debt, including the Revolving Credit Facility or the Senior Notes, on commercially reasonable terms or at all. If we were unable to make payments or refinance our debt or obtain new financing under these circumstances, we would have to consider other options, such as asset sales, equity issuances or negotiations with our lenders to restructure the applicable debt. The Credit Agreement governing our Revolving Credit Facility and each of the indentures governing the Senior Notes restrict, and market or business conditions may limit, our ability to take some or all of these actions. Any restructuring or refinancing of our indebtedness could be at higher interest rates and may require us to comply with more onerous covenants that could further restrict our business operations. In addition, the Revolving Credit Facility and each of the indentures governing the Senior Notes permit us to incur additional debt, including secured debt, and the amount of additional indebtedness incurred could be substantial.

As of December 31, 2023, a total of $405.2 million of our indebtedness bearing interest at a weighted rate of 4.0% matures in calendar year 2024. Interest rates have increased considerably in the last twelve months and may continue to increase. For example, the interest rate on borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility increased from 4.6% as of December 31, 2022 to 6.0% as of December 31, 2023. The interest rate on any indebtedness we refinance will likely be higher than the rate on the maturing indebtedness. There is no assurance that well will be able to refinance any of our indebtedness as it comes due, especially indebtedness secured by mortgages, on favorable terms, or at all. Increases in interest rates or changes in underwriting standards imposed by lenders may require us to use either cash on hand or raise additional equity to repay or refinance any indebtedness or for that matter to incur new indebtedness. If we are unable to repay or refinance any indebtedness secured by mortgages, we lose the mortgaged property in a foreclosure action.

We have incurred, and may continue to incur, variable-rate debt. As of December 31, 2023, a total of 20% of our indebtedness bore interest at variable rates which averaged 7.2%. Increases in interest rates on our variable-rate debt or any new indebtedness we incur either as part of a refinancing or a new property acquisition would increase our interest cost. If we need to repay existing debt during periods of rising interest rates, we may need to post additional collateral or sell one or more of our investments in properties even though we would not otherwise choose to do so. In addition, under certain of our debt agreements, including our mortgage loan agreements, we are required to maintain certain debt service coverage ratios for particular periods of time. In the event we do not meet these debt service coverage ratio tests for the applicable period, we are required to make cash sweep payments with respect to such loan’s principal amount, for so long as we are not in compliance with the applicable coverage ratio covenant. We have been making cash sweep payments, which impacts funds available to us for other uses, with respect to certain of our debt obligations.

Our derivative financial instruments have been, and any derivative financial instruments in the future, will be subject to counterparty default risk.

We manage our interest rate risk with derivative financial instruments, including interest rate swaps, caps, options, floors and other interest rate derivative contracts, to hedge all or a portion of the interest rate risk associate with our variable rate borrowings. As a result, when we are party to such derivative financial instruments, we are subject to the risk that the counterparty to one or more of these contracts defaults on its performance under the contract. During an economic downturn, the counterparty's financial condition may deteriorate rapidly and with little notice and we may be unable to take action to protect our exposure. In the event of a counterparty default, we could incur losses, which may harm our business and financial condition. In the event that one or more of our counterparties becomes insolvent or files for bankruptcy, our ability to eventually recover any losses suffered as a result of that counterparty's default may be limited by the liquidity of the counterparty.

Changes in the debt markets could have a material adverse impact on our earnings and financial condition.

The domestic and international commercial real estate debt markets are subject to volatility, resulting in, from time to time, the tightening of underwriting standards by lenders and credit rating agencies and reductions in the availability of financing. Beginning in early 2022, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board has increased interest rates and the federal funds rate increased to a 22-year high. In addition, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board and the European Central Bank have continued tapering their respective quantitative easing programs. Although the U.S. Federal Reserve Board left its benchmark rates steady in September, November and December of 2023 and January 2024, and has forecasted multiple potential rate cuts in 2024, there can be no assurance that rates will not continue to increase or fail to decrease at a rate currently predicted or at all, which in turn would negatively impact our borrowing costs. If our overall cost of borrowings increases, either due to increases in the index rates or due to increases in lender spreads, we will need to factor such increases into pricing and projected returns for any future acquisitions. This may result in future acquisitions generating lower overall economic returns. Volatility in the debt markets may negatively impact our ability to borrow monies to finance the purchase of, or other activities related to, our real estate assets.

If we are unable to borrow monies on terms and conditions that we find acceptable, our ability to purchase properties or, meet other capital requirements may be limited, and the return on the properties we own may be lower. In addition, we may find it difficult, costly or impossible to refinance maturing indebtedness.

Furthermore, the state of the debt markets could have an impact on the overall amount of capital being invested in real estate, which may result in price or value decreases of real estate assets which could negatively impact the value of our assets, and the price of assets which we sell.

Covenants in our debt agreements restrict our activities and could adversely affect our business.

Our debt agreements, including each of the indentures governing the Senior Notes and the Credit Agreement governing the Revolving Credit Facility, contain various covenants that limit our ability and the ability of our subsidiaries to engage in various transactions including, as applicable:

• incurring or guaranteeing additional secured and unsecured debt;
• creating liens on our assets;
• making investments or other restricted payments;
• entering into transactions with affiliates;
• creating restrictions on the ability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends or other amounts to us;
• selling assets;
• making optional prepayments of indebtedness during a payment default or an event of default under the Revolving Credit Facility;
• effecting a consolidation or merger or selling all or substantially all of our assets; and
• amending certain material agreements, including material leases and debt agreements.

These covenants limit our operating flexibility and could prevent us from taking advantage of business opportunities as they arise, growing our business or competing effectively. In addition, the Revolving Credit Facility requires us to comply with financial maintenance covenants, consisting of a maximum debt to asset value ratio, a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio, a maximum unencumbered leverage ratio, a minimum debt service coverage ratio, a maximum secured debt to asset value ratio, a maximum secured recourse debt to asset value ratio, and a minimum consolidated tangible net worth test. We also are required to maintain total unencumbered assets of at least 150% of our unsecured indebtedness under each of the indentures governing the Senior Notes. Our ability to meet these requirements may be affected by events beyond our control, and we may not meet these requirements. We may be unable to maintain compliance with these covenants and, if we fail to do so, we may be unable to obtain waivers from the lenders or indenture trustee, as applicable, or amend the covenants.

A breach of any of the covenants or other provisions in our debt agreements could result in an event of default, which if not cured or waived, could result in such debt becoming due and payable, either automatically or after an election to accelerate by the required percentage of the holders of the indebtedness or by an agent for the holders of the indebtedness. This, in turn, could cause our other debt, including the Senior Notes and the Revolving Credit Facility, to become due and payable as a result of cross-default or cross-acceleration provisions contained in the agreements governing the other debt and permit certain of our lenders to foreclose on our assets, if any, that secure this debt. In the event that some or all of our debt is accelerated and becomes immediately due and payable, we may not have the funds to repay, or the ability to refinance our debt.

We may not have the funds necessary to finance the repurchase of the Senior Notes in connection with a change of control offer required by the indentures governing each series of notes.

Upon the occurrence of a “Change of Control Triggering Event” defined in each of the indentures governing the Senior Notes, we are required to make an offer to repurchase all outstanding Senior Notes at 101% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest on each series of notes, if any, but not including, the date of repurchase. However, it is possible that we will not have sufficient funds, or the ability to raise sufficient funds, at the time we are required to make this offer. In addition, restrictions under future debt we may incur, may not allow us to repurchase the Senior Notes upon a Change of Control Triggering Event, and we expect that a change in control will result in an event of default under the Revolving Credit Facility, which could result in such debt becoming immediately due and payable and the commitments thereunder terminated. If we could not refinance such senior debt or otherwise obtain a waiver from the holders of such debt, we would be prohibited from repurchasing the Senior Notes, which would constitute an event of default under the applicable indentures governing either series of Senior Notes, which in turn would constitute a default under our Revolving Credit Facility. In addition, certain important corporate events, such as leveraged recapitalization that would increase the level of our indebtedness, would not constitute a “Change of Control” under the either of the indentures governing the Senior Notes although these types of transactions could affect our capital structure or credit ratings and the holders of the Senior Notes. Further, courts interpreting change of control provisions under New York law (which is the governing law of each of the indentures governing the Senior Notes) have not provided clear and consistent meanings of change of control provisions which leads to subjective judicial interpretation of what may constitute a “Change of Control.” The “Change of Control Triggering Event” may impact the willingness of a third party to seek or engage in a “Change of Control” transaction with us.

A lowering or withdrawal of the ratings assigned to our debt securities by rating agencies may increase our future borrowing costs and reduce our access to capital.

Any rating assigned to debt securities that we or either of our OP’s issue could be lowered or withdrawn entirely by a rating agency if, in that rating agency’s judgment, future circumstances relating to the basis of the rating, such as adverse changes, so warrant. Any lowering of the ratings likely would make it more difficult or more expensive for us to obtain additional debt financing.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure, Common Stock and Preferred Stock

The trading prices of our Common Stock and Preferred Stock may fluctuate significantly.

The trading prices of shares of our Common Stock and Preferred Stock may be volatile and subject to significant price and volume fluctuation in response to market and other factors, many of which are outside our control. Among the factors that could affect these trading prices are:

• our financial condition, including the level of our indebtedness and performance;
• our ability to grow through property acquisitions, the terms, and pace of any acquisitions, we may make and the availability and terms of financing for those acquisitions;
• our ability to integrate the operations of RTL and the other entities we acquired in the Mergers successfully;
• the financial condition of our tenants, including tenant bankruptcies or defaults;
• actual or anticipated quarterly fluctuations in our operating results and financial condition;
• the amount and frequency of dividends that we pay;
• additional sales of equity securities, including our Common Stock or Preferred Stock, or the perception that additional sales may occur;
• the reputation of REITs and real estate investments generally and the attractiveness of REIT equity securities in comparison to other equity securities, and fixed income debt securities;
• uncertainty and volatility in the equity and credit markets;
• increases in interest rates and fluctuations in exchange rates;
• inflation and continuing increases in the inflation rate;
• changes in revenue or earnings estimates, if any, or publication of research reports and recommendations by financial analysts or actions taken by rating agencies with respect to our securities or those of other REITs;
• failure to meet analyst revenue or earnings estimates;
• strategic actions by us or our competitors, such as acquisitions or restructurings;
• the extent of investment in our securities by institutional investors;
• the extent of short-selling of our securities;
• general financial and economic market conditions and, in particular, developments related to market conditions for REITs and other real estate related companies;
• failure to maintain our REIT status;
• changes in tax laws;
• domestic and international economic factors unrelated to our performance; and
• all other risk factors addressed elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Moreover, although shares of the Preferred Stock are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), there can be no assurance that the trading volume for these shares will provide sufficient liquidity for holders to sell their shares at the time of their choosing or that the trading price for shares will equal or exceed the price paid for the shares. Because the shares of our preferred stock have a fixed dividend rate, their respective trading prices in the secondary market will be influenced by changes in interest rates and will tend to move inversely to changes in interest rates. In particular, an increase in market interest rates may result in higher yields on other financial instruments and may lead purchasers of our preferred stock to demand a higher yield on their investment, which could adversely affect the market price of shares of those securities. An increase in interest rates available to investors could also make an investment in our Common Stock less attractive if we are not able to increase our dividend rate, which could reduce the value of our Common Stock.

We depend on our OPs and their subsidiaries for cash flow and are structurally subordinated in right of payment to the obligations of our OPs and their subsidiaries.

We conduct, and intend to continue conducting, all of our business operations through our OPs and accordingly, we rely on distributions from our OPs and their subsidiaries to provide cash to pay our obligations. There is no assurance that our OPs or their subsidiaries will be able to, or be permitted to, pay distributions to us that will enable us to pay dividends to our stockholders and meet our other obligations. Each subsidiary of each of the OP’s is a distinct legal entity and, under certain circumstances, legal and contractual restrictions may limit our ability to obtain cash from these entities. In addition, any claims we may have will be structurally subordinated to all existing and future liabilities and obligations of our OPs and their subsidiaries. Therefore, in the event of our bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization, our assets and those of our OPs and their subsidiaries will be available to satisfy the claims of our creditors or to pay dividends to our stockholders only after all the liabilities and obligations of our OPs and their subsidiaries have been paid in full.

We may issue additional equity securities in the future thereby diluting the holdings of existing stockholders.

Holders of our Common Stock do not have preemptive rights to any shares issued by us in the future. Our charter authorizes us to issue up to 280 million shares of stock, consisting of 250 million shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share and 40 million shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share. As of December 31, 2023, we had 24 million shares of Preferred Stock issued and outstanding. Each series of Preferred Stock ranks on parity with each other with respect to dividend rights and rights upon our voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding-up. Subject to the approval rights of holders of our Preferred Stock regarding authorization or issuance of equity securities ranking senior to the Preferred Stock, our board of directors, without approval of our common stockholders, 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 into the classes or series of stock without obtaining stockholder approval and establish the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications or terms or conditions of redemption of the stock.

All of our authorized but unissued shares of stock may be issued in the discretion of our board of directors. The issuance of additional shares of our Common Stock could dilute the interests of the holders of our Common Stock, and any issuance of shares of preferred stock senior to our Common Stock, such as our issued and outstanding Preferred Stock, or any incurrence of additional indebtedness, could affect our ability to pay dividends on our Common Stock. The issuance of additional shares of preferred stock ranking equal or senior to our issued and outstanding Preferred Stock, including preferred stock convertible into shares of our Common Stock, could dilute the interests of the holders of Common Stock, Preferred Stock, and any issuance of shares of preferred stock senior to our issued and outstanding Preferred Stock or incurrence of additional indebtedness could affect our ability to pay dividends on, redeem or pay the liquidation preference on our Preferred Stock. These issuances could also adversely affect the trading price of our Common Stock and Preferred Stock.

We may issue shares of our Common Stock or Series B Preferred Stock or another series of preferred stock pursuant to our existing at-the-market programs or any similar future program as well as in other public or private offerings, including shelf offerings, and shares of our Common Stock issued as awards to our officers, directors and other eligible persons. We may also issue OP Units to sellers of properties we acquire. OP Units may be redeemed on a one for one basis for, at our election, a share of Common Stock or the cash equivalent thereof.

Because our decision to issue equity 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.

Future sales of Common Stock by certain selling stockholders affiliated with AR Global may adversely affect the market price of Common Stock.

AR Global and its affiliates acquired an aggregate of 35,339,062 shares of our Common Stock in connection with the Internalization Merger and on conversion of the GNL LTIP Units. All of these shares have been registered for resale pursuant to a Registration Statement on Form S-3 on September 14, 2023, subject to the terms of the Registration Rights and Stockholders Agreement, dated as of September 12, 2023 between the Company and the selling stockholders. Future sales of Common Stock by the selling stockholders may adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock. These sales also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and price we deem appropriate.

The Beneficial Ownership Limit may discourage a third party from acquiring us in a manner that might result in a premium price to our stockholders.

Our Articles of Restatement effective February 24, 2021, as amended or supplemented, with certain exceptions, authorizes our board of directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. Unless exempted (prospectively or retroactively) by our board of directors, no person may own more than 8.8% in value of the aggregate of the outstanding shares of our stock and 8.8% (in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive) of any class or series of our stock (the “Beneficial Ownership Limit”). This restriction may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of the Company, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all of our assets) that might provide a premium price for holders of our Common Stock.

The terms of our Preferred Stock, and the terms other preferred stock we may issue, may discourage a third party from acquiring us in a manner that might result in a premium price to our stockholders.

The change of control conversion and redemption features of our Preferred Stock may make it more difficult for a party to acquire us or discourage a party from seeking to acquire us. Upon the occurrence of a change of control, holders of Preferred Stock will, under certain circumstances, have the right to convert some of or all their shares of Preferred Stock into shares of our Common Stock (or equivalent value of alternative consideration) and under these circumstances we will also have a special optional redemption right to redeem shares of Preferred Stock. These features of our Preferred Stock may have the effect of discouraging a third party from seeking to acquire us or of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control under circumstances that otherwise could provide the holders of our Common Stock with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-current market price or that stockholders may otherwise believe is in their best interests. We may also issue other classes or series of preferred stock that could also have the same effect.

Because the board of directors will not be fully declassified until 2025, the classified board may have the effect of delaying, deferring, or preventing a change of control of the Company until then.

