American Finance Trust, Inc (Form: 8-K, Received: 06/08/2021 06:04:27)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): June 8, 2021

American Finance Trust, Inc.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)

Maryland

001-38597

90-0929989

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation)

(Commission File Number)

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

650 Fifth Avenue, 30^th Floor
New York, New York 10019

(Address, including zip code, of Principal Executive Offices)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (212) 415-6500

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

¨	Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

¨	Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

¨	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

¨	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class:	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered:
Class A Common Stock, $0.01 par value	AFIN	The Nasdaq Global Select Market
7.50% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value	AFINP	The Nasdaq Global Select Market
7.375% Series C Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value per share	AFINO	The Nasdaq Global Select Market
Preferred Stock Purchase Rights	true	The Nasdaq Global Select Market

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ¨

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

Item 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure.

On June 8, 2021, American Finance Trust, Inc. (the “Company”) issued a press release, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1. The information set forth in Item 7.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K and in the attached Exhibit 99.1 is deemed to be “furnished” and shall not be deemed to be “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that Section. The information set forth in Item 7.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K, including Exhibit 99.1, shall not be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, regardless of any general incorporation language in such filing.

Item 8.01. Other Events.

Rent Collection Update

As of June 7, 2021, the Company has received 100% of the original cash rent due for months of April and May 2021, including 100% of the original cash rent due in the Company’s single-tenant portfolio and approximately 100% of the original cash rent due in the Company’s multi-tenant portfolio. The Company calculates “original cash rent collections” by comparing original cash rent due under our lease agreements to the total amount of rent collected during the period, which includes both original cash rent due and payments of amounts deferred from prior periods. Eliminating the impact of deferred rent paid, the Company collected 99% of original cash rent due in the single-tenant portfolio, 95% of original cash rent due in the multi-tenant portfolio and 99% of original cash rent due in the total portfolio.

Recent Acquisition Activity

Year to date, the Company has acquired 22 properties for an aggregate contract purchase price of approximately $52.3 million.

Acquisition Pipeline

The Company also announced its forward acquisition pipeline of letters of intent (“LOIs”) and definitive purchase and sale agreements (“PSAs”) as of June 7, 2021. The Company has entered into five PSAs and five LOIs to acquire 41 triple net lease properties, for an aggregate contract purchase price of approximately $185.1 million. The PSAs are subject to conditions and the LOIs are non-binding, and there can be no assurance the Company will complete these acquisitions, or any future acquisitions, on a timely basis or on acceptable terms and conditions, if at all.

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements in this Current Report on Form 8-K that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the outcome to be materially different. In addition, words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “estimates,” “projects,” “plans,” “intends,” “may,” “would” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of the Company’s control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results contemplated by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include the potential adverse effects of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, including actions taken to contain or treat COVID-19, on the Company, the Company’s tenants and the global economy and financial markets and that the information about rent collections may not be indicative of any future period, as well as those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed on February 25, 2021, the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 filed on May 6, 2021 and all other filings with the SEC after that date, as such risks, uncertainties and other important factors may be updated from time to time in the Company's subsequent reports. Further, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results over time, unless required by law.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits

Exhibit No		Description
99.1		Press Release dated June 8, 2021
104		Cover Page Interactive Data File - the cover page XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

	AMERICAN FINANCE TRUST, INC.

	By:	/s/ Edward M. Weil, Jr.
		Edward M. Weil, Jr.
		Chief Executive Officer and President (Principal Executive Officer)

Dated: June 8, 2021

Exhibit 99.1

AMERICAN FINANCE TRUST ANNOUNCES 100% OF SECOND QUARTER cash RENT COLLECTED THROUGH MAY; $238 MILLION Year to date ACQUISITIONS CLOSED OR IN PIPELINE; robust leasing results

NEW YORK –June 8, 2021 – American Finance Trust, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFIN) (“AFIN” or the “Company”) announced today that it collected 100% of the original cash rent due¹ for the months of April and May, 2021 as of June 7, 2021. The Company also announced that year to date it had closed on or had in its forward acquisition pipeline 63 properties for approximately $238 million and that it has a forward pipeline of leases that total over 31,000 square feet, net of lease expirations and terminations.

“AFIN has constructed a robust pipeline of acquisitions that includes numerous categories of necessity retail, including properties leased to gas and convenience, grocery, medical and discount tenants,” said Michael Weil, CEO of AFIN. “As communities around the country return to a greater level of normalcy, our asset management team is aggressively leasing up available space in the multi-tenant portfolio, which has already surpassed pre-pandemic executed occupancy levels. Once again, our rent collection remains strong across the portfolio based on the quality of our assets and the relationships our team has built with our credit-worthy tenants.”

Acquisition Pipeline

The Company announced a forward acquisition pipeline of 41 properties to be acquired at an aggregate contract purchase price of $185 million at a cash cap rate² of 7.4% and a weighted-average cap rate of 7.9%³ with an average remaining lease term of 8.4 years, weighted based on square feet, as of the expected closing dates.

Leasing

The Company announced a forward leasing pipeline of six letters of intent for new leases at multi-tenant properties that total 41,962square feet⁴. Net of 10,659 square feet of lease terminations, the net leasing pipeline totals 31,303 square feet.

About American Finance Trust, Inc.

American Finance Trust, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFIN) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust listed on the Nasdaq focused on acquiring and managing a diversified portfolio of primarily service-oriented and traditional retail and distribution related commercial real estate properties in the U.S. Additional information about AFIN can be found on its website at www.americanfinancetrust.com.

We calculate “original cash rent collections” by comparing original cash rent due under our lease agreements to the total amount of rent collected during the period, which includes both original cash rent due and payments of amounts deferred from prior periods. Eliminating the impact of deferred rent paid, we collected 98% of original cash rent due.

Cash capitalization rate is a rate of return on a real estate investment property based on the expected, annualized cash rental income during the first year of ownership that the property will generate under its existing lease or leases. Cash capitalization rate is calculated by dividing this annualized cash rental income the property will generate (before debt service and depreciation and after fixed costs and variable costs) by the purchase price of the property. excluding acquisition costs. The weighted-average cash capitalization rate is based upon square feet.

Capitalization rate is a rate of return on a real estate investment property based on the expected, annualized straight-line rental income that the property will generate under its existing lease or leases. Capitalization rate is calculated by dividing the annualized straight-lined rental income the property will generate (before debt service and depreciation and after fixed costs and variable costs) by the purchase price of the property, excluding acquisition costs. The weighted-average capitalization rate is based upon square feet.

⁴

Includes all leases under negotiation with an executed non-binding letter of intent (“LOI”) by both parties as of June 7, 2021. There can be no assurance that LOIs will lead to definitive leases that will commence on their current terms, or at all. Leasing pipeline should not be considered an indication of future performance.

Important Notice

The statements in this press release that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the outcome to be materially different. In addition, words such as “may,” “will,” “seeks,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “should” or similar expressions indicate a forward-looking statement, although not all forward-looking statements include these words. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of AFIN’s control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results contemplated by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include the potential adverse effects of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, including actions taken to contain or treat COVID-19, on AFIN, AFIN’s tenants and the global economy and financial markets and that the information about rent collections may not be indicative of any future period, as well as those set forth in the Risk Factors section of AFIN’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed on February 25, 2021, the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 filed on May 6, 2021and all other filings filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission after that date. Further, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and AFIN undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results over time, unless required by law.

Contacts:

Investor Relations

investorrelations@americanfinancetrust.com

(866) 902-0063