ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity REIT, Inc. (formerly known as KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT, Inc.) was formed on October 8, 2008 as a Maryland corporation, elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) beginning with the taxable year ended December 31, 2010 and intends to operate in such manner. As used herein, the terms “we,” “our” and “us” refer to Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity REIT, Inc. and as required by context, Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity Limited Partnership, a Delaware limited partnership formed on December 10, 2008 (the “Operating Partnership”), and its subsidiaries. KBS Capital Advisors LLC was previously our external advisor and on October 31, 2019, ceased to be our advisor or have any advisory responsibility to us immediately following the filing of our Quarter Report on Form 10-Q for the period ending September 30, 2019, which was filed on November 8, 2019. On November 1, 2019, Pacific Oak Capital Advisors, LLC (“Pacific Oak Capital Advisors”) became our advisor. As our advisor, Pacific Oak Capital Advisors manages our day-to-day operations and our portfolio of investments. Pacific Oak Capital Advisors also has the authority to make all of the decisions regarding our investments, subject to the limitations in our charter and the direction and oversight of our board of directors. Pacific Oak Capital Advisors also provides asset-management, marketing, investor-relations and other administrative services on our behalf. We have sought to invest in and manage a diverse portfolio of real estate related loans, opportunistic real estate, real estate-related debt securities and other real estate-related investments. We conduct our business primarily through our Operating Partnership, of which we are the sole general partner.
On January 8, 2009, we filed a registration statement on Form S-11 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) to offer a minimum of 250,000 shares and a maximum of 140,000,000 shares of common stock for sale to the public, of which 100,000,000 shares were registered in our primary offering and 40,000,000 shares were registered under our dividend reinvestment plan. We ceased offering shares of common stock in our primary offering on November 14, 2012. We sold 56,584,976 shares of common stock in the primary offering for gross offering proceeds of $561.7 million. We continue to offer shares of common stock under the dividend reinvestment plan. As of December 31, 2019, we had sold 6,827,324 shares of common stock under the dividend reinvestment plan for gross offering proceeds of $76.3 million. Also as of December 31, 2019, we had redeemed 23,819,074 of the shares sold in our offering for $285.4 million. As of December 31, 2019, we had issued 25,976,746 shares of common stock in connection with special dividends. Additionally, on December 29, 2011 and October 23, 2012, we issued 220,994 shares and 55,249 shares of common stock, respectively, for $2.0 million and $0.5 million, respectively, in private transactions exempt from the registration requirements pursuant to Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
On March 2, 2016, Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity (BVI) Holdings, Ltd. (“Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity BVI”), our wholly owned subsidiary, filed a final prospectus with the Israel Securities Authority for a proposed offering of up to 1,000,000,000 Israeli new Shekels of Series A debentures (the “Debentures”) at an annual interest rate not to exceed 4.25%. On March 1, 2016, Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity BVI commenced the institutional tender of the Debentures and accepted application for 842.5 million Israeli new Shekels. On March 7, 2016, Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity BVI commenced the public tender of the Debentures and accepted 127.7 million Israeli new Shekels. In the aggregate, Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity BVI accepted 970.2 million Israeli new Shekels (approximately $249.2 million as of March 8, 2016) in both the institutional and public tenders at an annual interest rate of 4.25%. Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity BVI issued the Debentures on March 8, 2016. The terms of the Debentures require five equal principal installment payments annually on March 1st of each year from 2019 to 2023.
On February 16, 2020, Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity BVI issued 254.1 million Israeli new Shekels (approximately $74.1 million as of February 16, 2020) of Series B debentures (the “Series B Debentures”) to Israeli investors pursuant to a public offering registered with the Israel Securities Authority. The Series B Debentures will bear interest at the rate of 3.93% per year. The Series B Debentures have principal installment payments equal to 33.33% of the face amount of the Series B Debentures on January 31st of each year from 2024 to 2026.
As of December 31, 2019, we consolidated six office properties, one office portfolio consisting of four office buildings and 14 acres of undeveloped land, one apartment property, three investments in undeveloped land with approximately 1,000 developable acres, one residential home portfolio consisting of 993 single-family homes and owned five investments in unconsolidated joint ventures and three investments in real estate equity securities.
On January 22, 2020, we filed a registration statement on Form S-11 with the SEC to offer up to $1 billion in additional shares of our common stock. This new registration statement contemplates a proposed conversion of our company to a perpetual-life net asset value or “NAV” REIT that offers and sells shares of our common stock continuously through a number of distribution channels in ongoing public offerings, and seeks to provide increased liquidity to current and future stockholders through an expansion of our current share redemption program. See “Proposed NAV REIT Conversion” below for more information.
On February 19, 2020, we, Pacific Oak SOR II, LLC, an indirect subsidiary of ours (“Merger Sub”), and Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity REIT II, Inc. (“POSOR II”) entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”). Subject to the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement, POSOR II will merge with and into Merger Sub (the “Merger”), with Merger Sub surviving the Merger (the “Surviving Entity”), such that following the Merger, the Surviving Entity will continue as an indirect subsidiary of ours. In accordance with the applicable provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law, the separate existence of POSOR II shall cease. At the effective time of the Merger and subject to the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement, each issued and outstanding share of POSOR II’s common stock (or a fraction thereof), $0.01 par value per share, will be converted into the right to receive 0.9643 shares of our common stock, par value $0.01 per share. The combined company after the Merger will retain the name “Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity REIT, Inc.” The Merger is intended to qualify as a “reorganization” under, and within the meaning of, Section 368(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. See “Proposed Merger” below for more information.