In connection with the Mergers, we started the process of declassifying our board of directors so that, after completion of the declassification process, each director will be elected at each annual meeting of our stockholders for a one-year term. However, our board of directors will not be fully declassified until 2025. Having a partially classified board of directors 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 result in a premium price for our stockholders.

Maryland law prohibits certain business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us to be acquired and may discourage a third party from acquiring us in a manner that might result in a premium price to our stockholders.

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, but are not limited, to 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, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of the voting power of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock; or
• 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, directly or indirectly, 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 of directors.

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 corporation’s 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. The business combination statute may discourage others from trying to acquire control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating any offer.

Our bylaws designate the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland as the sole and exclusive forum for certain actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders.

Our bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland, or, if that court does not have jurisdiction, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Northern Division, is the sole and exclusive forum for (a) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, other than actions arising under federal securities laws; (b) any Internal Corporate Claim, as such term is defined in the Maryland General Corporation Law (the “MGCL”), or any successor provision thereof, including, without limitation, (i) any action asserting a claim of breach of any duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or to our stockholders or (ii) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors, officers or other employees arising pursuant to any provision of the MGCL, our charter or our bylaws; or (c) any other action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors, officers or other employees that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Our bylaws also provide that unless we consent in writing, none of the foregoing actions, claims or proceedings may be brought in any court sitting outside the State of Maryland and the federal district courts are, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action under the Securities Act. These choice of forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that the stockholder believes is favorable. Alternatively, if a court were to find these provisions of our bylaws inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving these matters in other jurisdictions.

Maryland law limits the ability of a third-party to buy a large stake in us and exercise voting power in electing directors, which may discourage a third party from acquiring us in a manner that might result in a premium price to our stockholders.

The Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act provides that holders of “control shares” of a Maryland corporation acquired in a “control share acquisition” have no voting rights except to the extent approved by the stockholders by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of all the votes entitled to be cast on the matter, excluding all shares of stock owned by the acquirer, by officers or by employees who are directors of the corporation. “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 or shares acquired directly from the corporation. 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.

We indemnify our officers and directors against claims or liability they may become subject to due to their service to us, and our rights and the rights of our stockholders to recover claims against our officers and directors are limited.

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 corporation’s 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 permits us to indemnify our directors and officers from liability and advance certain expenses to them in connection with claims or liability they may become subject to due to their service to us. We have entered into indemnification agreements consistent with Maryland law and our charter with our directors and officers and certain former directors and officers. We and our stockholders may have more limited rights against our directors, officers, employees and agents, than might otherwise exist under common law, which could reduce the recovery of our stockholders and our recovery against them. In addition, we may be obligated to fund the defense costs incurred by our directors, officers, employees and agents in some cases.

U.S. Federal Income Tax Risks

Our failure to remain qualified as a REIT would subject us to U.S. federal income tax and potentially state and local tax.

We elected to be taxed as a REIT commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2013 and intend to operate in a manner that will allow us to continue to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, we may terminate our REIT qualification inadvertently, or if our board of directors determines that doing so is in our best interests. Our qualification as a REIT depends upon our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, stockholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. We have structured and intend to continue structuring our activities in a manner designed to satisfy all the requirements to qualify as a REIT. However, 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 remain qualified as a REIT is not binding on the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) and is not a guarantee that we will continue to qualify as a REIT. Accordingly, we cannot be certain that we will be successful in operating so that we can 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 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 continue 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 the corporate rate. In addition, we would generally be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year in which we lose 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, amounts paid to stockholders that are treated as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes would no longer qualify for the dividends paid deduction, and we would no longer be required to make distributions. If we lose our REIT qualification, we might be required to borrow funds or liquidate some investments in order to pay the applicable taxes.

Even as a REIT, in certain circumstances, we may incur tax liabilities that would reduce our cash available for distribution

to our stockholders.

Even 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 and that do not meet a safe harbor available under the Code (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. Similarly, if we were to fail an income test (and did not lose our REIT status because such failure was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect), we would be subject to tax on the income that does not meet the income test requirements. We also may decide to retain net capital gains 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 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 the OP or at the level of the other companies through which we indirectly own our assets, such as any taxable REIT subsidiaries (“TRSs”), 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 flow.

To qualify as a REIT, we must meet annual distribution requirements, which may force us to forgo otherwise attractive opportunities or borrow funds during unfavorable market conditions. This could delay or hinder our ability to meet our investment objectives and reduce our stockholders’ overall return.

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 make 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. Although we intend 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, it is possible that we might not always be able to do so.

Recharacterization of sale-leaseback transactions may cause us to lose our REIT status.

We will use commercially reasonable efforts to structure any sale-leaseback transaction we enter into so that the lease will be characterized as a “true lease” for U.S. federal income tax purposes, thereby allowing us to be treated as the owner of the property for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, the IRS may challenge this characterization. In the event that any sale-leaseback transaction is challenged and recharacterized as a financing transaction or loan for U.S. federal income tax purposes, deductions for depreciation and cost recovery relating to the property would be disallowed. If a sale-leaseback transaction were so recharacterized, we might fail to continue 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.

Certain of our business activities are potentially subject to the prohibited transaction tax.

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 and provided we do not meet a safe harbor available under the Code, we will be subject to a 100% penalty tax on the net income from the sale or other disposition of any property (other than foreclosure property) that we own, directly or indirectly through any subsidiary entity, including the OP, but generally excluding TRSs, 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 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. We intend to avoid the 100% prohibited transaction tax by (a) conducting activities that may otherwise be considered prohibited transactions through a TRS (but such TRS will incur corporate rate income taxes with respect to any income or gain recognized by it), (b) conducting our operations in such a manner so that no sale or other disposition of an asset we own, directly or indirectly through any subsidiary, will be treated as a prohibited transaction, and (c) structuring certain dispositions of our properties to comply with the requirements of the prohibited transaction safe harbor available under the Code for properties that, among other requirements, have been held for at least two years. Despite our present intention, no assurance can be given that any particular property we own, directly or through any subsidiary entity, including the OP, but generally excluding TRSs, will not be treated as inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business.

TRSs are subject to corporate-level taxes and our dealings with TRSs may be subject to a 100% excise tax.

A REIT may own up to 100% of the stock of one or more TRSs. Both the subsidiary and the REIT must jointly elect to treat the subsidiary as a TRS. A corporation of which a TRS directly or indirectly owns more than 35% of the voting power or value of the stock will automatically be treated as a TRS. Overall, no more than 20% (25% for our taxable years beginning prior to January 1, 2018) of the gross value of a REIT’s assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more TRSs. A TRS 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 one or more TRSs 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 TRS is subject to applicable U.S. federal, state, local, and foreign income tax on its taxable income, as well as limitations on the deductibility of its interest expenses. In addition, the Code imposes a 100% excise tax on certain transactions between a TRS and its parent REIT that are not conducted on an arm’s-length basis.

If the OP failed to qualify as a partnership or is not otherwise disregarded for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would cease to qualify as a REIT.

If the IRS were to successfully challenge the status of the OP as a partnership or disregarded entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the OP would be taxable as a corporation. In such event this would reduce the amount of distributions that the OP could make to us. This also would result in our failing to qualify as a REIT, and we would become subject to a corporate-level tax on our income. This substantially would reduce our cash available to pay dividends and other distributions to our stockholders. In addition, if any of the partnerships or limited liability companies through which the OP 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, the partnership or limited liability company would be subject to taxation as a corporation, thereby reducing distributions to the OP. Such a recharacterization of an underlying property owner could also threaten our ability to maintain our REIT qualification.

We may choose to make distributions in shares of our Common Stock, in which case our stockholders may be required to pay U.S. federal income taxes in excess of the cash portion of distributions they receive.

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, as much as 80% of the distribution may be in shares of our Common Stock. 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 shares of our Common Stock 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 shares 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 the shares 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 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.

The taxation of distributions can be complex; however, distributions to stockholders that are treated as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes generally will be taxable as ordinary income, which may reduce our stockholders’ after-tax anticipated return from an investment in us.

Amounts that we pay to our taxable stockholders out of current and accumulated earnings and profits (and not designated as capital gain dividends or qualified dividend income) generally will be treated as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes and will be taxable as ordinary income. Noncorporate stockholders are entitled to a 20% deduction with respect to these ordinary REIT dividends which would, if allowed in full, result in a maximum effective U.S. federal income tax rate on these ordinary REIT dividends of 29.6% (or 33.4% including the 3.8% surtax on net investment income); however, the 20% deduction will end after December 31, 2025.

However, a portion of the amounts that we pay to our stockholders generally may (1) be designated by us as capital gain dividends taxable as long-term capital gain to the extent that such portion is attributable to net capital gain recognized by us, (2) be designated by us as qualified dividend income, taxable at capital gains rates, to the extent they are attributable to dividends we receive from TRSs, or (3) constitute a return of capital to the extent that such portion exceeds our accumulated earnings and profits as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. With respect to qualified dividend income, the current maximum U.S. federal tax rate applicable to noncorporate stockholders is 23.8%, including the 3.8% surtax on net investment income. Dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for this reduced rate and, as described above, through December 31, 2025, will be subject to an effective rate of 29.6% (or 33.4% including the 3.8% surtax on net investment income). Although this 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 stock of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the stock of REITs, including shares of our stock. Tax rates could be changed in future legislation. A return of capital is not taxable, but has the effect of reducing the tax basis of a stockholder’s investment in shares of our stock. Amounts paid to our stockholders that exceed our current and accumulated earnings and profits and a stockholder’s tax basis in shares of our stock generally will be taxable as capital gain.

Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge our liabilities effectively and may cause us to incur tax liabilities.

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 the 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 or in certain cases to hedge previously acquired hedges entered into to manage risks associated with property that has been disposed of or liabilities that have been extinguished, 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 TRS. This could increase the cost of our hedging activities because the TRS 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 TRS generally will not provide any tax benefit, except for being carried forward against future taxable income of the TRS.

Complying with REIT requirements may force us to forgo or liquidate otherwise attractive investment opportunities.

To maintain our qualification 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 securities that qualify for the 75% asset test and securities of qualified REIT subsidiaries and TRSs) generally cannot exceed 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer, 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer, or 5% of the value of our assets as to any one issuer. In addition, no more than 20% of the value of our total assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more TRSs and no more than 25% of our assets may consist of publicly offered REIT debt instruments that do not otherwise qualify under the 75% asset test. 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.

The ability of our board of directors to revoke our REIT qualification without stockholder approval may subject us to U.S. federal income tax and reduce distributions 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 interests to continue to qualify as a REIT. While we intend to maintain our qualification as a REIT, we 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 corporate-level U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income (as well as any applicable state and local corporate tax) 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 shares of our stock.

We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes that could increase our tax liability, reduce our operating flexibility and reduce the market price of shares of our stock.

Changes to the tax laws may occur, and any such changes could have an adverse effect on an investment in shares of our stock or on the market value or the resale potential of our assets. Our stockholders are urged to consult with an independent tax advisor with respect to the status of legislative, regulatory or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in shares of our stock.

Although REITs generally receive better tax treatment than entities taxed as non-REIT “C 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 non-REIT “C 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 non-REIT “C corporation”, without the vote of our stockholders. Our board of directors has duties to us and could only cause such changes in our tax treatment if it determines that such changes are in our best interests.

The share ownership restrictions for REITs and the 8.8% share ownership limit in our charter may inhibit market activity in shares of our stock and restrict our business combination opportunities.

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 the issued and outstanding shares of our 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 shares of our stock under this requirement. Additionally, at least 100 persons must beneficially own shares of our 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 ensure that we meet these tests, among other purposes, our charter restricts the acquisition and ownership of shares of our 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 8.8% in value of the aggregate outstanding shares of our stock and more than 8.8% (in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive) of any class or series of the outstanding shares of our stock. Our board of directors may not grant an exemption from these restrictions to any proposed transferee whose ownership in excess of the 8.8% 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 interests 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 shares of our stock or otherwise be in the best interests of the stockholders.

Non-U.S. stockholders will be subject to U.S. federal withholding tax and may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on dividends and other distributions received from us and upon the disposition of shares of our stock.

Subject to certain exceptions, amounts paid to non-U.S. stockholders will be treated as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes 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 dividends are treated as “effectively connected” with the conduct by the non-U.S. stockholder of a U.S. trade or business. Capital gain distributions attributable to sales or exchanges of “U.S. real property interests” (“USRPIs”) generally will be taxed to a non-U.S. stockholder (other than a “qualified foreign pension fund,” certain entities wholly-owned by a “qualified foreign pension fund,” and certain foreign publicly-traded entities) as if such gain were effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. However, a capital gain distribution 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 U.S. and (b) the non-U.S. stockholder does not own more than 10% of any class of our stock at any time during the one-year period ending on the date the distribution is received.

Gain recognized by a non-U.S. stockholder upon the sale or exchange of shares of our stock generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxation unless such stock constitutes a USRPI. Shares of our 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 REIT’s stock is held directly or indirectly by non-U.S. stockholders. Recently proposed regulations would apply special look-through rules to certain U.S. corporate shareholders in determining whether a REIT is domestically controlled. We believe, but there can be no assurance, 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 shares of our stock, gain arising from such a sale or exchange would not be subject to U.S. taxation as a sale of a USRPI if (a) the shares are of a class of our stock that 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, 10% or less of the outstanding shares of our stock of that class at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of the sale.

Potential characterization of dividends and other distributions or gain on sale may be treated as unrelated business taxable income to tax-exempt investors.

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 shares of our stock, or (c) a holder of shares of our stock is a certain type of tax-exempt stockholder, dividends on, and gains recognized on the sale of, shares of our stock by such tax-exempt stockholder may be subject to U.S. federal income tax as unrelated business taxable income under the Code.

Cybersecurity Risk Management and Strategy

We have developed and implemented a cybersecurity risk management program intended to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our critical systems and information. We design and assess our program based on industry practices and accepted frameworks (e.g. the NIST framework).

Our cybersecurity risk management program is integrated into our overall enterprise risk management program, and shares common methodologies, reporting channels and governance processes that apply across the enterprise risk management program to other legal, compliance, strategic, operational, and financial risk areas.

Our cybersecurity risk management program includes:

• risk assessments designed to help identify material cybersecurity risks to our critical systems, information, products, services, and our broader enterprise IT environment;
• our IT team, in coordination with senior management, is principally responsible for managing (1) our cybersecurity risk assessment processes, (2) our security controls, and (3) our response to cybersecurity incidents;
• the use of external service providers, where appropriate, to assess, test or otherwise assist with aspects of our security controls and designed to anticipate cyber-attacks and prevent breaches;
• cybersecurity awareness training of our employees, incident response personnel, and senior management;
• a risk management process for third parties, including, but not limited to service providers, suppliers, and vendors.

We have not identified risks from known cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any prior cybersecurity incidents, that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect us, including our operations, business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition.

Cybersecurity Governance

Our Board considers cybersecurity risk and other information technology risks as part of its risk oversight function. Our Audit Committee reviews policies with respect to major risk assessment and risk management and reviews with management the steps taken to monitor and control such exposures. As part of this function, our Audit Committee oversees management’s implementation of our cybersecurity risk management program, including reviewing risk assessments from management with respect to our information technology systems and procedures, and overseeing our cybersecurity risk management processes.

The Audit Committee receives periodic reports from management on our cybersecurity risks. In addition, management will update the Audit Committee, as necessary and appropriate, regarding cybersecurity incidents that we may experience.

The Audit Committee reports to the full Board regarding its activities, including those related to cybersecurity. The Audit Committee receives briefings from management on our cyber risk management program and receive presentations on cybersecurity topics from management, our internal auditors IT personnel or external experts as part of the Board’s continuing education on topics that impact public companies.

Our management team, is responsible for assessing and managing our material risks from cybersecurity threats. The team has primary responsibility for our overall cybersecurity risk management program and supervises both our internal cybersecurity personnel and our retained external cybersecurity consultants.

Our management team supervises efforts to prevent, detect, mitigate, and remediate cybersecurity risks and incidents through various means, which may include briefings from IT personnel, threat intelligence and other information obtained from governmental, public or private sources, including external consultants engaged by us; and alerts and reports produced by security tools deployed in the IT environment.

The following table represents a summary by segment of our portfolio of real estate properties as of December 31, 2023:

(In thousands)

(In thousands)

(In thousands)

(1) If the portfolio has multiple properties with varying lease expirations, average remaining lease term is calculated on a weighted-average basis. Weighted-average remaining lease term in years is calculated based on square feet as of December 31, 2023.