Objectives and Strategies
Our primary investment objectives are:
•to provide our stockholders with attractive and stable returns; and
•to preserve and return our stockholders’ capital contributions.
We have sought to achieve these objectives by investing in and managing a portfolio of real estate-related loans, opportunistic real estate, real estate-related debt securities and other real estate-related investments. We acquired our investments through a combination of equity raised in our initial public offering, debt financing and proceeds from the Debentures offering. We plan to lease-up and stabilize existing assets. We plan to explore value-add opportunities for existing assets and seek to realize growth in the value of our investments by timing asset sales to maximize their value. We also intend to actively pursue additional lending and investment opportunities that we believe will provide an attractive risk-adjusted return to our stockholders.
Real Estate Investments
As of December 31, 2019, we consolidated six office properties, one office portfolio consisting of four office buildings and 14 acres of undeveloped land encompassing, in the aggregate, approximately 3.0 million rentable square feet. As of December 31, 2019, these properties were 79% occupied. In addition, we owned one residential home portfolio consisting of 993 single-family homes and encompassing approximately 1.4 million rental square feet and one apartment property containing 317 units and encompassing approximately 0.3 million rentable square feet, which were 89% and 85% occupied, respectively as of December 31, 2019. We also consolidated three investments in undeveloped land with approximately 1,000 developable acres. In addition, we owned five investments in unconsolidated joint ventures.
We have attempted to diversify our tenant base in order to limit exposure to any one tenant or industry. As of December 31, 2019, we had no tenants that represented more than 10% of our total annualized base rent and our top ten tenants represented approximately 32% of our total annualized base rent. As of December 31, 2019, there were no properties classified as held for sale. For more information about our real estate investments, see Part I, Item 2 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Real Estate-Related Investments
As of December 31, 2019, we owned three investments in real estate equity securities with a total book value of $81.4 million.
Financing Objectives
We have financed the majority of our real estate and real estate-related investments with a combination of the proceeds we received from our initial public offering and debt. We used debt financing to increase the amount available for investment and to potentially increase overall investment yields to us and our stockholders. As of December 31, 2019, the weighted-average interest rate on our debt was 3.9%.
We borrow funds at both fixed and variable rates; as of December 31, 2019, we had $292.7 million and $385.4 million of fixed and variable rate debt outstanding, respectively. The weighted-average interest rates of our fixed rate debt and variable rate debt as of December 31, 2019 was 4.4% and 3.5%, respectively. The weighted-average interest rate represents the actual interest rate in effect as of December 31, 2019, using interest rate indices as of December 31, 2019, where applicable. As of December 31, 2019, we had entered into three separate interest rate caps with an aggregate notional of $175.6 million which effectively limits our exposure to increases in one-month LIBOR above certain thresholds.
In March 2016, we, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, issued 970.2 million Israeli new Shekels (approximately $249.2 million as of March 8, 2016) in 4.25% bonds to investors in Israel pursuant to a public offering registered in Israel. The bonds have a seven year term, with 20% of the principal payable each year from 2019 to 2023. We used the proceeds from the issuance of these bonds to make additional investments. As of December 31, 2019, we had entered into one foreign currency collar to hedge against a change in the exchange rate of the Israeli new Shekel versus the U.S. Dollar. The collar expired on February 26, 2020 and consisted of a purchased call option to buy Israeli new Shekels at 3.3800 and a sold put option to sell the Israeli new Shekels at 3.4991. The foreign currency collar was intended to permit us to exchange, on the settlement date of the collar, 776.2 million Israeli new Shekels for an amount ranging from $221.8 million to $229.6 million.
On February 16, 2020, Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity BVI issued 254.1 million Israeli new Shekels (approximately $74.1 million as of February 16, 2020) of Series B debentures to Israeli investors pursuant to a public offering registered with the Israel Securities Authority. The Series B Debentures will bear interest at the rate of 3.93% per year. The Series B Debentures have principal installment payments equal to 33.33% of the face amount of the Series B Debentures on January 31st of each year from 2024 to 2026.
We have tried to spread the maturity dates of our debt to minimize maturity and refinance risk in our portfolio. In addition, a majority of our debt allows us to extend the maturity dates, subject to certain conditions. Although we believe we will satisfy the conditions to extend the maturity of our debt obligations, we can give no assurance in this regard. The following table shows the current and fully extended maturities, including principal amortization payments, of our debt as of December 31, 2019 (in thousands):
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Current Maturity
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Extended Maturity
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2020
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$
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137,958
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$
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86,787
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2021
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278,554
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59,169
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2022
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78,396
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112,766
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2023
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116,132
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273,747
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2024
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270
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78,841
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Thereafter
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66,770
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66,770
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$
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678,080
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$
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678,080
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There is no limitation on the amount we may borrow for any single investment. Our charter limits our total liabilities to 75% of the cost of our tangible assets; however, we may exceed that limit if a majority of the conflicts committee approves each borrowing in excess of our charter limitation and we disclose such borrowing to our common stockholders in our next quarterly report with an explanation from the conflicts committee of the justification for the excess borrowing. As of December 31, 2019, our borrowings and other liabilities were both approximately 68% of the cost (before depreciation and other noncash reserves) and book value (before depreciation) of our tangible assets, respectively.
We do not intend to exceed the leverage limit in our charter. High levels of debt could cause us to incur higher interest charges and higher debt service payments, which would decrease the amount of cash available for distribution to our investors, and could also be accompanied by restrictive covenants. High levels of debt could also increase the risk of being unable to refinance when loans become due, or of being unable to refinance on favorable terms, and the risk of loss with respect to assets pledged as collateral for loans.
Except with respect to the borrowing limits contained in our charter, we may reevaluate and change our debt policy in the future without a stockholder vote. Factors that we would consider when reevaluating or changing our debt policy include: then-current economic conditions, the relative cost and availability of debt and equity capital, any investment opportunities, the ability of our investments to generate sufficient cash flow to cover debt service requirements and other similar factors. Further, we may increase or decrease our ratio of debt to book value in connection with any change of our borrowing policies.
Disposition Policies
The period that we will hold our investments will vary depending on the type of asset, interest rates and other factors. Our advisor has developed a well-defined exit strategy for each investment we have made and will continually perform a hold-sell analysis on each asset in order to determine the optimal time to hold the asset and generate a strong return for our stockholders. Economic and market conditions may influence us to hold our investments for different periods of time. We may sell an asset before the end of the expected holding period if we believe that market conditions have maximized its value to us or the sale of the asset would otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we sold one office building, one retail property and one apartment property and there were no properties classified as held for sale as of December 31, 2019. Additionally, during the year ended December 31, 2019, we liquidated our position in Whitestone REIT and sold 1,781,894 shares of its common stock. The disposition strategy is consistent with our objectives of acquiring opportunistic investments, improving the investments and timing asset sales to realize the growth in the value that was created during our hold period.
Proposed NAV REIT Conversion
Background
Our board of directors and management team believe significant opportunities currently exist and have been monitoring the real estate and equity markets closely in order to find the best opportunities possible to maximize the return to our stockholders and provide additional liquidity for our stockholders. We currently believe the best opportunity for us to achieve these objectives is to pursue a strategy as a non-listed, perpetual-life company that (a) calculates the net asset value or “NAV” per share on a regular basis that is more frequent that annually (i.e., daily, monthly or quarterly), (b) offers and sells new shares of our common stock continuously through a number of distribution channels in ongoing public offerings, and (c) seeks to provide increased liquidity to current and future stockholders through an expansion of our current share redemption program. We refer to a REIT that operates in this manner as an “NAV REIT” and we refer to our proposed conversion to this mode of operation as the “Proposed NAV REIT Conversion.” As an NAV REIT, we believe we will be able to raise additional equity capital to diversify and grow our portfolio for the benefit of our stockholders, while at the same time providing increased liquidity to our stockholders in excess of what is currently offered.
Terms of Proposed NAV REIT Conversion
We summarize below our current intentions as to the principal terms of the Proposed NAV REIT Conversion. While we have described below our current intentions with respect to the Proposed NAV REIT Conversion, our board of directors may change any aspects of it without stockholder approval. Such changes may be deemed appropriate for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to regulatory, capital-raising or business considerations, all of which can change over time.
More Frequent NAV Calculations
We currently calculate the NAV of our shares once each calendar year. As an NAV REIT, we currently intend to calculate our NAV once per month, though we could decide to calculate it daily or quarterly. We believe more frequent NAV calculations will improve our ability to offer and repurchase our shares at the most fair prices, and also improve visibility and transparency into our performance.
Revised Share Redemption Program
As an NAV REIT, we believe we can (a) offer an expanded share redemption program, (b) have additional capital to fund redemptions, and (c) provide more frequent NAV per share calculations, which will provide stockholders with more information when making liquidity decisions and also allow more frequent and fair pricing under our share redemption program. As an NAV REIT, we intend to revise our share redemption program to allow us to make monthly redemptions with an aggregate value of up to 5% of our NAV each quarter. This would be a significant increase in maximum capacity compared to our current share redemption program, which limits redemptions of shares during any calendar year to no more than 5% of the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the prior calendar year. Our current share redemption program is also limited by funding restrictions that prevent us from redeeming the maximum number of shares permitted under the program. Because the actual level of redemptions under our share redemption program as an NAV REIT would also depend on our ability to fund redemptions and our other capital needs, we may not be able to make redemptions up to the maximum capacity permitted by the program. However, our intention is to increase our stockholders’ access to liquidity through an expansion of our current share redemption program. As an NAV REIT, we intend to repurchase shares under the share redemption program on a monthly basis at a price equal to the most recently disclosed monthly NAV, or at 95% of the most recently disclosed NAV if the shares have been held for less than a year; provided that for the first 90 days as an NAV REIT, no redemptions will be approved for any of our stockholders, in order to help us transition to our new share redemption program as a perpetual-life REIT.
Distributions and Dividend Reinvestment Plan
We currently declare distributions with quarterly record and payment dates. As an NAV REIT, we expect that we would modify our distribution policy to pay distributions monthly and have monthly record dates. We also expect to revise our dividend reinvestment plan so that we would sell shares at the most recent monthly NAV, rather than at the most recent annual NAV as we do now.
Ongoing Public Offerings Conducted through Pacific Oak Capital Markets Group, LLC
As an NAV REIT, we expect that we would conduct ongoing primary public offerings of our shares on a continuous basis through our affiliated dealer manager, Pacific Oak Capital Markets Group, LLC. Such offerings would likely include new classes of common stock, which would allow us to offer different classes of common stock with different combinations of upfront and ongoing commissions and other fees payable to our dealer manager and participating broker-dealers. We believe that having a number of different share classes with different distribution compensation structures will improve our ability to sell shares and raise capital in the current market. We currently intend to rename our unclassified shares of common stock as “Class I” shares and classify three new classes of common stock: Class T, S and D shares.