The following table details distribution of our portfolio by country/location as of December 31, 2023:

(In thousands)

(1) If the portfolio has multiple properties with varying lease expirations, average remaining lease term is calculated on a weighted-average basis. Weighted-average remaining lease term in years is calculated based on square feet as of December 31, 2023.

The following table details the tenant industry distribution of our portfolio as of December 31, 2023:

(In thousands)

(In thousands)

(1) Annualized straight-line rent converted from local currency into USD as of December 31, 2023 for the in-place lease in the property on a straight-line basis, which includes tenant concessions such as free rent, as applicable. Assumes exchange rates of £1.00 to $1.27 for GBP, €1.00 to $1.10 for EUR and $1.00 Canadian Dollar (“CAD”) to $0.75, as of December 31, 2023 for illustrative purposes, as applicable.

(2) Other includes 94 industry types as of December 31, 2023.

The following table details the geographic distribution of our portfolio as of December 31, 2023:

(1) Annualized straight-line rent converted from local currency into USD as of December 31, 2023 for the in-place lease in the property on a straight-line basis, which includes tenant concessions such as free rent, as applicable. Assumes exchange rates of £1.00 to $1.27 for GBP, €1.00 to $1.10 for EUR and $1.00 CAD to $0.75 as of December 31, 2023 for illustrative purposes, as applicable.

(2) Totals may not foot due to rounding.

Future Minimum Lease Payments

For a summary of future minimum base rent payments, on a cash basis, due to us over the next five calendar years and thereafter (as of December 31, 2023), see Note 2 — Summary of Significant Accounting Polices to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Future Lease Expirations

The following is a summary of lease expirations for the next ten calendar years on the properties we owned as of December 31, 2023:

(In thousands)

(In thousands)

(1) Assumes exchange rates of £1.00 to $1.27 for GBP, €1.00 to $1.10 for EUR and $1.00 CAD to $0.75 as of December 31, 2023 for the in-place lease in the property on a straight-line basis, which includes tenant concessions such as free rent, as applicable.

Tenant Concentration

As of December 31, 2023, we did not have any tenant whose rentable square footage or annualized straight-line rent represented greater than 10% of total portfolio rentable square footage or annualized straight-line rent, respectively.

Significant Properties

As of December 31, 2023, we did not have any properties whose rentable square footage or annualized rental income represented greater than 5% of total portfolio rentable square footage or annualized straight-line rent, respectively.

Property Financings

See Note 5 — Mortgage Notes Payable, Net, Note 6— Revolving Credit Facility and Note 7 — Senior Notes, Net to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for property financings as of December 31, 2023 and 2022.

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the accompanying financial statements. The following information contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Please see “Forward-Looking Statements” elsewhere in this report for a description of these risks and uncertainties.

Overview

We are a REIT that focuses on acquiring and managing a global portfolio of income producing net lease assets across the U.S., and Western and Northern Europe. Historically, we focused on acquiring and managing a globally diversified portfolio of strategically-located commercial real estate properties, which consisted primarily of mission-critical, single tenant net-lease assets. As a result of acquiring RTL in September 2023, we acquired a diversified portfolio of 989 properties consisting of primarily necessity-based retail single-tenant and multi-tenant properties located in the U.S. Until September 12, 2023, we were managed by the former Advisor, who managed our day-to-day business with the assistance of the Property Manager, who managed and leased our properties to third parties. Prior to September 12, 2023, the former Advisor and the Property Manager were under common control with AR Global, and these related parties had historically received compensation and fees for various services provided to us. On September 12, 2023, we internalized our advisory and property management functions as well as the advisory and property management functions of RTL as a result of the Internalization Merger (as defined below). For additional details on our acquisition of RTL and the internalization of our advisory and property management services and the advisory and property management functions of RTL, also see Note 1 — Organization, Note 3 — The Mergers and Note 12 — Related Party Transactions to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

As of December 31, 2023, we owned 1,296 properties consisting of 66.8 million rentable square feet, which were 96% leased, with a weighted-average remaining lease term of 6.8 years. Based on the percentage of annualized rental income on a straight-line basis as of December 31, 2023, approximately 80% of our properties were located in the U.S. and Canada and approximately 20% were located in Europe. In addition, as of December 31, 2023, our portfolio was comprised of 32% Industrial & Distribution properties, 27% Multi-Tenant retail properties, 21% Single-Tenant Retail properties and 20% Office properties. These represent our four reportable segments and the percentages are calculated using annualized straight-line rent converted from local currency into the U.S. Dollar (“USD”) as of December 31, 2023. The straight-line rent includes amounts for tenant concessions.

Our portfolio is leased to primarily “Investment Grade” rated tenants in well established markets in the U.S. and Europe. A total of 57.6% of our rental income on an annualized straight-line basis for leases in place as of December 31, 2023 was derived from Investment Grade rated tenants, comprised of 33.4% leased to tenants with an actual investment grade rating and 24.2% leased to tenants with an implied investment grade rating. For our purposes, “Investment Grade” includes both actual investment grade ratings of the tenant or guarantor, if available, or implied investment grade. Implied investment grade may include actual ratings of the tenant parent, guarantor parent (regardless of whether or not the parent has guaranteed the tenant’s obligation under the lease) or tenants that are identified as investment grade by using a proprietary Moody’s Analytics tool, which generates an implied rating by measuring an entity’s probability of default. Ratings information is as of December 31, 2023.

The Acquisition of The Necessity Retail REIT and the Internalization

On September 12, 2023 (the “Acquisition Date”), the REIT Merger (as defined below) and the Internalization Merger (as defined below) were both consummated (collectively, the “Mergers”). The REIT Merger and Internalization Merger were conditioned upon each other and accordingly are considered “related” and treated as a single transaction for accounting and reporting purposes (see Note 3 — The Mergers to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information).

The REIT Merger

Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated May 23, 2023 (the “REIT Merger Agreement”), on the Acquisition Date, RTL merged with and into Osmosis Sub I, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GNL (“REIT Merger Sub”), with REIT Merger Sub continuing as the surviving entity (the “REIT Merger”) and a wholly-owned subsidiary of GNL, followed by Osmosis Sub II, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Global Net Lease Operating Partnership, L.P. (the “OP”), merging with and into The Necessity Retail REIT Operating Partnership, L.P. (“RTL OP”), with RTL OP continuing as the surviving entity (the “OP Merger” and collectively with the REIT Merger, the “REIT Mergers”).

On the Acquisition Date, pursuant to the REIT Merger Agreement, each issued and outstanding share of RTL’s (i) Class A Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “RTL Class A Common Stock”), was converted into 0.670 shares (the “Exchange Ratio”) of Common Stock, (ii) 7.50% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (“RTL Series A Preferred Stock”), was automatically converted into one share of newly created Series D Preferred Stock, and (iii) 7.375% Series C Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (“RTL Series C Preferred Stock”), was automatically converted into one share of newly created Series E Preferred Stock.

On the Acquisition Date, after the REIT Merger but prior to the OP Merger, REIT Merger Sub distributed its general partnership interests in RTL OP to the Company. The Company, in turn, contributed its general partnership interests in RTL OP to the OP and, in turn, the OP contributed the general partnership interests in RTL OP to GNL Retail GP, LLC, a newly formed limited liability company that is wholly owned by the OP (“GNL Retail”). By virtue of the OP Merger and without any further action on the part of the OP, (i) GNL Retail became the sole general partner of the surviving company with respect to the OP Merger; (ii) all the preferred units of RTL OP held by REIT Merger Sub immediately after the Acquisition Date were cancelled and no payment was made with respect thereto; (iii) the OP continues as the sole limited partner of RTL OP; and (iv) each units of limited partnership interest in the OP designated as “OP Units” (“OP Units”) held by a limited partner of RTL OP other than RTL or any subsidiary of RTL issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Acquisition Date was automatically converted into new OP units in an amount equal to (x) one multiplied by (y) the Exchange Ratio, and each holder of new OP units was admitted as a limited partner of the OP in accordance with the terms of the partnership agreement of the OP. As a result, GNL Retail became the general partner and the OP is now the limited partner of RTL OP.

The Internalization Merger

Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated May 23, 2023 (the “Internalization Merger Agreement”) to internalize the advisory and property management functions of the combined companies, on the Acquisition Date, (i) GNL Advisor Merger Sub LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the OP merged with and into the former Advisor, with the former Advisor continuing in existence; (ii) GNL PM Merger Sub LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the OP merged with and into the Property Manager, with the Property Manager continuing in existence; (iii) RTL Advisor Merger Sub LLC merged with and into Necessity Retail Advisors, LLC (“RTL Advisor”), with RTL Advisor continuing in existence; and (iv) RTL PM Merger Sub LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the OP merged with and into Necessity Retail Properties, LLC (“RTL Property Manager”), with RTL Property Manager continuing in existence (collectively, the “Internalization Merger”). As a result of the consummation of the Internalization Merger, the advisory agreements were terminated for both us and RTL and we assumed both ours and RTL’s property management agreements and we were no longer externally managed. We internalized these functions with our own dedicated workforce (see Note 3 — The Mergers for additional information on the Internalization Merger and see Note 12 — Related Party Transactions to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information on the Internalization Merger).

Transaction Fees

BMO Capital Markets Corp. (“BMO”), the financial advisor to the special committee of the Board comprised solely of independent directors that was formed by the Board (the “Special Committee”), was paid a fee of $30.0 million, $3.0 million of which was paid in the quarter ended June 30, 2023 upon delivery of BMO’s opinion regarding the REIT Merger and the remaining $27.0 million was paid upon consummation of the Mergers in the quarter ended September 30, 2023. In addition, the Company paid BMO a fee of $1.0 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2023, which was paid upon delivery of BMO’s opinion regarding the Internalization Merger. The Company has also agreed to reimburse BMO for its transaction-related expenses, which totaled approximately $0.3 million, and agreed to indemnify BMO and certain related parties against certain potential liabilities arising out of or in connection with its engagement.

Significant Accounting Estimates and Accounting Policies

Set forth below is a summary of the significant accounting estimates and accounting policies that management believes are important to the preparation of our financial statements. Certain of our accounting estimates are particularly important for an understanding of our financial position and results of operations, and require the application of significant judgment by our management. As a result, these estimates are subject to a degree of uncertainty. These significant accounting estimates and accounting policies include:

Revenue Recognition

Our revenues, which are derived primarily from lease contracts, which include rents that each tenant pays in accordance with the terms of each lease agreement and are reported on a straight-line basis over the initial term of the lease. As of December 31, 2023, these leases had a weighted-average remaining lease term of 6.8 years. Because many of our leases provide for rental increases at specified intervals, straight-line basis accounting requires us to record a receivable for, and include in revenues, unbilled rent receivables that we will only receive if the tenant makes all rent payments required through the expiration of the initial term of the lease. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, our cumulative straight-line rents receivable in the consolidated balance sheets was $84.3 million, and $73.0 million, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, our revenue from tenants included the impact of unbilled rental revenue of $10.4 million, $9.6 million and $5.7 million, respectively, to adjust contractual rent to straight-line rent.

For new leases after acquisition of property, the commencement date is considered to be the date the lease modification is executed. We defer the revenue related to lease payments received from tenants in advance of their due dates. When we acquire a property, the acquisition date is considered to be the commencement date for purposes of this calculation for all leases in place at the time of acquisition. In our Industrial & Distribution, Single-Tenant Retail and Office segments, in addition to base rent, our lease agreements generally require tenants to pay for their property operating expenses or reimburse us for property operating expenses that we incur (primarily insurance costs and real estate taxes). However, some limited property operating expenses that are not the responsibility of the tenant are absorbed by us. In our Multi-Tenant Retail segment, we own, manage and leases multi-tenant properties where we generally pay for the property operating expenses for those properties and most of our tenants are required to pay their pro rata share of property operating expenses. Under ASC 842, we elected to report combined lease and non-lease components in a single line “Revenue from tenants.” For expenses paid directly by the tenant, under both ASC 842 and 840, we reflected them on a net basis.

We continually review receivables related to rent and unbilled rent receivables and determine collectability by taking into consideration the tenant’s payment history, the financial condition of the tenant, business conditions in the industry in which the tenant operates and economic conditions in the area in which the property is located. Under lease accounting rules, we are required to assess, based on credit risk only, if it is probable that we will collect virtually all of the lease payments at lease commencement date and we must continue to reassess collectability periodically thereafter based on new facts and circumstances affecting the credit risk of the tenant. Partial reserves, or the ability to assume partial recovery are not permitted. If we determine that it is probable that we will collect virtually all of the lease payments (rent and contractually reimbursable property operating expenses), the lease will continue to be accounted for on an accrual basis (i.e. straight-line). However, if we determine it is not probable that we will collect virtually all of the lease payments, the lease will be accounted for on a cash basis and a full reserve would be recorded on previously accrued amounts in cases where it was subsequently concluded that collection was not probable. Cost recoveries from tenants are included in Revenue from tenants on the accompanying consolidated statements of operations in the period the related costs are incurred, as applicable.

In accordance with lease accounting rules, we record uncollectible amounts as reductions in revenue form tenants. Amounts recorded as reductions of revenue during the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 totaled and $3.5 million, $0.7 million, and $1.1 million, respectively.

Investments in Real Estate

Investments in real estate are recorded at cost. Improvements and replacements are capitalized when they extend the useful life of the asset. Costs of repairs and maintenance are expensed as incurred.

At the time an asset is acquired, we evaluate the inputs, processes and outputs of the asset acquired to determine if the transaction is a business combination or asset acquisition. If an acquisition qualifies as a business combination, the related transaction costs are recorded as an expense in the consolidated statements of operations. If an acquisition qualifies as an asset acquisition, the related transaction costs are generally capitalized and subsequently amortized over the useful life of the acquired assets. See the Purchase Price Allocation section below for a discussion of the initial accounting for investments in real estate.

Disposal of real estate investments representing a strategic shift in operations that will have a major effect on our operations and financial results are required to be presented as discontinued operations in our consolidated statements of operations. No properties were presented as discontinued operations as of December 31, 2023 and 2022. Properties that are intended to be sold are designated as “held for sale” on our consolidated balance sheets at the lesser of carrying amount or fair value less estimated selling costs when they meet specific criteria to be presented as held for sale, most significantly that the sale is probable within one year. We evaluate probability of sale based on specific facts including whether a sales agreement is in place and the buyer has made significant non-refundable deposits. Properties are no longer depreciated when they are classified as held for sale. As of December 31, 2023, we had two properties classified as held for sale. We did not have any assets held for sale as of December 31, 2022.

Purchase Price Allocation

In both a business combination and an asset acquisition, we allocate the purchase price of acquired properties to tangible and identifiable intangible assets or liabilities based on their respective fair values. Tangible assets may include land, land improvements, buildings, fixtures and tenant improvements on an as- if vacant basis. Intangible assets may include the value of in-place leases, and above- and below- market leases and other identifiable assets or liabilities based on lease or property specific characteristics. In addition, any assumed mortgages receivable or payable and any assumed or issued non-controlling interests (in a business combination) are recorded at their estimated fair values. In allocating the fair value to assumed mortgages, amounts are recorded to debt premiums or discounts based on the present value of the estimated cash flows, which is calculated to account for either above- or below-market interest rates. In a business combination, the difference between the purchase price and the fair value of identifiable net assets acquired is either recorded as goodwill or as a bargain purchase gain. In an asset acquisition, the difference between the acquisition price (including capitalized transaction costs) and the fair value of identifiable net assets acquired is allocated to the non-current assets. Other than the Mergers, which were accounted for as a business combination, all of the other acquisitions during the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 were asset acquisitions.

For acquired properties with leases classified as operating leases, we allocate the purchase price of acquired properties to tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed, based on their respective fair values. In making estimates of fair values for purposes of allocating purchase price, we utilize a number of sources, including independent appraisals that may be obtained in connection with the acquisition or financing of the respective property and other market data. We also consider information obtained about each property as a result of our pre-acquisition due diligence in estimating the fair value of the tangible and intangible assets acquired and intangible liabilities assumed.

We utilize various estimates, processes and information to determine the as-if vacant property value. Estimates of value are made using customary methods, including data from appraisals, comparable sales, discounted cash flow, direct capitalization and other methods. Fair value estimates are also made using significant assumptions such as capitalization rates, discount rates, market rent, and land values per square foot. Identifiable intangible assets include amounts allocated to acquire leases for above- and below-market lease rates, and the value of in-place leases, as applicable.