While we expect that the upfront and ongoing commissions and other fees payable to our dealer manager and participating broker-dealers in connection with these offerings would be borne by the new investors, our company would incur other offering expenses in connection with these offerings, which expenses would impact our current stockholders. These other offering expenses would include our legal, accounting, printing, mailing and filing fees, charges of our transfer agent, charges of our advisor and/or transfer agent for administrative services related to the issuance of shares in the offering, reimbursement of bona fide due diligence expenses, reimbursement of our advisor for costs in connection with preparing supplemental sales materials, the cost of bona fide training and education meetings held by us (primarily the travel, meal and lodging costs of registered representatives of broker-dealers), attendance and sponsorship fees payable to participating broker-dealers hosting retail seminars and travel, meal and lodging costs for registered persons associated with our dealer manager and officers and employees of our affiliates to attend retail seminars conducted by broker-dealers, legal fees of our dealer manager and promotional items. They could also include reimbursement to our dealer manager for wholesaling compensation expenses, though we do not currently intend to reimburse our dealer manager for such expenses.
Revised Advisory Fee Structure
•Acquisition and Origination Fees and Expenses. Pursuant to our advisory agreement currently in effect with our advisor, we incur acquisition and origination fees payable to our advisor equal to 1.0% of the cost of investments acquired by us, or the amount funded by us to acquire or originate loans, including acquisition and origination expenses and any debt attributable to such investments. We intend to eliminate this fee as part of the Proposed NAV REIT Conversion. This may represent significant savings, depending on our future investment activity. We intend to continue to reimburse our advisor for customary acquisition and origination expenses, whether or not we ultimately acquire the asset.
•Fixed Asset Management Fee. Pursuant to our advisory agreement currently in effect with our advisor, we currently pay the advisor an asset management fee. With respect to investments in loans and any investments other than real property, the asset management fee is a monthly fee calculated, each month, as one-twelfth of 0.75% of the lesser of (i) the amount actually paid or allocated to acquire or fund the loan or other investment, inclusive of fees and expenses related thereto and the amount of any debt associated with or used to acquire or fund such investment and (ii) the outstanding principal amount of such loan or other investment, plus the fees and expenses related to the acquisition or funding of such investment, as of the time of calculation. With respect to investments in real property, the asset management fee is a monthly fee equal to one-twelfth of 0.75% of the sum of the amount paid or allocated to acquire the investment, inclusive of fees and expenses related thereto and the amount of any debt associated with or used to acquire such investment. In the case of investments made through joint ventures, the asset management fee will be determined based on our proportionate share of the underlying investment. For the 12 months ended December 31, 2019, the asset management fee was $8.2 million.
As part of the Proposed NAV REIT Conversion, we currently expect to replace the current asset management fee with a management fee with a fixed component equal to 1.25% of NAV per annum payable monthly. The impact of this change will depend on a number of factors, including our leverage and the value of our assets compared to the purchase price (both of which will be taken into account with the new fee structure, unlike the old fee structure), and is therefore impossible to predict over the long term, but we do not expect the change to be significant in the near term. By way of example only, if the aggregate NAV of our company for the 12 months ended December 31, 2019 were equal to the estimated net asset value of our company approved by our board of directors on December 17, 2019, this fixed component of the new advisory fee would have been approximately $0.5 million per month. By comparison, the existing asset management fee incurred by us for the 12 months ended December 31, 2019 was approximately $0.7 million per month.
•Incentive Fee. As part of the Proposed NAV REIT Conversion, we currently expect to replace our current incentive fee to the advisor with an annual performance fee performance participation interest in the Operating Partnership that entitles our advisor (or its affiliate) to receive an allocation from our Operating Partnership equal to 15.0% of the Total Return, subject to a 6% Hurdle Amount and a High Water Mark, with a Catch-Up (each term as defined below). Such allocation will be made annually and accrue monthly. Specifically, the advisor or its affiliate will be allocated a performance participation in an amount equal to:
◦First, if the Total Return for the applicable period exceeds the sum of (i) the Hurdle Amount for that period and (ii) the Loss Carryforward Amount (any such excess, “Excess Profits”), 100% of such annual Excess Profits until the total amount allocated to the Special Limited Partner equals 6.0 % of the sum of (x) the Hurdle Amount for that period and (y) any amount allocated to the Special Limited Partner pursuant to this clause (this is commonly referred to as a “Catch-Up”); and
◦Second, to the extent there are remaining Excess Profits, 15.0% of such remaining Excess Profits.
“Total Return” for any period since the end of the prior calendar year shall equal the sum of:
(i) all distributions accrued or paid (without duplication) on the Operating Partnership units outstanding at the end of such period since the beginning of the then-current calendar year, plus
(ii) the change in aggregate NAV of such units since the beginning of the year, before giving effect to (x) changes resulting solely from the proceeds of issuances of Operating Partnership units, (y) any allocation/accrual to the performance participation interest and (z) applicable distribution fee expenses (including any payments made to us for payment of such expenses).