Factors considered in the analysis of the in-place lease intangibles include an estimate of carrying costs during the expected lease-up period for each property, taking into account current market conditions and costs to execute similar leases. In estimating carrying costs, we include real estate taxes, insurance and other operating expenses and estimates of lost rentals at contract rates during the expected lease-up period, which typically ranges from 12 to 18 months. We also estimate costs to execute similar leases including leasing commissions, legal and other related expenses.

Above-market and below-market lease values for acquired properties are initially recorded based on the present value (using a discount rate which reflects the risks associated with the leases acquired) of the difference between (i) the contractual amounts to be paid pursuant to each in-place lease, and (ii) management’s estimate of market rent for each corresponding in-place lease, measured over a period equal to the remaining initial term of the lease for above-market leases and the remaining term plus the term of any below-market fixed rate renewal options for below-market leases.

The aggregate value of intangible assets related to customer relationships, as applicable, is measured based on our evaluation of the specific characteristics of each tenant’s lease and our overall relationship with the tenant. Characteristics considered by us in determining these values include the nature and extent of its existing business relationships with the tenant, growth prospects for developing new business with the tenant, the tenant’s credit quality and expectations of lease renewals, among other factors.

Accounting for Leases

Lessor Accounting

In accordance with the lease accounting standard, all of our leases as lessor prior to adoption of ASC 842 were accounted for as operating leases and we continued to account for them as operating leases under the transition guidance. We evaluate new leases originated after the adoption date (by us or by a predecessor lessor/owner) pursuant to the new guidance where a lease for some or all of a building is classified by a lessor as a sales-type lease if the significant risks and rewards of ownership reside with the tenant. This situation is met if, among other things, there is an automatic transfer of title during the lease, a bargain purchase option, the non-cancelable lease term is for more than major part of remaining economic useful life of the asset (e.g., equal to or greater than 75%), if the present value of the minimum lease payments represents substantially all (e.g., equal to or greater than 90%) of the leased property’s fair value at lease inception, or if the asset so specialized in nature that it provides no alternative use to the lessor (and therefore would not provide any future value to the lessor) after the lease term. Further, such new leases would be evaluated to consider whether they would be failed sale-leaseback transactions and accounted for as financing transactions by the lessor. During the three-year period ended December 31, 2023, we did not have any leases as a lessor that would be considered as sales-type leases or financings under sale-leaseback rules.

As a lessor of real estate, we have elected, by class of underlying assets, to account for lease and non-lease components (such as tenant reimbursements of property operating expenses) as a single lease component as an operating lease because (a) the non-lease components have the same timing and pattern of transfer as the associated lease component; and (b) the lease component, if accounted for separately, would be classified as an operating lease. Additionally, only incremental direct leasing costs may be capitalized under the accounting guidance. Indirect leasing costs in connection with new or extended tenant leases, if any, are being expensed as incurred.

As of December 31, 2023, we had two parcels of land leased to tenants that qualify as financing leases which were acquired in the REIT Merger. The carrying value of these leases was $6.6 million as of December 31, 2023 and the amounts are included in prepaid expenses and other assets on our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2023. Income of $0.2 million relating to these two leases is included in revenue from tenants in our consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Lessee Accounting

For lessees, the accounting standard requires the application of a dual lease classification approach, classifying leases as either operating or finance leases based on the principle of whether or not the lease is effectively a financed purchase by the lessee. Lease expense for operating leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease, while lease expense for finance leases is recognized based on an effective interest method over the term of the lease. Also, lessees must recognize a right-of-use asset (“ROU”) and a lease liability for all leases with a term of greater than 12 months regardless of their classification. Further, certain transactions where at inception of the lease the buyer-lessor accounted for the transaction as a purchase of real estate and a new lease may now be required to have symmetrical accounting to the seller-lessee if the transaction was not a qualified sale-leaseback and accounted for as a financing transaction. For additional information and disclosures related to the Company’s operating leases, see Note 11 — Commitments and Contingencies to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.

The Company is the lessee under certain land leases which were previously classified prior to adoption of ASC 842 and will continue to be classified as operating leases under transition elections unless subsequently modified, as well as land leases and other operating leases that were acquired or entered into in connection with the Mergers. These leases are reflected on the balance sheet as right of use assets and operating lease liabilities and the rent expense is reflected on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

If circumstances indicate the carrying value of a property may not be recoverable, we review the asset for impairment. This review is based on an estimate of the future undiscounted cash flows, excluding interest charges, expected to result from the property’s use and eventual disposition. These estimates consider factors such as expected future operating income, market and other applicable trends and residual value, as well as the effects of leasing demand, competition and other factors. If impairment exists due to the inability to recover the carrying value of a property, an impairment loss is recorded to the extent that the carrying value exceeds the estimated fair value of the property for properties to be held and used. For properties held for sale, the impairment loss is the adjustment to fair value less estimated cost to dispose of the asset. These assessments have a direct impact on net income because recording an impairment loss results in an immediate negative adjustment to net earnings.

Gains and Losses on Dispositions of Real Estate Investments

Gains on sales of rental real estate are not considered sales to customers and are generally recognized pursuant to the provisions included in ASC 610-20, Gains and Losses from the Derecognition of Nonfinancial Assets (“ASC 610-20”).

Goodwill

We evaluate goodwill for impairment at least annually or upon the occurrence of a triggering event. A triggering event is an event or circumstance that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying amount. We evaluated the company's goodwill upon the completion of the Mergers as we viewed that as a triggering event, and goodwill was not impaired based on that assessment. We also performed our annual impairment evaluation in the fourth quarter of 2023 to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying value. Based on our assessment, we determined that the goodwill was not impaired as of December 31, 2023. We will continue to assess for triggering events. Should any triggering event occur, we would evaluate the carrying value of our goodwill by segment through an impairment test. If impairment is warranted, the charge would be recorded through the combined income statement as a reduction to earnings.

We recorded goodwill of $25.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 related to the Mergers (see Note 3 — The Mergers to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K).

Depreciation and Amortization

We are required to make subjective assessments as to the useful lives of the components of our real estate investments for purposes of determining the amount of depreciation to record on an annual basis. These assessments have a direct impact on our results from operations because if we were to shorten the expected useful lives of our real estate investments, we would depreciate these investments over fewer years, resulting in more depreciation expense and lower earnings on an annual basis.

Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of up to 40 years for buildings, 15 years for land and building improvements, five years for fixtures and improvements and the shorter of the useful life or the remaining lease term for tenant improvements and leasehold interests.

The value of in-place leases, exclusive of the value of above-market and below-market in-place leases, is amortized to expense over the remaining periods of the respective leases.

If the tenant terminated its lease, the unamortized portion of the in-place lease value and customer relationship intangibles is accelerated through the termination date or the date of the tenant vacates the space to expense.

Assumed mortgage premiums or discounts are amortized as an increase or reduction to interest expense over the remaining terms of the respective mortgages.

Deferred leasing commissions are recorded over the terms of the related leases. Amounts related to leasing commissions incurred from third parties are recorded in depreciation and amortization. Amounts related to leasing commissions incurred from the former Advisor are recorded within operating fees to related parties in the consolidated statements of operations.

Above and Below-Market Lease Amortization

Capitalized above-market lease values are amortized as a reduction of revenue from tenants over the remaining terms of the respective leases and the capitalized below-market lease values are amortized as an increase to revenue from tenants over the remaining initial terms plus the terms of any below-market fixed rate renewal options of the respective leases. If a tenant with a below-market rent renewal does not renew, any remaining unamortized amount will be taken into income at that time.

Above-market intangibles and below-market intangibles will also be treated in the same way as in-place intangibles upon a lease termination.

If a tenant modifies its lease, the unamortized portion of the in-place lease value, customer relationship intangibles, above-market leases and below market leases are assessed to determine whether their useful lives need to be amended (generally accelerated). Generally, we would not extend the useful lives of their intangible values upon a modification that is an extension.

The amortization associated with our ROUs is recorded in property operating expenses on a straight-line basis over the terms of the leases.

Derivative Instruments

We may use derivative financial instruments, including interest rate swaps, caps, options, floors and other interest rate derivative contracts, to hedge all or a portion of the interest rate risk associated with its borrowings. In addition, all foreign currency denominated borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility are designated as net investment hedges. Certain of our foreign operations expose us to fluctuations of foreign interest rates and exchange rates. These fluctuations may impact the value of our cash receipts and payments in our functional currency, the USD. We enter into derivative financial instruments to protect the value or fix the amount of certain obligations in terms of its functional currency.

We record all derivatives on the consolidated balance sheets at fair value. The accounting for changes in the fair value of derivatives depends on the intended use of the derivative, whether we have elected to designate a derivative in a hedging relationship and apply hedge accounting and whether the hedging relationship has satisfied the criteria necessary to apply hedge accounting. Derivatives designated and qualifying as a hedge of the exposure to changes in the fair value of an asset, liability, or firm commitment attributable to a particular risk, such as interest rate risk, are considered fair value hedges. Derivatives designated and qualifying as a hedge of the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows, or other types of forecasted transactions, are considered cash flow hedges. Derivatives may also be designated as hedges of the foreign currency exposure of a net investment in foreign operations. Hedge accounting generally provides for the matching of the timing of gain or loss recognition on the hedging instrument with the recognition of the changes in the fair value of the hedged asset or liability that are attributable to the hedged risk in a fair value hedge or the earnings effect of the hedged forecasted transactions in a cash flow hedge. We may enter into derivative contracts that are intended to economically hedge certain risk, even though hedge accounting does not apply or we elect not to apply hedge accounting.

The accounting for subsequent changes in the fair value of these derivatives depends on whether each has been designed and qualifies for hedge accounting treatment. If we elect not to apply hedge accounting treatment (or for derivatives that do not qualify as hedges), any changes in the fair value of these derivative instruments is recognized immediately in gains (losses) on derivative instruments in the consolidated statements of operations. If a derivative is designated and qualifies for cash flow hedge accounting treatment, the change in the estimated fair value of the derivative is recorded in other comprehensive income (loss) in the consolidated statements of comprehensive (loss) income to the extent that it is effective. Any ineffective portion of a change in derivative fair value is immediately recorded in earnings.

Equity-Based Compensation

We maintain stock-based incentive plans under which our directors, officers, employees, consultants and, historically, entities that provide services to us are eligible to receive awards. Awards granted thereunder are accounted for under the guidance for employee share-based payments. The cost of services received in exchange for a stock award is measured at the grant date fair value of the award and the expense for such awards is included in equity-based compensation on consolidated statements of operations and is recognized over the vesting period or when the requirements for exercise of the award have been met.

We have issued restricted shares of Common Stock (“Restricted Shares”), RSUs and, during the three months ended December 31, 2023, PSUs. Also, although none remain outstanding as of December 31, 2023, we historically had issued long-term incentive plan units of limited partner interest in the OP (“GNL LTIP Units”) (see below for more information). For additional information on all of the equity-based compensation awards issued, see Note 13 — Equity-Based Compensation to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Multi-Year Outperformance Agreement With Former Advisor

On June 2, 2021, we entered into a multi-year outperformance agreement with the former Advisor (the “2021 OPP”).

Under the 2021 OPP, we initially recorded equity-based compensation evenly over the requisite service period of approximately 3.1 years. beginning on May 3, 2021, the date that the Company’s independent directors approved the award of GNL LTIP Units. However, in connection with the Internalization Merger Agreement, the parties to the Internalization Merger Agreement agreed to modify the terms of the existing 2021 OPP to accelerate the timing for determining whether the award is vested and earned, and as a result, all of the remaining unrecognized compensation expense was accelerated and recorded in the quarter ended September 30, 2023 (through September 11, 2023).

Any awards of long-term incentive plan units of limited partner interest in the RTL OP (the “RTL LTIP Units”) that were earned prior to the Acquisition Date were converted by RTL into RTL Class A Common Stock prior to the Acquisition Date and were included in the consideration issued to holders of RTL Class A Common Stock (see Note 3 — The Mergers to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K ).

For additional information on the 2021 OPP and the ultimate determination of the vesting of the award on September 11, 2023, see Note 13 — Equity-Based Compensation to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K .

Under accounting guidance adopted by us on January 1, 2019, the total equity-based compensation expense calculated as of the adoption of the guidance is fixed and reflected as a charge to earnings over the remaining service period. Further, in the event of a modification, any incremental increase in the value of the instrument measured on the date of the modification both before and after the modification, may result in an incremental amount to be reflected prospectively as a charge to earnings over the remaining service period, however the modification noted above had no incremental value to amortize. The expense for these non-employee awards is included in the equity-based compensation line item of our consolidated statements of operations.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies — Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further discussion.

Results of Operations

Below is a discussion of our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. Please see the “Results of Operations” section located on page 48 under Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 for a discussion of our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 and year-to-year comparisons between 2022 and 2021.

As a result of the Mergers and the related strategic shift in the Company’s operations, the Company has concluded it operates in four reportable segments: (1) Industrial & Distribution, (2) Multi-Tenant Retail, (3) Single-Tenant Retail and (4) Office (see Note 15 — Segment Reporting to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for additional details on our reportable segments).

In our Industrial & Distribution, Single-Tenant Retail and Office segments, we own, manage and lease single-tenant properties where in addition to base rent, our tenants are required to pay for their property operating expenses or reimburse us for property operating expenses that we incur (primarily property insurance and real estate taxes). However, some limited property operating expenses that are not the responsibility of the tenant are absorbed by us. The main exceptions are properties leased to the Government Services Administration, which do not require the tenant to reimburse the costs.

In our Multi-Tenant Retail segment, we own, manage and lease multi-tenant properties where we generally pay for the property operating expenses for those properties and most of our tenants are required to pay their pro rata share of property operating expenses.

As more fully discussed in Note 1 — Organization to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, during the quarter ended September 30, 2023 we completed the Mergers which will affect comparable results from operations until the properties acquired have been held for all periods presented. As a result, comparisons of our period to period financial information as set forth herein may not be meaningful. The historical financial information included herein as of any date, or for any periods, prior to September 12, 2023 represents our financial information, prior to the Mergers, on a stand-alone basis.

Comparison of the Year Ended December 31, 2023 to the Year Ended December 31, 2022

Net Loss Attributable to Common Stockholders

Net loss attributable to common stockholders was $239.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to $8.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The change in net loss income attributable to common stockholders is discussed in detail for each line item of the consolidated statements of operations in the sections that follow.

Revenue from Tenants

Consolidated revenue from tenants, detailed by reportable segment, is as follows:

(In thousands)

Industrial & Distribution

Revenue from tenants in our Industrial & Distribution segment was $220.1 million and $211.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increase in revenue from tenants was primarily driven by revenue of $9.7 million attributable to properties acquired from RTL on the Acquisition Date, with minimal impact from the year-over-year change in average foreign exchange rates during the year ended December 31, 2023, when compared to the year ended December 31, 2022.

Multi-Tenant Retail

Revenue from tenants in our Multi-Tenant Retail segment was $79.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 and there was no corresponding revenue in the prior year period since the revenue is all attributable to properties acquired from RTL on the Acquisition Date.

Single-Tenant Retail

Revenue from tenants in our Single-Tenant Retail segment was $60.6 million and $12.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increase was primarily due to revenue of $42.5 million attributable to properties acquired from RTL on Acquisition Date and revenue from other properties acquired since January 1, 2022, with minimal impact from the year-over-year change in average foreign exchange rates during the year ended December 31, 2023, when compared to the year ended December 31, 2022.

Office

Revenue from tenants in our Office segment was $154.6 million and $154.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The minor change period-over-period was primarily driven by a decrease in revenue from properties disposed since January 1, 2022, partially offset by revenue attributable to properties acquired from RTL on the Acquisition Date and revenue from other properties acquired since January 1, 2022, as well as a minimal impact from the year-over-year change in average foreign exchange rates during the year ended December 31, 2023, when compared to the year ended December 31, 2022.

Property Operating Expenses

Consolidated property operating expenses, detailed by reportable segment, is as follows:

(In thousands)

46

Industrial & Distribution

Property operating expenses in our Industrial & Distribution segment were $15.5 million and $13.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increase was primarily due to an increase in property operating expenses resulting from properties acquired from RTL on the Acquisition Date, with minimal impact from the year-over-year change in average foreign exchange rates during the year ended December 31, 2023, when compared to the year ended December 31, 2022.