“Hurdle Amount” for any period during a calendar year means that amount that results in a 6% annualized internal rate of return on the NAV of the Operating Partnership units outstanding at the beginning of the then-current calendar year and all Operating Partnership units issued since the beginning of the then-current calendar year, taking into account the timing and amount of all distributions accrued or paid (without duplication) on all such units, and all issuances of Operating Partnership units over the period and calculated in accordance with recognized industry practices. The ending NAV of the Operating Partnership units used in calculating the internal rate of return will be calculated before giving effect to any allocation/accrual to the performance participation interest and applicable distribution fee expenses.
Except as described in Loss Carryforward below, any amount by which Total Return falls below the Hurdle Amount will not be carried forward to subsequent periods.
“Loss Carryforward Amount” shall initially equal zero and shall cumulatively increase by the absolute value of any negative annual Total Return and decrease by any positive annual Total Return, provided that the Loss Carryforward Amount shall at no time be less than zero and provided further that the calculation of the Loss Carryforward Amount will exclude the Total Return related to any Operating Partnership units repurchased during such year, which units will be subject to the performance participation allocation upon repurchase as described below. The effect of the Loss Carryforward Amount is that the recoupment of past annual Total Return losses will offset the positive annual Total Return for purposes of the calculation of the Special Limited Partner’s performance participation. This is referred to as a “High Water Mark.”
In addition, immediately prior to the commencement of the NAV REIT conversion, we may compensate our advisor for performance since September 30, 2018, as part of a restructuring of the incentive fees we pay to our advisor.
•Disposition Fees. Pursuant to our advisory agreement currently in effect with the advisor, for substantial assistance in connection with the sale of properties or other investments, we currently pay our advisor or its affiliates 1.0% of the contract sales price of each loan, debt-related security, real property or other investment sold (including residential or commercial mortgage-backed securities or collateralized debt obligations issued by a subsidiary of ours as part of a securitization transaction); provided, however, that if in connection with such disposition commissions are paid to third parties unaffiliated with our advisor, the fee paid to our advisor and its affiliates may not exceed the commissions paid to such unaffiliated third parties, and provided further that the disposition fees paid to our advisor, its affiliates and unaffiliated third parties may not exceed 6.0% of the contract sales price.
We intend to eliminate this fee as part of the Proposed NAV REIT Conversion. This may represent significant savings, depending on our future disposition activity.
Proposed Merger
If the Merger were to occur today, the combined company’s portfolio would consist of nine office properties, one office portfolio consisting of four office buildings and 14 acres of undeveloped land, in the aggregate, approximately, 3.8 million rentable square feet and 77.7% leased occupancy (based on data as of March 24, 2020), two hotel properties, two apartment properties, one residential home portfolio consisting of 993 single-family rental homes, three investments in undeveloped land with approximately 1,000 developable acres, an investment in an office/retail property redevelopment, six investments in unconsolidated entities and four investments in real estate equity securities.
The Merger is conditioned upon receipt of the approval of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of POSOR II common stock with respect to the Merger. In addition, the Merger Agreement provides certain termination rights for us and POSOR II. In connection with the termination of the Merger Agreement, under certain specified circumstances, POSOR II may be required to pay us a termination fee of $9.3 million.
Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, in exchange for each share of POSOR II common stock owned, POSOR II stockholders will receive 0.9643 shares of our common stock. Following the closing of the Merger, POSOR I and POSOR II stockholders are expected to own approximately 69.4% and 30.6% of the combined company, respectively. We expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2020, subject to certain closing conditions, including the approval of the merger by POSOR II stockholders.
Concurrently with the entry into the Merger Agreement, we and Pacific Oak Capital Advisors (which is also the external advisor to POSOR II) entered into the Amended and Restated Advisory Agreement (the “Amended Advisory Agreement”). The Amended Advisory Agreement amended our existing advisory agreement to provide that no acquisition fees will be paid in connection with the Merger and to set the “issue price” ($10.63 per share) of the shares issued in the Merger for purposes of calculating the Pacific Oak Capital Advisors’ incentive fee. The Merger itself will not trigger an incentive fee to Pacific Oak Capital Advisors by POSOR II or us.
Concurrently with the entry into the Merger Agreement, POSOR II and Pacific Oak Capital Advisors entered into a termination letter agreement (the “Termination Agreement”), effective as of February 19, 2020. Pursuant to the Termination Agreement, the advisory agreement between POSOR II and Pacific Oak Capital Advisors (the “POSOR II Advisory Agreement”) will be terminated at the effective time of the Merger. Also pursuant to the Termination Agreement, Pacific Oak Capital Advisors waived any disposition fee it otherwise would be entitled to receive from POSOR II with respect to the Merger. If, however, POSOR II is ultimately sold to another bidder, then Pacific Oak Capital Advisors may be entitled to a disposition fee from POSOR II in an amount as set forth in the POSOR II Advisory Agreement.
The foregoing descriptions of the Merger Agreement, the Amended and Restated Advisory Agreement and the Merger are not complete and are subject to and qualified in their entirety by reference to the Merger Agreement and the Amended and Restated Advisory Agreement, copies of which were filed as exhibits to our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 20, 2020. There is no guarantee that the Merger will be consummated.
Economic Dependency
We are dependent on our advisor for certain services that are essential to us, including the identification, evaluation, negotiation, origination, acquisition and disposition of investments; management of the daily operations and leasing of our investment portfolio; and other general and administrative responsibilities. In the event that our advisor is unable to provide the respective services, we will be required to obtain such services from other sources.
Competitive Market Factors
The U.S. commercial real estate leasing markets remain competitive. We face competition from various entities for prospective tenants and to retain our current tenants, including other REITs, pension funds, insurance companies, investment funds and companies, partnerships and developers. Many of these entities have substantially greater financial resources than we do and may be able to accept more risk than we can prudently manage, including risks with respect to the creditworthiness of a tenant. As a result of their greater resources, those entities may have more flexibility than we do in their ability to offer rental concessions to attract and retain tenants. This could put pressure on our ability to maintain or raise rents and could adversely affect our ability to attract or retain tenants. As a result, our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, ability to satisfy our debt service obligations and ability to pay distributions to our stockholders may be adversely affected. We may also face competition from other entities that are selling assets. Competition from these entities may increase the supply of real estate investment opportunities or increase the bargaining power of real estate investors seeking to buy.
Although we believe that we are well-positioned to compete effectively in each facet of our business, there is enormous competition in our market sector and there can be no assurance that we will compete effectively or that we will not encounter increased competition in the future that could limit our ability to conduct our business effectively.
Compliance with Federal, State and Local Environmental Law
Under various federal, state and local environmental laws, ordinances and regulations, a current or previous real property owner or operator may be liable for the cost of removing or remediating hazardous or toxic substances on, under or in such property. These costs could be substantial. Such laws often impose liability whether or not the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. Environmental laws also may impose restrictions on the manner in which property may be used or businesses may be operated, and these restrictions may require substantial expenditures or prevent us from entering into leases with prospective tenants that may be impacted by such laws. Environmental laws provide for sanctions for noncompliance and may be enforced by governmental agencies or, in certain circumstances, by private parties. Certain environmental laws and common law principles could be used to impose liability for the release of and exposure to hazardous substances, including asbestos-containing materials. Third parties may seek recovery from real property owners or operators for personal injury or property damage associated with exposure to released hazardous substances. The cost of defending against claims of liability, of complying with environmental regulatory requirements, of remediating any contaminated property, or of paying personal injury claims could reduce the amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.
All of our real estate properties, other than properties acquired through foreclosure, were subject to Phase I environmental assessments at the time they were acquired. Some of the properties we have acquired are subject to potential environmental liabilities arising primarily from historic activities at or in the vicinity of the properties. Based on our environmental diligence and assessments of our properties and our purchase of pollution and remediation legal liability insurance with respect to some of our properties, we do not believe that environmental conditions at our properties are likely to have a material adverse effect on our operations.
Segments
We have invested in non-performing loans, opportunistic real estate and other real estate-related assets. In general, we intend to hold our investments in non-performing loans, opportunistic real estate and other real estate-related assets for capital appreciation. Traditional performance metrics of non-performing loans, opportunistic real estate and other real estate-related assets may not be meaningful as these investments are generally non-stabilized and do not provide a consistent stream of interest income or rental revenue. These investments exhibit similar long-term financial performance and have similar economic characteristics. These investments typically involve a higher degree of risk and do not provide a constant stream of ongoing cash flows. As a result, our management views non-performing loans, opportunistic real estate and other real estate-related assets as similar investments. Substantially all of our revenue and net income (loss) is from non-performing loans, opportunistic real estate and other real estate-related assets, and therefore, we currently aggregate our operating segments into one reportable business segment. We view single-family homes as a separate reportable segment.
Employees
We have no paid employees. The employees of our advisor or its affiliates provide management, acquisition, disposition, advisory and certain administrative services for us.
Principal Executive Office
Our principal executive offices are located at 11150 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 400, Los Angeles, California 90025. Our telephone number and web address are (424) 208-8100 and http://www.pacificoakcmg.com/offering/reit-i.
Available Information
Access to copies of our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and other filings with the SEC, including amendments to such filings, may be obtained free of charge from the following website, http://www.pacificoakcmg.com/offering/reit-i, through a link to the SEC’s website, http://www.sec.gov. These filings are available promptly after we file them with, or furnish them to, the SEC.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
The following are some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those presented in our forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face but do represent those risks and uncertainties that we believe are material to us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also harm our business.
Risks Related to an Investment in Us
Because no public trading market for our shares currently exists, it will be difficult for our stockholders to sell their shares and, if they are able to sell their shares, it will likely be at a substantial discount to the public offering price.
Our charter does not require our directors to seek stockholder approval to liquidate our assets by a specified date, nor does our charter require our directors to list our shares for trading on a national securities exchange by a specified date. There is no public market for our shares and we currently have no plans to list our shares on a national securities exchange. Until our shares are listed, if ever, our stockholders may not sell their shares unless the buyer meets the applicable suitability and minimum purchase standards. In addition, our charter prohibits the ownership of more than 9.8% of our stock, unless exempted by our board of directors, which may inhibit large investors from purchasing our shares. In its sole discretion, our board of directors could amend, suspend or terminate our share redemption program upon ten business days’ notice. Further, the share redemption program includes numerous restrictions that would limit a stockholder’s ability to sell his or her shares. Therefore, it will be difficult for our stockholders to sell their shares promptly or at all. It is also likely that our shares would not be accepted as the primary collateral for a loan. Because of the illiquid nature of our shares, our stockholders should purchase shares in our dividend reinvestment plan only as a long-term investment and be prepared to hold them for an indefinite period of time.
If we are unable to find suitable investments, we may not be able to achieve our investment objectives or pay distributions.