Multi-Tenant Retail

Property operating expenses in our Multi-Tenant Retail were $27.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 and there were no corresponding property operating expenses in the prior year period since the expenses are all attributable to properties acquired from RTL on the Acquisition Date.

Single-Tenant Retail

Property operating expenses in our Single-Tenant Retail were $5.3 million and $0.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increase was primarily due to an increase in property operating expenses of $4.2 million resulting from properties acquired from RTL on the Acquisition Date, with minimal impact from the year-over-year change in average foreign exchange rates, when compared to the year ended December 31, 2022.

Office

Property operating expenses in our Office segment were $20.2 million and $18.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increase was primarily due to an increase in property operating expenses resulting from properties acquired from RTL on the Acquisition Date and the year-over-year change in average foreign exchange rates, when compared to the year ended December 31, 2022.

Operating Fees to Related Parties

Operating fees paid to related parties were $28.3 million and $40.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The decline in the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily due to a decrease in advisory and property management fees paid to affiliates of AR Global as a result of the closing of the Internalization Merger on the Acquisition Date. For additional information, see Note 12 — Related Party Transactions to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Upon the closing of the Mergers, we no longer pay asset management fees to the former Advisor or property management fees to the Property Manager and we internalized our management functions. While we no longer pay the costs of the various fees and expense reimbursements previously paid to the former Advisor and the Property Manager, after the Internalization Merger, our expenses now include the compensation and benefits of our officers, employees, and consultants, as well as overhead expenses, previously paid by those entities in managing our business and operations and are being recorded in general and administrative expenses from the Acquisition Date forward, including in the form of equity compensation.

Impairment Charges

During the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded aggregate impairment charges of $68.7 million, as described below:

• During the three months ended December 31, 2023, we determined that one of our properties located in Scotland (which was owned prior to the REIT Merger) had an estimated fair value that was lower than its carrying value based on the estimated selling price of the property, and as a result, the Company recorded an impairment charge of approximately $1.8 million. Also during three months ended December 31, 2023, we determined that two of our properties located in the U.S. (which were acquired in the REIT Merger) had an estimated fair value that was lower than their carrying value based on the estimated selling prices of the properties, and as a result, we recorded an impairment charge of approximately $1.2 million.
• During the three months ended September 30, 2023 we determined that the fair values of four of our properties (one in the U.K. and three in the U.S.) were lower than their carrying values. These properties were all owned by us prior to the REIT Merger. As a result, we recorded impairment charges for these properties, including impairments to intangible assets totaling $65.7 million in the three months ended September 30, 2023. The impairment charge for the property in the U.K. was based on a calculation of the estimated fair value of the property. The impairment charges for the properties in the U.S. were based on the estimated selling prices of the properties.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, we recorded aggregate impairment charges of $21.6 million for three properties. For one of these properties, which was held for sale in the first quarter, we incurred an additional impairment for costs to sell the asset. The other two properties that were impaired during 2022 were both being marketed for sale. The impairment for the first property being marketed for sale occurred in the second quarter of 2022 and totaled $16.0 million. The impairment was based on a purchase and sale contract; however, the property did not meet the criteria for held for sale at that time. In the third quarter, this property met the criteria for held for sale and an additional impairment of $0.8 million was taken for costs to sell the asset. This property was sold in November 2022. The impairment charge for the second property being marketed for sale was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022 and totaled $4.5 million, based on the agreed upon selling price of the asset.

Merger, Transaction and Other Costs

We recognized $54.5 million and $0.2 million of acquisition, transaction and other costs during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increase was due to advisory, legal and other professional costs that were directly related to the Mergers.

Settlement Costs

For the year ended December 31, 2023 we recognized settlement costs of $29.7 million which consists of the cash reimbursement of approximately $8.8 million of expenses to the Blackwells/Related Parties and non-cash equity expense of approximately $20.9 million for Common Stock issued to Blackwells under the Cooperation Agreement (as defined in Note 10 — Stockholders’ Equity to our consolidated financial statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K).

General and Administrative Expense

General and administrative expenses were $40.2 million and $17.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, primarily consisting of professional fees including audit and taxation related services, employee compensation/payroll expenses, board member compensation, and directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. The overall increase in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to the internalization of our management functions (as discussed above), such as employee compensation/payroll expenses, and as a result of higher legal expenses and other costs in the year ended December 31, 2023.

Equity-Based Compensation

During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, we recognized equity-based compensation expense of $17.3 million and $12.1 million, respectively. Equity-based compensation in both periods consists of (i) amortization expense related to the GNL LTIPs issued under the 2021 OPP (including accelerated vesting as described below); (ii) amortization of Restricted Shares granted to employees of the former Advisor or its affiliates who were involved in providing services to us prior to the Internalization, some of which vested at the closing of the Mergers; (iii) amortization of RSUs granted to our employees and independent directors. Equity-based compensation expense in the year ended December 31, 2023 also includes expense related to the PSUs, which were granted in November 2023.

The increase in equity-based compensation expense was primarily due to higher expense of approximately $3.9 million recorded in the year ended December 31, 2023 due to the accelerated compensation expense as a result of the modification of the award granted to the former Advisor under the 2021 OPP that changed the timing of the final measurement for determining whether the award is vested and earned to September 11, 2023, resulting in the acceleration of all of the remaining unrecognized compensation expense being recorded in the quarter ended September 30, 2023. In addition, the increase in equity-based compensation expense was due to approximately one month of expense for grants of RSUs and PSUs to employees in November 2023. For additional information, see Note 13 — Equity-Based Compensation to our consolidated financial statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Depreciation and Amortization

Depreciation and amortization expense was $222.3 million and $154.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increase was due to additional depreciation and amortization expense recorded as a result of the impact of the REIT Merger and the year-over-year change in average foreign exchange rates during the year ended December 31, 2023, when compared to the year ended December 31, 2022.

(Loss) Gain on Dispositions of Real Estate Investments

During the year ended December 31, 2023, we sold eleven properties, ten of which were acquired in the REIT Merger, and recorded an aggregate loss of $1.7 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, we sold one property in the U.S., one property in the UK and one property in France for an aggregate contract sales price of approximately $56.0 million. The Company recorded an aggregate gain of $0.3 million on these sales.

Interest Expense

Interest expense was $179.4 million and $97.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increase was due to the increase in the amount of our total gross debt outstanding of $2.4 billion as of December 31, 2022 to $5.4 billion as of December 31, 2023 and an increase in the weighted-average effective interest rate of our total debt from 4.0% as of December 31, 2022 to 4.8% as of December 31, 2023. The increase in the amount of our gross debt outstanding was primarily due to debt assumed in the REIT Merger and additional borrowings on our Revolving Credit Facility to repay amounts outstanding under RTL’s credit facility at the time of the REIT Merger.

The increase in interest expense was also impacted by the year-over-year change in average foreign exchange rates during the year ended December 31, 2023, when compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2023 exchange rates were £1.00 to $1.27 for GBP, €1.00 to $1.10 for EUR and $1.00 CAD to $0.75. As of December 31, 2022 exchange rates were £1.00 to $1.37 for GBP, €1.00 to $1.23 for EUR and $1.00 CAD to $0.74.

As of the year ended December 31, 2023, approximately 10% of our total debt outstanding was denominated in EUR, 8% of our total debt outstanding was denominated in GBP and 1% was denominated in CAD. As of December 31, 2022, approximately 23% of our total debt outstanding was denominated in EUR, and 16% of our total debt outstanding was denominated in GBP.

We view a combination of secured and unsecured financing as an efficient and accretive means to acquire properties and manage working capital. As of December 31, 2023, approximately 49% of our total debt outstanding was secured and 51% was unsecured, the latter including amounts outstanding under our Credit Facility and Senior Notes. The availability of borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility is based on the value of a pool of eligible unencumbered real estate assets owned by us and compliance with various ratios related to those assets. Our interest expense in future periods will vary based on interest rates, the level of future borrowings, which will depend on refinancing needs and acquisition activity, and changes in currency exchange rates.

Loss on Extinguishment of Debt

The loss on extinguishment of debt of $1.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily due to early pre-payment penalties from certain mortgage paydowns. The loss on extinguishment of debt of $2.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 primarily related to the early payoff of our mortgage loan that was secured by our properties located in France.

Foreign Currency and Interest Rate Impact on Operations

The loss on derivative instruments of $3.7 million and gain of $18.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, reflect the marked-to-market impact from foreign currency and interest rate derivative instruments used to hedge the investment portfolio from currency and interest rate movements, and was mainly impacted by currency rate changes in the GBP and EUR compared to the USD. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the loss on derivative instruments consisted of unrealized losses of $7.3 million and realized gains of $3.6 million. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the gain on derivative instruments consisted of unrealized gains of $9.4 million and realized gains of $9.2 million. The overall gain (or loss) on derivative instruments directly impact our results of operations since they are recorded on the gain on derivative instruments line item in our consolidated results of operations. However, only the realized gains are included AFFO (as defined below).

As a result of our foreign investments in Europe, and, to a lesser extent, our investments in Canada, we are subject to risk from the effects of exchange rate movements in the EUR, GBP and, to a lesser extent, CAD against the USD, which may affect costs and cash flows in our functional currency, the USD. We generally manage foreign currency exchange rate movements by matching our debt service obligation to the lender and the tenant’s rental obligation to us in the same currency. This reduces our overall exposure to currency fluctuations. In addition, we may use currency hedging to further reduce the exposure to our net cash flow. We are generally a net receiver of these currencies (we receive more cash than we pay out), and therefore our results of operations of our foreign properties benefit from a weaker USD, and are adversely affected by a stronger USD, relative to the foreign currency. Conversely, realized gains from derivatives would generally be lower from a weaker USD, and higher from a stronger USD. We maintain our hedging approach by consistently entering into new foreign exchange forwards for three year periods. Interest rate increases could increase the interest expense on our floating rate debt or any new debt and we are constantly evaluating the use of hedging strategies to mitigate this risk.

Unrealized Income (Loss) on Undesignated Foreign Currency Advances and Other Hedge Ineffectiveness

We recorded income of $2.4 million on undesignated foreign currency advances and other hedge ineffectiveness, related to the accelerated reclassification of amounts in other comprehensive income to earnings as a result of certain hedged forecasted transactions becoming probable not to occur, for the year ended December 31, 2022. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we did not record any amounts due to currency changes on the undesignated excess foreign currency advances over the related net investments.

Income Tax Expense

Although as a REIT we generally do not pay U.S. federal income taxes on the amount of REIT taxable income that is distributed to shareholders, we recognize income tax (expense) benefit domestically for state taxes and local income taxes incurred, if any, and also in foreign jurisdictions in which we own properties. In addition, we perform an analysis of potential deferred tax or future tax benefit and expense as a result of book and tax differences and timing differences in taxes across jurisdictions. Income tax expense was $14.5 million and $11.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. For additional information, see Note 16 — Income Taxes to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Preferred Stock Dividends

Our net loss was also impacted by dividends on our outstanding preferred stock. We paid dividends on our Preferred Stock of $27.4 million and $20.4 million during years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The increase was due to dividends from our Series D Preferred Stock and Series E Preferred Stock, both of which were assumed from RTL in the REIT Merger. Also see the Liquidity and Capital Resources sections below for more information on the payment of Preferred Stock dividends.

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

The level of cash flows provided by operating activities is driven by, among other things, rental income received, operating fees paid to parties that were previously considered related parties (the former Advisor) and for asset and property management, and interest payments on outstanding borrowings.

During the year ended December 31, 2023, net cash provided by operating activities was $143.7 million. Cash flows provided by operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2023 reflect net loss of $211.9 million, adjusted for non-cash items of $339.1 million (primarily depreciation, amortization of intangibles, amortization of deferred financing costs, amortization of mortgage discounts, amortization of above- and below-market lease and ground lease assets and liabilities, amortization of right of use assets, amortization of lease incentives and commissions, unbilled straight-line rent (including the effect of adjustments due to rent deferrals), equity-based compensation, unrealized gains on foreign currency transactions, derivatives and impairment charges). In addition, operating cash flow was impacted by lease incentive and commission payments of $2.8 million and a decrease of $5.5 million in working capital items due to an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $7.6 million, a decrease in accounts payable and accrued expenses of $9.6 million and a decrease in prepaid rent of $0.7 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash provided by operating activities was $181.8 million. Cash flows provided by operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2022 reflect net income of $12.0 million, adjusted for non-cash items of $191.0 million (primarily depreciation, amortization of intangibles, amortization of deferred financing costs, amortization of mortgage discounts, amortization of above- and below-market lease and ground lease assets and liabilities, amortization of right of use assets, unbilled straight-line rent (including the effect of adjustments due to rent deferrals), equity-based compensation, unrealized gains on foreign currency transactions, derivatives and other, and impairments). In addition, operating cash flow was impacted by the receipt of a $9.0 million termination fee from a tenant, a decrease of $14.2 million in working capital items and lease incentive and commission payments of $6.3 million.

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2023 of $551.9 million consisted of net cash used to complete the Mergers of $451.4 million, cash used for other property acquisitions of $134.1 million and capital expenditures of $47.3 million, partially offset by proceeds from dispositions of $80.9 million.

Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2022 of $16.5 million consisted of property acquisitions of $33.9 million and capital expenditures of $29.9 million, partially offset by proceeds from dispositions of $54.7 million.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities of $469.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 was a result of net proceeds from borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility of $1.1 billion (for additional information on Revolving Credit Facility activity, see the Liquidity and Capital Resources section below), partially offset by net payments on mortgage notes payable of $340.4 million, dividends paid to common stockholders of $207.0 million, dividends paid to holders of our Series A Preferred Stock of $12.3 million, dividends paid to holders of our Series B Preferred Stock of $8.1 million, dividends paid to holders of our Series D Preferred Stock of $3.7 million, dividends paid to holders of our Series E Preferred Stock of $2.1 million and distributions to non-controlling interest holders of $3.2 million. Distributions to non-controlling interest holders increased $2.8 million in the year ended December 31, 2023, when compared to last year, due to the priority catch-up distribution to the former Advisor in respect of the 883,750 GNL LTIP Units that were earned under the 2021 OPP. The Series D Preferred Stock and Series E Preferred stock were each assumed by GNL in September 2023 in connection with the REIT Merger, and therefore the dividends paid noted above represent one quarter of dividends in the year ended December 31, 2023.

Net cash used in financing activities of $149.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 was a result of net payments on mortgage notes payable of $136.7 million, dividends paid to common stockholders of $166.8 million, dividends paid to holders of our Series A Preferred Stock, of $12.3 million, dividends paid to holders of our Series B Preferred Stock, of $8.0 million and distributions to non-controlling interest holders of $0.4 million. These cash outflows were partially offset by net proceeds from borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility of $180.2 million, net proceeds from the issuance of Common Stock of $0.9 million and net proceeds from the issuance of Series B Preferred Stock of $4.7 million.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our principal future needs for cash and cash equivalents includes the purchase of additional properties or other investments, payment of related acquisition costs, improvement costs, operating and administrative expenses, repayment of certain debt obligations, which includes our continuing debt service obligations and dividends to holders of our Common Stock and Preferred Stock as well as to any future class or series of preferred stock we may issue. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, we had cash and cash equivalents of $121.6 million and $103.3 million, respectively. See discussion above our how our cash flows from various sources impacted our cash.

Management expects that cash generated from operations, supplemented by our existing cash, will be sufficient to fund the payment of quarterly dividends to our common stockholders and holders of our Preferred Stock, as well as anticipated capital expenditures. During the year ended December 31, 2023, cash used to pay 60.8% of our dividends was generated from cash flows provided by operations. In addition, we plan on managing our leverage by using proceeds from strategic or opportunistic dispositions to reduce our debt, and we currently have entered into purchase and sale agreements (“PSA’s”) non-binding letters of intent (“LOI’s”) totaling an aggregate of $147.7 million.

Our other sources of capital, which we have used and may use in the future, include proceeds received from our Revolving Credit Facility, proceeds from secured or unsecured financings (which may include note issuances), proceeds from our offerings of equity securities (including Common Stock and Preferred Stock), proceeds from any future sales of properties and undistributed cash flows from operations, if any.

Acquisitions, Dispositions and Pending Transactions

We are in the business of acquiring real estate properties and leasing the properties to tenants. Generally, we fund our acquisitions through a combination of cash and cash equivalents, proceeds from offerings of equity securities, borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility and proceeds from mortgage or other debt secured by the acquired or other assets at the time of acquisition or at some later point. In addition, to the extent we dispose of properties, we have used and may continue to use the net proceeds from the dispositions (after repayment of any mortgage debt, if any) for future acquisitions or other general corporate purposes.

Acquisitions and Dispositions — Year Ended December 31, 2023

During the year ended December 31, 2023, we acquired nine properties that were accounted for as asset acquisitions for $134.1 million, including capitalized acquisition costs and we completed the Mergers, which were accounted for as a business combination, for cash consideration of $516.0 million and equity consideration of $1.6 billion in which we acquired 989 properties from RTL. The Mergers were completed in the three months ended September 30, 2023, as disclosed in more detail in Note 3 — The Mergers to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition, under the REIT Merger Agreement, we repaid all amounts outstanding under RTL’s credit facility and assumed all of RTL’s other indebtedness. In order to repay all amounts outstanding under RTL’s credit facility, we exercised the existing “accordion feature” on our Revolving Credit Facility and increased the commitments under our Revolving Credit Facility by $500.0 million to facilitate the repayment of RTL’s credit facility and to create additional availability (see the “Borrowings - Credit Facility” section below for additional details).

During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company sold 11 properties, ten of which were acquired in the REIT Merger, for a contract price of $84.7 million.

Dispositions Subsequent to December 31, 2023 and Pending Transactions

Subsequent to December 31, 2023, we disposed of five properties for an aggregate price of $12.2 million. One of these properties was classified as held for sale on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2023.

In addition, as of February 19, 2024, we signed PSA’s to dispose of 27 properties for an aggregate sale price of $117.0 million (four of these were sold later in February 2024 - noted above) and we have signed LOI’s to dispose of 12 properties for an aggregate sale price of $30.7 million. The PSA’s and LOI’s are subject to conditions and there can be no assurance we will be able to complete these dispositions on their contemplated terms, or at all.

Equity Offerings

Common Stock

We have an “at the market” equity offering program (the “Common Stock ATM Program”) pursuant to which we may sell shares of Common Stock, from time to time through our sales agents. In November 2022, we filed a new shelf registration statement and prospectus supplement covering the Common Stock ATM Program having an aggregate offering amount of up to $285.0 million, prior to the expiration of our previous registration statement, which had an aggregate offering amount of up to $500.0 million ($285.0 million was sold under our previous registration statement). During the year ended December 31, 2023, we did not sell any shares of Common Stock through the Common Stock ATM Program.

Preferred Stock

We have an “at the market” equity offering program for our Series B Preferred Stock (the “Series B Preferred Stock ATM Program”) pursuant to which we may sell sales of shares of Series B Preferred Stock, from time to time through our sales agents. In November 2022, we filed a new shelf registration statement and prospectus supplement covering the Series B Preferred Stock ATM Program having an aggregate offering amount of up to $170.0 million, prior to the expiration of our previous registration statement, which had an aggregate offering amount of up to $200.0 million. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we did not sell any shares of Series B Preferred Stock through the Series B Preferred Stock ATM Program.

The timing differences between when we raise equity proceeds or receive proceeds from dispositions and when we invest those proceeds in acquisitions or other investments that increase our operating cash flows have affected, and may continue to affect, our results of operations.

Equity Issuances in Connection with the Mergers

In connection with the completion of the Mergers, we issued: (i) 93,642,852 shares of Common Stock in exchange for RTL Class A Common Stock, (ii) 29,614,825 shares of Common Stock to AR Global in connection with the Internalization Merger, (iii) 115,857 GNL Class A Units to the previous owner of RTL Class A Units, (iv) 7,933,711 shares of newly created Series D Preferred Stock and (v) 4,595,175 shares of newly created Series E Preferred Stock. The issuance of RTL Class A Common Stock in respect of earned and converted RTL LTIP Units and in respect of certain shares of restricted RTL Class A Common Stock (“RTL Restricted Shares”) that vested prior to the Acquisition Date and were included in the consideration issued to holders of RTL Class A Common Stock (see (i) above).

We also issued 883,750 shares of Common Stock to AR Global for GNL LTIP Units granted under the 2021 OPP that were earned and converted into the same number of shares of Common Stock on the Acquisition Date (see Note 13 — Equity-Based Compensation to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more information).

Pursuant to the terms of the Cooperation Agreement below, upon the completion of the Mergers, we issued 1,600,000 shares of Common Stock to the Blackwells/Related Parties in a private placement exempt from registration and we issued an aggregate of 495,000 shares of Common Stock to the Blackwells/Related Parties as a settlement fee on July 11, 2023.

Additionally, we issued an aggregate 104,832 shares of Common Stock to an unaffiliated party in a private placement exempt from registration in July and October, 2023. We issued 45,579 shares of Common Stock to the third party on July 13, 2023 as a non-refundable retainer and in October, 2023 issued an additional 59,253 shares of Common Stock to the same third party.

Also, all of the outstanding equity or equity-based awards of RTL held by any employee of RTL Advisor who was offered employment by us on the terms and conditions set forth in the Internalization Merger Agreement had their RTL Restricted Shares converted into Restricted Shares (which totaled 221,136 Restricted Shares).

Borrowings

As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, we had total gross debt outstanding of $5.4 billion and $2.4 billion, respectively, bearing interest at a weighted-average interest rate per annum equal to 4.8% and 4.0%, respectively. Approximately $405.2 million of our debt, consisting only of mortgage notes payable, matures in 2024 (see Mortgage Notes Payable below for more information).

As of December 31, 2023, 80% of our total debt outstanding either bore interest at fixed rates, or was swapped to a fixed rate, which bore interest at a weighted-average interest rate of 4.1% per annum. As of December 31, 2023, 20% of our total debt outstanding was variable-rate debt, which bore interest at a weighted- average interest rate of 7.2% per annum (30% variable with a rate of 4.4% in 2022). The total gross carrying value of unencumbered assets as of December 31, 2023 was $4.9 billion, of which approximately $4.8 billion was included in the unencumbered asset pool comprising the borrowing base under the Revolving Credit Facility and therefore is not available to serve as collateral for future borrowings.

Our debt leverage ratio was 65.0% (total debt as a percentage of total purchase price of real estate investments, based on the exchange rate at the time of purchase) as of December 31, 2023. See Note 8 — Fair Value of Financial Instruments to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of fair value of such debt as of December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2023 the weighted-average maturity of our indebtedness was 3.2 years. We believe we have the ability to service our debt obligations as they come due.

As noted above, we plan on managing our leverage by using proceeds from strategic or opportunistic dispositions to reduce our debt, and we currently have entered into PSA’s and LOI’s totaling an aggregate of $147.7 million.

Senior Notes

In connection with the REIT Merger, we assumed and became a guarantor under RTL’s $500.0 million aggregate principal, 4.50% Senior Notes due 2028 (the “4.50% Senior Notes”), pursuant to a supplemental indenture governing the 4.50% Senior Notes. Both the 4.50% Senior Notes and our original 3.75% Senior Notes (together, the “Senior Notes”) do not require any principal payments prior to maturity. As of December 31, 2023, the carrying amount of the outstanding Senior Notes on our balance sheets totaled $886.0 million which is net of $114.0 million of deferred financing costs and discounts, and as of December 31, 2022 the carrying amount of the outstanding Senior Notes on our balance sheets totaled $493.1 million, which is net of $6.9 million of deferred financing costs. See Note 7 — Senior Notes, Net to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further discussion on the Senior Notes and related covenants.

Mortgage Notes Payable

As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, we had secured mortgage notes payable of $2.5 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively, net of mortgage discounts and deferred financing costs. All of our current mortgage loans require payment of interest-only with the principal due at maturity. We have principal payments of $405.2 million due on our mortgages during the year ending December 31, 2024.

The increase in the mortgage notes payable, net balance was due to the assumption of RTL mortgage notes payable as required by the REIT Merger Agreement, which totaled $1.6 billion as of the Acquisition Date, less the repayment of the following principal on certain mortgage notes payable, as outlined below:

• During the fourth quarter of 2023, we paid approximately $79.8 million of principal on various mortgage notes payable, which included a $64.2 million paydown on our Multi-Tenant Mortgage Loan V (paid with proceeds from a property disposition in the fourth quarter of 2023), $10.4 million paydown on our net lease mortgage notes interest rates and a $5.2 million paydown on the Column Financial Mortgage Notes. The paydowns on the net lease mortgage notes and the Column Financial Mortgage Notes were made with cash on hand.
• On May 5, 2023 we repaid the mortgage loan that previously encumbered our five properties in Germany. The loan balance was approximately $56.7 million using the exchange rate on the date of repayment. The repayment was fully funded with additional borrowings in EUR under the Revolving Credit Facility and the five properties in Germany were added to the borrowing base of the Revolving Credit Facility. The interest rate on the mortgage loan that was repaid was 3.6% and the current interest rate on the EUR portion of the Revolving Credit Facility was 2.0% as of December 31, 2023.
• On April 25, 2023, we made our scheduled principal repayment of £3.8 million ($4.7 million using the exchange rate on the date of repayment) on its United Kingdom Properties - Bulk Loan, which reduced the balance to approximately £153.1 million (approximately $191.4 million as of the end of April 2023) after the payment. We then repaid the entire remaining principal amount of the United Kingdom Properties - Bulk Loan in May 2023. This mortgage loan had encumbered 41 of our properties in the U.K. We funded the repayment with additional borrowings in GBP under the Revolving Credit Facility and the 41 properties in the U.K. were added to the borrowing base of the Revolving Credit Facility. The interest rate on the mortgage loan that was repaid was 3.2% and the current interest rate on GBP portion of the Revolving Credit Facility was 7.1% as of December 31, 2023.

Credit Facility

As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, outstanding borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility were $1.7 billion and $670.0 million, respectively. The increase in the balance of the Revolving Credit Facility was primarily due to the amounts borrowed to repay RTL’s credit facility at the closing of the REIT Merger on the Acquisition Date. In connection with the Mergers, we amended the Credit Agreement on September 12, 2023 in order to, among other things, repay the outstanding indebtedness and obligations of RTL’s credit facility. We exercised the existing “accordion feature” on the Revolving Credit Facility and increased the aggregate total commitments under the Revolving Credit Facility by $500.0 million from $1.45 billion to $1.95 billion to repay and terminate RTL’s credit facility and to create additional availability after the closing of the REIT Merger. The sublimits for letters of credit and swing loans were also each increased from $50.0 million to $75.0 million.

The amendment to the Credit Agreement also includes modifications to the change of control events to reflect the changes to the Board and our management following the REIT Merger and other modifications to account for multi-tenant properties for the credit support of additional eligible unencumbered properties that are owned by the subsidiaries of RTL OP that serve as guarantors under the Credit Agreement.

In addition, during the year ended December 31, 2023, we made additional borrowings that were primarily used to fund the repayments of the loan that previously encumbered our five properties in Germany (€52.0 million borrowed under the Revolving Credit Facility) (discussed above) and the loan that previously encumbered 41 of or properties in the U.K. (£154.0 million) (discussed above). Also, the additional borrowings were used for other property acquisitions and general corporate purposes. As of December 31, 2023, approximately $14.2 million was available for future borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility.

The Credit Agreement requires payments of interest only prior to maturity. Borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility bear interest at a variable rate per annum based on an applicable margin that varies based on the ratio of consolidated total indebtedness to consolidated total asset value of us and our subsidiaries plus either (i) the Base Rate (as defined in the Credit Agreement) or (ii) the applicable Benchmark Rate (as defined in the Credit Facility) for the currency being borrowed. The applicable interest rate margin is based on a range from 0.30% to 0.90% per annum with respect to Base Rate borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility and 1.30% to 1.90% per annum with respect to Benchmark Rate borrowings under the Revolving

Credit Facility. These spreads reflect a reduction from the previous spreads. For Benchmark Rate Loans denominated in Dollars that bear interest calculated by reference to Term SOFR, there is an additional spread adjustment depending on the length of the interest period. In addition, (i) if we achieve an investment grade credit rating from at least two rating agencies, the OP can elect for the spread to be based on our credit rating, and (ii) the “floor” on the applicable Benchmark is 0%. As of December 31, 2023, the Revolving Credit Facility had a weighted-average effective interest rate of 6.0% after giving effect to interest rate swaps in place.

The Revolving Credit Facility matures on October 8, 2026, subject to our option, subject to customary conditions, to extend the maturity date by up to two additional six-month terms. Borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility may be prepaid at any time, in whole or in part, without premium or penalty, subject to customary breakage costs associated with borrowings for the applicable Benchmark Rate.

The Revolving Credit Facility requires us through the OP to pay an unused fee per annum of 0.25% of the unused balance of the Revolving Credit Facility if the unused balance exceeds or is equal to 50% of the total commitment or a fee per annum of 0.15% of the unused balance of the Revolving Credit Facility if the unused balance is less than 50% of the total commitment. From and after the time we obtain an investment grade credit rating, the unused fee will be replaced with a facility fee based on the total commitment under the Revolving Credit Facility multiplied by 0.30%, decreasing as our credit rating increases.

The availability of borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility is based on the value of a pool of eligible unencumbered real estate assets owned by us and compliance with various ratios related to those assets. Also, we have a $7.4 million letter of credit held by lenders which were put in place to cure cash trap sweep events under one of our mortgages (see “— Covenants —Multi-Tenant Mortgage Loan III” section below for additional information on this letter of credit). These letters of credit reduce the availability for future borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility.

Any future borrowings may, at our option be denominated in USD, EUR, CAD, GBP Norwegian Krone, Swedish Krona and Swiss Francs, provided that the total principal amount of non-USD loans cannot exceed the sum of the total revolving commitments minus $100.0 million. Amounts borrowed may not, however, be converted to, or repaid in, another currency once borrowed.

Covenants

As of December 31, 2023, we were in compliance with the covenants under the Indenture governing the 3.75% Senior Notes, the 4.50% Senior Notes and the Credit Agreement (see Note 6 — Revolving Credit Facility and Note 7 — Senior Notes, Net to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further discussion on the Credit Facility and Senior Notes and the related covenants).

Our mortgage notes payable agreements require compliance with certain property-level financial covenants including debt service coverage ratios. As of December 31, 2023, there were certain covenants that we were not in compliance with (as discussed below) however, there were no uncured defaults or events of default. We were in compliance with all of the other financial covenants under our mortgage notes payable agreements.

Benelux Properties

During the three months ended June 30, 2023, the borrower entities under the mortgage loan which is secured by three of our properties in Luxembourg and The Netherlands did not maintain the required loan-to-value ratio and a cash trap event under the loan occurred. The event triggering the cash sweep was not, however, an event of default. As a result, €2.4 million was swept and had been retained by the lender, and during the three months ended September 30, 2023, the Company repaid approximately €2.5 million (approximately $2.7 million at the time of payment) of principal on this mortgage using cash that was previously swept and retained by the lender. In January 2024, we repaid approximately €9.8 million (approximately $10.6 million at the time of payment) of principal on this mortgage. The repayment was comprised of €6.5 million (approximately $7.2 million as of December 31, 2023) that was swept and retained by the lender as of December 31, 2023, and the incremental cash trapped through the January 2024 payment date. The cash trap event is now cured as the required loan-to-value ratio was restored due to these principal repayments.

Multi-Tenant Mortgage Loan III

During the three months ended December 31, 2020, a tenant failed to renew its lease triggering a cash sweep event under one of our mortgage loans secured by seven of our properties with a balance of $98.5 million as of December 31, 2023. The event triggering the cash sweep was not, however, an event of default. During the quarter ended March 31, 2021, we cured the cash sweep event through one of the available options under the loan by putting a $3.2 million letter of credit in place (subject to future increase under the terms of the loan agreement, to a maximum amount of $7.4 million). During the three months ended September 30, 2021, the amount of the letter of credit was increased by an additional $4.2 million, resulting in the lender holding the $7.4 million maximum amount in respect to this obligation as of September 30, 2021. This $7.4 million letter of credit is being held by the lender until such time we are able to find a suitable replacement tenant and it reduces the availability for future borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility.