Our ability to achieve our investment objectives and to pay distributions depends upon the performance of Pacific Oak Capital Advisors, our advisor, in the acquisition of our investments, including the determination of any financing arrangements, and the ability of our advisor to source loan origination opportunities for us. Competition from competing entities may reduce the number of suitable investment opportunities offered to us or increase the bargaining power of counterparties in transactions. We will also depend upon the performance of third-party loan servicers and property managers in connection with managing our investments. Stockholders must rely entirely on the management abilities of Pacific Oak Capital Advisors, the loan servicers and property managers Pacific Oak Capital Advisors selects and the oversight of our board of directors. We can give our stockholders’ no assurance that Pacific Oak Capital Advisors will be successful in obtaining suitable investments on financially attractive terms or that, if Pacific Oak Capital Advisors makes investments on our behalf, our objectives will be achieved. In the event we are unable to timely locate suitable investments, we may be unable or limited in our ability to pay distributions and we may not be able to meet our investment objectives.
A concentration of our real estate investments in any one property class may leave our profitability vulnerable to a downturn in such sector.
At any one time, a significant portion of our investments could be in one property class. As a result, we will be subject to risks inherent in investments in a single type of property. If our investments are substantially in one property class, then the potential effects on our revenues, and as a result, on cash available for distribution to our stockholders, resulting from a downturn in the businesses conducted in those types of properties could be more pronounced than if we had more fully diversified our investments. As of December 31, 2019, our investments in office properties, including our office unconsolidated joint ventures, represented 56.2% of our total assets.
Because of the concentration of a significant portion of our assets in two geographic areas, any adverse economic, real estate or business conditions in these areas could affect our operating results and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
As of December 31, 2019, our real estate investments in Georgia and California represented 17.0% and 13.9% of our total assets, respectively. As a result, the geographic concentration of our portfolio makes it particularly susceptible to adverse economic developments in the Georgia and California real estate markets. Any adverse economic or real estate developments in these markets, such as business layoffs or downsizing, industry slowdowns, relocations of businesses, changing demographics and other factors, or any decrease in demand for office space resulting from the local business climate, could adversely affect our operating results and our ability to make distributions to stockholders.
Disruptions in the financial markets and uncertain economic conditions could adversely affect market rental rates, commercial real estate values and our ability to secure debt financing, service debt obligations, or pay distributions to our stockholders.
Currently, both the investing and leasing environments are highly competitive. While there has been an increase in the amount of capital flowing into the U.S. real estate markets, which resulted in an increase in real estate values in certain markets, the uncertainty regarding the economic environment has made businesses reluctant to make long-term commitments or changes in their business plans. Possible future declines in rental rates, slower or potentially negative net absorption of leased space and expectations of future rental concessions, including free rent to renew tenants early, to retain tenants who are up for renewal or to attract new tenants, may result in decreases in cash flows.
We have relied on debt financing to finance our real estate properties and we may have difficulty refinancing some of our debt obligations prior to or at maturity or we may not be able to refinance these obligations at terms as favorable as the terms of our existing indebtedness and we also may be unable to obtain additional debt financing on attractive terms or at all. If we are not able to refinance our existing indebtedness on attractive terms at the various maturity dates, we may be forced to dispose of some of our assets. Recent financial market conditions have improved from the bottom of the economic cycle, but material risks are still present. Market conditions can change quickly, which could negatively impact the value of our assets.
Disruptions in the financial markets and continued uncertain economic conditions could adversely affect the values of our investments. Lending activity has increased; however, it remains uncertain whether the capital markets can sustain the current transaction levels. Any disruption to the debt and capital markets could result in fewer buyers seeking to acquire commercial properties and possible increases in capitalization rates and lower property values. Furthermore, declining economic conditions could negatively impact commercial real estate fundamentals and result in lower occupancy, lower rental rates and declining values in our real estate portfolio and in the collateral securing our loan investments, which could have the following negative effects on us:
•the values of our investments in commercial properties could decrease below the amounts paid for such investments;
•the value of collateral securing any loan investments we may make could decrease below the outstanding principal amount of such loans; and/or
•revenues from our properties could decrease due to fewer tenants and/or lower rental rates, making it more difficult for us to pay distributions or meet our debt service obligations on debt financing.
All of these factors could impair our ability to make distributions to our investors and decrease the value of an investment in us.
Subsequent to December 31, 2019, there was a global outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus, COVID-19 which has been designated as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, continues to adversely impact global commercial activity and has contributed to significant volatility in financial markets. The global impact of the outbreak has been rapidly evolving, and as cases of the virus have continued to be identified in additional countries, many countries have reacted by instituting quarantines, restrictions on travel, and limiting hours of operations of non-essential offices and retail centers. Such actions are creating disruption in global supply chains, and adversely impacting a number of industries. The outbreak could have a continued adverse impact on economic and market conditions and trigger a period of global economic slowdown. The rapid development and fluidity of this situation precludes any prediction as to the ultimate adverse impact of the novel coronavirus. Nevertheless, the novel coronavirus presents material uncertainty and risk with respect to the Company’s performance and financial results, such as the potential negative impact to occupancy at its properties, financing arrangements, increased costs of operations, decrease in values of its investments, changes in law and/or regulation, and uncertainty regarding government and regulatory policy. The Company is unable to estimate the impact the novel coronavirus will have on its financial results at this time.
Uncertainty and volatility in the credit markets could affect our ability to obtain debt financing on reasonable terms, or at all, which could reduce the number of properties we may be able to acquire and the amount of cash distributions we can make to our stockholders.