The borrower entities under the same mortgage loan, based upon a review conducted during the three months ended June 30, 2022, identified that during the three months ended March 31, 2022, the borrowers failed to maintain the debt service coverage ratio required by the loan agreement for such period (a “DSCR Sweep Trigger”). Such failure, upon delivery of notice of the same by the lender, triggered a separate cash sweep event under the loan. A DSCR Sweep Trigger is not an event of default and instead triggers a cash sweep. The lender notified the borrower entities of the occurrence of the DSCR Sweep Trigger under the loan for the three-months ended March 31, 2022 and the continuance of such DSCR Sweep Trigger for the three months ended June 30, 2022. Per the loan agreement we can cure the cash sweep resulting from a DSCR Sweep Trigger by delivering a letter of credit in the face amount of the excess cash flow for the trailing three months immediately preceding the date of the DSCR Sweep Trigger. Such letter of credit is recalculated and increased (but never decreased) every three-month period until such time as the borrowers demonstrate compliance with the debt service coverage ratio required by the loan for a period of two consecutive calendar quarters. We cured the cash sweep resulting from the DSCR Sweep Trigger referenced above for the relevant periods by delivering a letter of credit to the lender in the face amount of approximately $0.9 million. The face value of such letter of credit was thereafter incrementally increased by an aggregate of $3.8 million to reflect the continuance of the DSCR Sweep Trigger for the three months ended September 30, 2022, December 31, 2022, March 31, 2023, June 30, 2023 and September 30, 2023. The DSCR Sweep Trigger remained in place for the quarter ended December 31, 2023 and the Company intends to cure the cash sweep that would otherwise result from such continuance by further increasing the letter of credit by an additional $0.9 million as required by the terms of the loan agreement. Such letter of credit is held by the lender, and we expect to maintain the effectiveness of the cash sweep cure by future increases to the face value of such letter of credit on a quarterly basis, in each case in accordance with the terms of the loan agreement, until such time as we restore compliance with the debt service coverage ratio required by the loan agreement for the requisite two-calendar-quarter time period. For so long as it remains outstanding, the face value of such letter of credit will represent a dollar-for-dollar reduction to availability under the Revolving Credit Facility for future borrowings.

Also, during the three months ended September 30, 2023, a separate tenant failed to deliver notice of renewal of its lease within the timeframe required under the same mortgage loan, triggering a cash sweep event. The event triggering the cash sweep was not, however, an event of default. We cured the cash sweep event through one of the available options under the loan by putting a $1.0 million letter of credit in place (subject to future increase under the terms of the loan agreement to a maximum amount of $2.7 million). The cash sweep remained in place for the quarter ended December 31, 2023 and we intend to cure the cash sweep that would otherwise result from such continuance by further increasing the letter of credit by an additional $1.3 million as required by the terms of the loan agreement. This letter of credit is being held by the lender until such time as either (i) renewal of the existing lease with the current tenant is confirmed or (ii) following formal non-renewal by the current tenant, we secure a suitable replacement tenant for the property. For so long as it remains outstanding, the face value of such letter of credit will represent a dollar-for-dollar reduction to availability under the Revolving Credit Facility for future borrowings.

Mortgage Loan II

During the three months ended September 30, 2023, a tenant failed to deliver notice of renewal of its lease within the timeframe required under one of our mortgage loans securing 12 of our properties with a balance of $210.0 million as of December 31, 2023, triggering a cash sweep event thereunder. The event triggering the cash sweep was not, however, an event of default. We cured the cash sweep event through one of the available options under the loan by putting a $0.8 million letter of credit in place. This letter of credit is being held by the lender until such time as either (i) renewal of the existing lease with the current tenant is confirmed or (ii) following formal non-renewal by the current tenant, we secure a suitable replacement tenant for the property. For so long as it remains outstanding, the face value of such letter of credit will represent a dollar-for-dollar reduction to availability under the Revolving Credit Facility for future borrowings.

Multi-Tenant Mortgage Loan IV

During the three months ended September 30, 2021, a tenant exercised its right to terminate its lease effective December 31, 2022. Notice of the termination triggered a lease sweep event, which began in the fourth quarter of 2021, under one of our mortgage loans secured by this property. This was not, however, an event of default. The mortgage loan had a balance of $97.5 million as of December 31, 2023 and it encumbers 16 properties, including this property. Pursuant to the terms of the loan agreement, the lender has swept all cash flow attributable to the lease that triggered the lease sweep event into a rollover reserve account no to exceed an aggregate cap of $0.8 million, which has been met. This reserve is being held by the lender who is required to make the reserve funds available to us to fund re-tenanting expenses for the property. The lease sweep event will be cured under the loan agreement if and when we lease the space to a new tenant approved by the lender and, at such time, any amounts remaining in the rollover reserve account in respect of the lease sweep event will be released to us.

Multi-Tenant Mortgage Loan V

During the three months ended December 31, 2023, we completed an arm’s length sale of a major tenant property encumbered on one of our mortgage loans secured by eleven of our properties with a balance of $204 million as of September 30, 2023. In connection with the sale the major tenant property was released from the encumbrance of the loan and the balance of such loan was reduced to $139.8 million as of December 31, 2023. While processing such paydown and release with the lender, the lender independently determined that the failure by the associated major tenant to renew its lease during the 12-month period prior to lease expiration constituted a major tenant cash sweep event under the loan agreement and implemented an ongoing cash sweep on the loan (subject in all cases to the cap described below). As of December 31, 2023, the lender has swept excess cash flow from the properties on the loan totaling $5.4 million to a major tenant reserve escrow account established in connection with the alleged major tenant cash sweep event. The loan agreement caps the amount that may be swept in connection with this alleged major tenant cash sweep event at $9.0 million. Upon accumulation of the full capped amount in the major tenant reserve escrow account the ongoing sweep associated with such major tenant cash sweep event will stop and excess cash flow in excess of the capped amount will be released to us. This alleged major tenant cash sweep event was not, however, an event of default. As the major tenant property and lease associated with the alleged major tenant cash sweep event has been released from the loan collateral (with the principal balance of the loan significantly reduced in connection with such release in accordance with the terms of the loan agreement) we disagree with the lender’s decision to implement a major tenant cash sweep event under these circumstances and are vigorously pursuing cancellation of the cash sweep and release of all amounts current held in the major tenant reserve escrow account as soon as possible with the master servicer and special servicer of the loan.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This section discusses the non-GAAP financial measures we use to evaluate our performance including Funds from Operations (“FFO”), Core Funds from Operations (“Core FFO”) and Adjusted Funds from Operations (“AFFO”). A description of these non-GAAP measures and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, which is net income, is provided below.

Use of Non-GAAP Measures

FFO, Core FFO, and AFFO should not be construed to be more relevant or accurate than the current GAAP methodology in calculating net income or in its applicability in evaluating our operating performance. The method utilized to evaluate the value and performance of real estate under GAAP should be construed as a more relevant measure of operational performance and considered more prominently than the non-GAAP FFO, Core FFO and AFFO measures. Other REITs may not define FFO in accordance with the current NAREIT (as defined below) definition (as we do), or may interpret the current NAREIT definition differently than we do, or may calculate Core FFO or AFFO differently than we do. Consequently, our presentation of FFO, Core FFO and AFFO may not be comparable to other similarly-titled measures presented by other REITs.

We consider FFO, Core FFO and AFFO useful indicators of our performance. Because FFO, Core FFO and AFFO calculations exclude such factors as depreciation and amortization of real estate assets and gain or loss from sales of operating real estate assets (which can vary among owners of identical assets in similar conditions based on historical cost accounting and useful-life estimates), FFO, Core FFO and AFFO presentations facilitate comparisons of operating performance between periods and between other REITs.

As a result, we believe that the use of FFO, Core FFO and AFFO, together with the required GAAP presentations, provide a more complete understanding of our operating performance including relative to our peers and a more informed and appropriate basis on which to make decisions involving operating, financing, and investing activities. However, FFO, Core FFO and AFFO are not indicative of cash available to fund ongoing cash needs, including the ability to make cash distributions. Investors are cautioned that FFO, Core FFO and AFFO should only be used to assess the sustainability of our operating performance excluding these activities, as they exclude certain costs that have a negative effect on our operating performance during the periods in which these costs are incurred.

Funds from Operations, Core Funds from Operations and Adjusted Funds from Operations

Funds from Operations

Due to certain unique operating characteristics of real estate companies, as discussed below, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”), an industry trade group, has promulgated a measure known as FFO, which we believe to be an appropriate supplemental measure to reflect the operating performance of a REIT. FFO is not equivalent to net income or loss as determined under GAAP.

We calculate FFO, a non-GAAP measure, consistent with the standards established over time by the Board of Governors of NAREIT, as restated in a White Paper approved by the Board of Governors of NAREIT effective in December 2018 (the “White Paper”). The White Paper defines FFO as net income or loss computed in accordance with GAAP, excluding depreciation and amortization related to real estate, gain and loss from the sale of certain real estate assets, gain and loss from change in control and impairment write-downs of certain real estate assets and investments in entities when the impairment is directly attributable to decreases in the value of depreciable real estate held by the entity. Our FFO calculation complies with NAREIT’s definition.

The historical accounting convention used for real estate assets requires straight-line depreciation of buildings and improvements, and straight-line amortization of intangibles, which implies that the value of a real estate asset diminishes predictably over time. We believe that, because real estate values historically rise and fall with market conditions, including inflation, interest rates, unemployment and consumer spending, presentations of operating results for a REIT using historical accounting for depreciation and certain other items may be less informative. Historical accounting for real estate involves the use of GAAP. Any other method of accounting for real estate such as the fair value method cannot be construed to be any more accurate or relevant than the comparable methodologies of real estate valuation found in GAAP. Nevertheless, we believe that the use of FFO, which excludes the impact of real estate related depreciation and amortization, among other things, provides a more complete understanding of our performance to investors and to management, and, when compared year over year, reflects the impact on our operations from trends in occupancy rates, rental rates, operating costs, general and administrative expenses, and interest costs, which may not be immediately apparent from net income.

Core Funds from Operations

In calculating Core FFO, we start with FFO, then we exclude certain non-core items such as merger, transaction and other costs, settlement costs related to the Blackwells/Related Parties litigation (as described herein), as well as certain other costs that are considered to be non-core, such as debt extinguishment costs. The purchase of properties, and the corresponding expenses associated with that process, is a key operational feature of our core business plan to generate operational income and cash flows in order to make dividend payments to stockholders. In evaluating investments in real estate, we differentiate the costs to acquire the investment from the subsequent operations of the investment. We also add back non-cash write-offs of deferred financing costs and prepayment penalties incurred with the early extinguishment of debt which are included in net income but are considered financing cash flows when paid in the statement of cash flows. We consider these write-offs and prepayment penalties to be capital transactions and not indicative of operations. By excluding expensed acquisition, transaction and other costs as well as non-core costs, we believe Core FFO provides useful supplemental information that is comparable for each type of real estate investment and is consistent with management’s analysis of the investing and operating performance of our properties.

Adjusted Funds from Operations

In calculating AFFO, we start with Core FFO, then we exclude certain income or expense items from AFFO that we consider more reflective of investing activities, other non-cash income and expense items and the income and expense effects of other activities or items, including items that were paid in cash that are not a fundamental attribute of our business plan or were one time or non-recurring items. These items include early extinguishment of debt and other items excluded in Core FFO as well as unrealized gain and loss, which may not ultimately be realized, such as gain or loss on derivative instruments, gain or loss on foreign currency transactions, and gain or loss on investments. In addition, by excluding non-cash income and expense items such as amortization of above-market and below-market leases intangibles, amortization of deferred financing costs, straight-line rent and equity-based compensation from AFFO, we believe we provide useful information regarding income and expense items which have a direct impact on our ongoing operating performance. We also exclude revenue attributable to the reimbursement by third parties of financing costs that we originally incurred because these revenues are not, in our view, related to operating performance. We also include the realized gain or loss on foreign currency exchange contracts for AFFO as such items are part of our ongoing operations and affect our current operating performance.

In calculating AFFO, we also exclude certain expenses which under GAAP are treated as operating expenses in determining operating net income. All paid and accrued acquisition, transaction and other costs (including prepayment penalties for debt extinguishments and merger related expenses) and certain other expenses, including expenses incurred for our 2023 proxy contest and related Blackwells/Related Parties litigation (as described herein), expenses related to our European tax restructuring and transition costs related to the Mergers, negatively impact our operating performance during the period in which expenses are incurred or properties are acquired and will also have negative effects on returns to investors, but are not reflective of on-going performance. Further, under GAAP, certain contemplated non-cash fair value and other non-cash adjustments are considered operating non-cash adjustments to net income. In addition, as discussed above, we view gain and loss from fair value adjustments as items which are unrealized and may not ultimately be realized and not reflective of ongoing operations and are therefore typically adjusted for when assessing operating performance. Excluding income and expense items detailed above from our calculation of AFFO provides information consistent with management’s analysis of our operating performance. Additionally, fair value adjustments, which are based on the impact of current market fluctuations and underlying assessments of general market conditions, but can also result from operational factors such as rental and occupancy rates, may not be directly related or attributable to our current operating performance. By excluding such changes that may reflect anticipated and unrealized gain or loss, we believe AFFO provides useful supplemental information. By providing AFFO, we believe we are presenting useful information that can be used to, among other things, assess our performance without the impact of transactions or other items that are not related to our portfolio of properties. AFFO presented by us may not be comparable to AFFO reported by other REITs that define AFFO differently. Furthermore, we believe that in order to facilitate a clear understanding of our operating results, AFFO should be examined in conjunction with net income (loss) as presented in our consolidated financial statements. AFFO should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss) as an indication of our performance or to cash flows as a measure of our liquidity or ability to make distributions.

(In thousands)

(1) FFO, Core FFO and AFFO for the year ended December 31, 2022 includes income from a lease termination fee of $0.3 million which is recorded in Revenue from tenants in the consolidated statements of operations. The termination fee of approximately $9.0 million was paid to us by the tenant at the end of the lease term on January 4, 2022, however it was earned and recorded as income evenly over the period from September 3, 2021 through January 4, 2022.

(2) For the year ended December 31, 2023, these costs primarily consist of advisory, legal and other professional costs that were directly related to the REIT Merger and Internalization Merger. The year ended December 31, 2022 did not have any of these costs.

(3) In the year ended December 31, 2023, we recognized these settlement costs which include one-half of the reasonable, documented, out-of-pocket expenses (including legal fees) incurred by the Blackwells/Related Parties in connection with the proxy contest and related litigation as well as expense for Common Stock issued to the Blackwells/Related Parties, as required under the cooperation agreement with the Blackwells/Related Parties. There were no such costs in the year ended December 31, 2022.

(4) Represents amounts related to deferred rent pursuant to lease negotiations which qualify for FASB relief for which rent was deferred but not reduced. These amounts are included in the straight-line rent receivable on our balance sheet but are considered to be earned revenue attributed to the current period for rent that was deferred, for purposes of AFFO, as they are expected to be collected. Accordingly, when the deferred amounts are collected, the amounts reduce AFFO.

(5) For AFFO purposes, we adjust for unrealized gains and losses. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the loss on derivative instruments (related to foreign currencies) was $3.7 million which consisted of unrealized losses of $7.3 million and realized gains of $3.6 million. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the gain on derivative instruments was $18.6 million which consisted of unrealized gains of $9.4 million and realized gains of $9.2 million.

(6) Amount relates to costs incurred for the 2023 proxy that were specifically related to our 2023 proxy contest and related litigation. We do not consider these expenses to be part of our normal operating performance and have, accordingly, increased AFFO for this amount.

(7) Amount relates to costs incurred related to the tax restructuring of our European entities. We do not consider these expenses to be part of our normal operating performance and have, accordingly, increased AFFO for this amount.

(8) Amount includes costs related to (i) compensation incurred for our retiring Co-Chief Executive Officer; (ii) a transition service agreement with the former Advisor and; (iii) insurance premiums related to expiring directors and officers insurance of former RTL directors. We do not consider these expenses to be part of our normal operating performance and have, accordingly, increased AFFO for this amount.

Dividends

The amount of dividends payable to our common stockholders is determined by our Board and is dependent on a number of factors, including funds available for dividends, our financial condition, provisions in our Credit Agreement or other agreements that may restrict our ability to pay dividends, capital expenditure requirements, as applicable, requirements of Maryland law and annual distribution requirements needed to maintain our status as a REIT.

In connection with the Mergers, our Board set the dividend at an annual rate of $1.42 per share, or $0.354 per share on a quarterly basis. The first dividend declared and paid at the new rate occurred in the fourth quarter of 2023. During the nine months ended September 30, 2023 and the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we paid dividends at an annual rate of $1.60 per share or $0.40 per share on a quarterly basis.

On February 26, 2024, the Board approved a dividend policy that will reduce our future Common Stock dividend rate and we expect the next formal declaration of Common Stock dividends to be $0.275 per share on a quarterly basis ($1.10 annualized). The new Common Stock dividend rate will become effective upon the next formal dividend declaration, which is expected to be declared in April 2024. The reduction of the dividend rate is expected to yield benefits to us, including increasing the amount of cash that may be used to lower leverage.

Dividends authorized by our Board and declared by us are paid on a quarterly basis on the 15th day of the first month following the end of each fiscal quarter (unless otherwise specified) to common stockholders of record on the record date for such payment.

Dividends accrue on our Preferred Stock as follows:

• Dividends on our Series A Preferred Stock accrue in an amount equal to $0.453125 per share per quarter to Series A Preferred Stockholders, which is equivalent to 7.25% of the $25.00 liquidation preference per share of Series A Preferred Stock per annum.
• Dividends on our Series B Preferred Stock accrue in an amount equal to $0.4296875 per share per quarter to Series B Preferred Stockholders, which is equivalent to 6.875% of the $25.00 liquidation preference per share of Series B Preferred Stock per annum.
• Dividends on our Series D Preferred Stock accrue in an amount equal to $0.46875 per share per quarter to Series D Preferred Stockholders, which is equivalent to the rate of 7.50% of the $25.00 liquidation preference per share per annum.
• Dividends on our Series E Preferred Stock accrue in an amount equal to $0.4609375 per share per quarter to Series E Preferred Stockholders, which is equivalent to the rate of 7.375% of the $25.00 liquidation preference per share per annum.

Dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, Series D Preferred Stock and Series E Preferred Stock are payable quarterly in arrears on the 15th day of January, April, July and October of each year (or, if not on a business day, on the next succeeding business day) to holders of record on the close of business on the record date set by our Board. Any accrued and unpaid dividends payable with respect to the Series A Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock become part of the liquidation preference thereof.

Pursuant to the Credit Agreement, we may not pay distributions, including cash dividends on, or redeem or repurchase Common Stock, Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, Series D Preferred Stock, Series E Preferred Stock, or any other class or series of stock we may issue in the future, that exceed 100% of our Adjusted FFO as defined in the Credit Facility (which is different from AFFO disclosed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K) for any period of four consecutive fiscal quarters, except in limited circumstances, including that for one fiscal quarter in each calendar year, we may pay cash dividends and other distributions and redeem or repurchase an aggregate amount equal to no more than 105% of our Adjusted FFO. We last used the exception to pay dividends that were between 100% of Adjusted FFO and 105% of Adjusted FFO during the quarter ended on June 30, 2020, and may use this exception in the future. In the past, the lenders under our Revolving Credit Facility have consented to increase the maximum amount of our Adjusted FFO we may use to pay cash dividends and other distributions and make redemptions and other repurchases in certain periods, but there can be no assurance that they will do so again in the future.

The following table shows the sources for the payment of dividends to holders of our Common Stock, Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, Series D Preferred Stock, Series E Preferred stock and distributions to holders of LTIP Units for the periods indicated:

(In thousands)

(1) Year-to-date totals will not equal the sum of the quarters. Each quarter and year-to-date period is evaluated separately for purposes of this table.

Foreign Currency Translation

Our reporting currency is the USD. The functional currency of our foreign investments is the applicable local currency for each foreign location in which we invest. Assets and liabilities in these foreign locations (including intercompany balances for which settlement is not anticipated in the foreseeable future) are translated at the spot rate in effect at the applicable reporting date. The amounts reported in the consolidated statements of operations are translated at the average exchange rates in effect during the applicable period. The resulting unrealized cumulative translation adjustment is recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income in the consolidated statements of equity. We are exposed to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates on property investments in foreign countries which pay rental income, incur property related expenses and borrow in currencies other than our functional currency, the USD. We have used and may continue to use foreign currency derivatives including options, currency forward and cross currency swap agreements to manage our exposure to fluctuations in GBP-USD and EUR-USD exchange rates (see Note 9 — Derivatives and Hedging Activities to the consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further discussion).

Election as a REIT

We elected to be taxed as a REIT under Sections 856 through 860 of the Code, effective for our taxable year ended December 31, 2013. We believe that, commencing with such taxable year, we have been organized and have operated in a manner so that we qualify for taxation as a REIT under the Code. We intend to continue to operate in such a manner to qualify for taxation as a REIT, but can provide no assurances that we will operate in a manner so as to remain qualified as a REIT. To continue to qualify for taxation as a REIT, we must distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (which does not equal net income as calculated in accordance with GAAP), determined without regard for the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains, and must comply with a number of other organizational and operational requirements. If we continue to qualify for taxation as a REIT, we generally will not be subject to federal corporate income tax on the portion of our REIT taxable income that we distribute to our stockholders. Even if we qualify for taxation as a REIT, we may be subject to certain state and local taxes on our income and properties, as well as federal income and excise taxes on our undistributed income.

In addition, our international assets and operations, including those owned through direct or indirect subsidiaries that are disregarded entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes, continue to be subject to taxation in the foreign jurisdictions where those assets are held or those operations are conducted.

Inflation

We may be adversely impacted by inflation on the leases that do not contain indexed escalation provisions, or those leases which have escalations at rates which do not exceed or approximate current inflation rates. As of December 31, 2023, the increase to the 12-month CPI for all items, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was 3.4%. To help mitigate the adverse impact of inflation, approximately 78.0% of our leases with our tenants contain rent escalation provisions that increase the cash rent that is due over time by an average cumulative increase of 1.3% per year. These provisions generally increase rental rates during the terms of the leases either at fixed rates or indexed escalations (based on the Consumer Price Index or other measures). As of December 31, 2023, using annualized straight-line rent as a weighting, approximately 59.7% are fixed-rate increase averaging 1.7%, 14.3% are based on the Consumer Price Index, subject to certain caps, 4.0% are based on other measures, and 22.0% do not contain any escalation provisions.

In addition, we may be required to pay costs for maintenance and operation of properties which may adversely impact our results of operations due to potential increases in costs and operating expenses resulting from inflation. However, our net leases require the tenant to pay its allocable share of operating expenses, which may include common area maintenance costs, real estate taxes and insurance. This may reduce our exposure to increases in costs and operating expenses resulting from inflation. As the costs of general goods and services continue to rise, we may be adversely impacted by increases in general and administrative costs due to overall inflation.

Related-Party Transactions and Agreements

Please see Note 12 — Related Party Transactions to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of the various related party transactions, agreements and fees and see Note 3 — The Mergers for information on the Internalization Merger.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have no off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources that are material to investors.

Market Risk

Market risk is the exposure to loss resulting from changes in interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates, and equity prices. The primary risks to which we are exposed are interest rate risk and foreign currency exchange risk, and we are also exposed to further market risk as a result of concentrations of tenants in certain industries and/or geographic regions. Adverse market factors can affect the ability of tenants in a particular industry/region to meet their respective lease obligations. In order to manage this risk, we view our collective tenant roster as a portfolio, and in our investment decisions we attempt to diversify our portfolio so that we are not overexposed to a particular industry or geographic region.

Generally, we do not use derivative instruments to hedge credit risks or for speculative purposes. However, from time to time, we have entered and may continue to enter into foreign currency forward contracts to hedge our foreign currency cash flow exposures.

Interest Rate Risk

The values of our real estate and related fixed-rate debt obligations are subject to fluctuations based on changes in interest rates. The value of our real estate is also subject to fluctuations based on local and regional economic conditions and changes in the creditworthiness of lessees, all of which may affect our ability to refinance property-level mortgage debt when due. Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors, including governmental monetary and tax policies, domestic and international economic and political conditions, and other factors beyond our control. Increases in interest rates may impact the credit profile of certain tenants.

We are exposed to the impact of interest rate changes primarily through our borrowing activities. We have obtained, and may in the future obtain, variable-rate, non-recourse mortgage loans, and as a result, we have entered into, and may continue to enter into, interest rate swap agreements or interest rate cap agreements with lenders. Interest rate swap agreements effectively convert the variable-rate debt service obligations of the loan to a fixed rate, while interest rate cap agreements limit the underlying interest rate from exceeding a specified strike rate. Interest rate swaps are agreements in which one party exchanges a stream of interest payments for a counterparty’s stream of cash flows over a specific period, and interest rate caps limit the effective borrowing rate of variable-rate debt obligations while allowing participants to share in downward shifts in interest rates. These interest rate swaps and caps are derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges on the interest payments on the debt obligation. The face amounts on which the swaps or caps, are based are not exchanged. Our objective in using these derivatives is to limit our exposure to interest rate movements. We estimated that the total fair value of our interest rate swaps, which are included in derivative assets, at fair value and derivative liabilities, at fair value on our consolidated balance sheets, totaled $10.6 million and $5.1 million as of December 31, 2023, respectively (see Note 9 — Derivatives and Hedging Activities to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K).

The following table presents future principal payments based upon expected maturity dates and fixed/variable classification of our debt obligations outstanding as of December 31, 2023:

(In thousands)

(1) Assumes exchange rates of £1.00 to $1.27 for GBP, €1.00 to $1.10 for EUR and $1.00 CAD to $0.75 as of December 31, 2023, for illustrative purposes, as applicable.

(2) Fixed-rate debt includes variable debt that bears interest at margin plus a floating rate which is fixed through our interest rate swap agreements. Also see Item 1A. Risk Factors - Risks Related to Our Indebtedness - Our derivative financial instruments have been, and any derivative financial instruments in the future, will be subject to counterparty default risk.

(3) Represents the variable portion of the mortgage that secures the properties in Finland. Interest on this mortgage is 80% fixed as a result of a “pay-fixed” interest rate swap agreement and 20% variable.

(4) Represents the portion of the Revolving Credit Facility that bears interest at variable rates. The GBP and CAD portions of the Revolving Credit Facility are 100% variable and the USD portion in 71% variable. The EUR portion of Revolving Credit Facility is 100% fixed via swaps.

As of December 31, 2023, our total consolidated debt, which includes secured mortgage financings, borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility, our 3.75% Senior Notes and our 4.50% Senior Notes, had a total gross carrying value of $5.4 billion, an estimated fair value of $5.1 billion. The annual interest rates on our fixed-rate debt mortgage debt as of December 31, 2023 ranged from 1.4% to 6.5% and the interest rates on our 3.75% Senior Notes and 4.50% Senior Notes are fixed at 3.75% and 4.50%, respectively. The contractual annual interest rates on our variable-rate debt as of December 31, 2023 ranged from 2.4% to 6.0%. Our interest expense in future periods will vary based on our level of future borrowings, which will depend on, among other things, our refinancing needs or plans to reduce our leverage and acquisition activity. In addition, our interest expense will vary based on movements in interest rates. Our debt obligations are more fully described in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations above.

The estimated fair value of our fixed-rate debt and our variable-rate debt that currently bears interest at fixed rates or has effectively been converted to a fixed rate through the use of interest rate swaps is affected by changes in interest rates. A decrease or increase in interest rates of 1% would change the estimated fair value of this debt as of December 31, 2023 by an aggregate increase of $759.1 million or an aggregate decrease of $914.5 million, respectively.

Annual interest expense on our unhedged variable-rate debt that does not bear interest at fixed rates as of December 31, 2023 would increase or decrease by approximately $11.1 million for each respective 1% change in annual interest rates.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Risk

We own foreign investments, primarily in Europe but also in Canada and as a result are subject to risk from the effects of exchange rate movements in the Euro, the GBP and the CAD which have affected and may continue to affect future costs and cash flows, in our functional currency, the USD. We generally manage foreign currency exchange rate movements by matching our debt service obligation to the lender and the tenant’s rental obligation to us in the same currency. This reduces, but does not eliminate, our overall exposure to currency fluctuations. In addition, we have used and may continue to use currency hedging to further reduce the exposure to our net cash flow. We are generally a net receiver of the Euro, the GBP and the CAD (we receive more cash than we pay out). Our results of operations of our foreign properties benefit from a weaker USD, and are adversely affected by a stronger USD, relative to the foreign currency subject to any impacts from our hedging activity.

We have designated all current foreign currency draws under the Credit Facility as net investment hedges to the extent of our net investment in foreign subsidiaries. To the extent foreign draws in each currency exceed the net investment, we reflect the effects of changes in currency on such excess in earnings. As of December 31, 2023, we did not have any foreign currency draws in excess of our net investments in our foreign subsidiaries (see Note 9— Derivatives and Hedging Activities to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K).

We enter into foreign currency forward contracts and put options to hedge certain of our foreign currency cash flow exposures. A foreign currency forward contract is a commitment to deliver a certain amount of foreign currency at a certain price on a specific date in the future. By entering into forward contracts and holding them to maturity, we are locked into a future currency exchange rate for the term of the contract. A foreign currency put option contract consists of a right, but not the obligation, to sell a specified amount of foreign currency for a specified amount of another currency at a specific date. If the exchange rate of the currency fluctuates favorably beyond the strike rate of the put at maturity, the option would be considered “in-the-money” and exercised accordingly. The total estimated fair value of our foreign currency forward contracts and put options, which are included in derivatives, at fair value on the consolidated balance sheets, was in a net asset position of $1.6 million as of December 31, 2023 (see Note 8 — Fair Value of Financial Instruments to our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K). We have obtained, and may in the future obtain, non-recourse mortgage financing in a foreign currency. To the extent that currency fluctuations increase or decrease rental revenues as translated to USD, the change in debt service, as translated to USD, will partially offset the effect of fluctuations in revenue and, to some extent, mitigate the risk from changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

Scheduled future minimum rents, exclusive of renewals, under non-cancelable operating leases, for our foreign operations as of December 31, 2023, during each of the next five calendar years and thereafter, are as follows:

(In thousands)

(1) Assumes exchange rates of £1.00 to $1.27 for GBP, €1.00 to $1.10 for EUR and $1.00 CAD to $0.75 as of December 31, 2023 for illustrative purposes, as applicable.

Scheduled debt service payments (principal and interest) for mortgage notes payable for our foreign operations as of December 31, 2023, during each of the next five calendar years and thereafter, are as follows:

(In thousands)

(1) In January 2024, the maturity date of the mortgage note that encumbers our properties in Finland (principal balance of $81.7 million as of December 31, 2023) was extended to February 2029.

We currently anticipate that, by their respective due dates, we will have repaid or refinanced certain of these loans, or extended them, but there can be no assurance that we will be able to refinance these loans on favorable terms, if at all. If refinancing has not occurred, we would expect to use our cash resources, including unused capacity on our Credit Facility, to make these payments, if necessary.

Concentration of Credit Risk

Concentrations of credit risk arise when a number of tenants are engaged in similar business activities or have similar economic risks or conditions that could cause them to default on their lease obligations to us. We regularly monitor our portfolio to assess potential concentrations of credit risk. While we believe our portfolio is reasonably well diversified, it does contain concentrations in excess of 10%, based on the percentage of our annualized rental income as of December 31, 2023, in certain areas. See Item 2. Properties in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further discussion on distribution across countries and industries.

Based on our annualized rental income, the majority of our directly owned real estate properties and related loans are located in the U.S. and Canada (80%) and the remaining are in the United Kingdom (11%), The Netherlands (2%), Finland (2%) and Germany (1%). No individual tenant accounted for more than 10% of our annualized rental income as of December 31, 2023. Based on annualized rental income, as of December 31, 2023, our directly owned real estate properties contain significant concentrations in the following asset types: Industrial & Distribution (32%), Multi-Tenant Retail (27%), Single-Tenant Retail (21%) and Office (20%).

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

In accordance with Rules 13a-15(b) and 15d-15(b) of the Exchange Act, we, under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Based on such evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded, as of December 31, 2023, the end of such period, that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective in recording, processing, summarizing and reporting, within the time periods specified in the SEC rules and forms, information required to be disclosed by us in our reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act, and in such information being accumulated and communicated to management as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Management’s Annual Reporting on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) or 15d-15(f) promulgated under the Exchange Act.

Our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023. In making that assessment, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013).

Based on its assessment, our management concluded that, as of December 31, 2023, our internal control over financial reporting was effective.

The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023 has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated on its report, which is included on page F-2 in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

During the three months ended December 31, 2023, there were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.