The U.S. and global credit markets have in the past experienced severe dislocations and liquidity disruptions, which caused volatility in the credit spreads on prospective debt financings and constrained the availability of debt financing due to the reluctance of lenders to offer financing at high leverage ratios. Similar conditions in the future could adversely impact our ability to access additional debt financing on reasonable terms or at all, which may adversely affect investment returns on future acquisitions or our ability to make acquisitions.
If mortgage debt or unsecured debt is unavailable on reasonable terms as a result of increased interest rates, increased credit spreads, decreased liquidity or other factors, we may not be able to finance the initial purchase of properties. In addition, when we incur mortgage debt or unsecured debt, we run the risk of being unable to refinance such debt upon maturity, or of being unable to refinance on favorable terms.
If interest rates are higher or other financing terms, such as principal amortization, the need for a corporate guaranty, or other terms are not as favorable when we refinance debt or issue new debt, our income could be reduced. To the extent we are unable to refinance debt on reasonable terms, at appropriate times or at all, we may be required to sell properties on terms that are not advantageous to us, or that could result in the foreclosure of such properties. If any of these events occur, our cash flow could be reduced. This, in turn, could reduce cash available for distribution to our stockholders and may hinder our ability to raise more capital by issuing securities or borrowing more money.
Because we depend upon our advisor and its affiliates to conduct our operations, adverse changes in the financial health of our advisor or its affiliates could cause our operations to suffer.
We depend on Pacific Oak Capital Advisors, its affiliates and the key real estate and debt finance professionals at Pacific Oak Capital Advisors to manage our operations and our portfolio of real estate-related loans, opportunistic real estate, real estate-related debt securities and other real estate-related investments. Our advisor depends upon the fees and other compensation that it receives from us and other public Pacific Oak-sponsored programs in connection with the origination, purchase, management and sale of assets to conduct its operations. Any adverse changes in the financial condition of Pacific Oak Capital Advisors or its affiliates or our relationship with Pacific Oak Capital Advisors or its affiliates could hinder their ability to successfully manage our operations and our portfolio of investments. Furthermore, if Pacific Oak Capital Advisors was unable or unwilling to continue to provide management services to us, we may need to find an advisor to replace the management services Pacific Oak Capital Advisors provides to us. In such event our operating performance and the return on our stockholders’ investment could suffer.
If we pay distributions from sources other than our cash flow from operations, we will have less funds available for investments and the overall return to our stockholders may be reduced.
We will declare distributions when our board of directors determines we have sufficient cash flow from operations, investment activities and/or strategic financings. We expect to fund distributions from interest and rental income on investments, the maturity, payoff or settlement of those investments and from strategic sales of loans, properties and other assets. We may also fund distributions from debt financings.
As a REIT, we will generally have to hold our assets for two years in order to meet the safe harbor to avoid a 100% prohibited transactions tax, unless such assets are held through a TRS or other taxable corporation. At such time as we have assets that we have held for at least two years, we anticipate that we may authorize and declare distributions based on gains on asset sales, to the extent we close on the sale of one or more assets and the board of directors does not determine to reinvest the proceeds of such sales. Additionally, our board of directors intends to declare distributions quarterly based on cash flow from our investments.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must make aggregate annual distributions to our stockholders of at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (which is computed without regard to the dividends paid deduction or net capital gain and which does not necessarily equal net income as calculated in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”)). If we meet the REIT qualification requirements, we generally will not be subject to federal income tax on the income that we distribute to our stockholders each year. In general, we anticipate making distributions to our stockholders of at least 100% of our REIT taxable income so that none of our income is subject to federal income tax. Our board of directors may authorize distributions in excess of those required for us to maintain REIT status depending on our financial condition and such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant.
Our distribution policy is not to pay distributions from sources other than cash flow from operations, investment activities and strategic financings. However, our organizational documents do not restrict us from paying distributions from any source and do not restrict the amount of distributions we may pay from any source, including proceeds from the issuance of securities, borrowings, advances from our advisor or sponsors or from our advisor’s deferral of its fees under the advisory agreement. Distributions paid from sources other than current or accumulated earnings and profits may constitute a return of capital. From time to time, we may generate taxable income greater than our taxable income for financial reporting purposes, or our taxable income may be greater than our cash flow available for distribution to stockholders. In these situations we may make distributions in excess of our cash flow from operations, investment activities and strategic financings to satisfy the REIT distribution requirement described above. In such an event, we would look first to other third party borrowings to fund these distributions. If we fund distributions from financings, the proceeds from issuances of securities or sources other than our cash flow from operations, we will have less funds available for investment in real estate-related loans, opportunistic real estate, real estate-related debt securities and other real estate-related investments and the overall return to our stockholders may be reduced.
In addition, to the extent distributions exceed cash flow from operations and gains from asset sales, a stockholder’s basis in our stock will be reduced and, to the extent distributions exceed a stockholder’s basis, the stockholder may recognize capital gain. There is no limit on the amount of distributions we may fund from sources other than from cash flows from operations or gains from asset sales. For the year ended December 31, 2019, we paid aggregate distributions of $1.7 million (of which $0.8 million was reinvested through our dividend reinvestment plan). Our net loss attributable to stockholders for the year ended December 31, 2019 was $17.3 million. For the year ended December 31, 2019, we funded 100% of total distributions paid with cash provided by operations and prior period cash provided by operations. From inception through December 31, 2019, we funded 10% of total distributions paid, which includes cash distributions and dividends reinvested by stockholders, with proceeds from debt financing, funded 43% of total distributions paid with the gains realized from the dispositions of properties and funded 47% of total distributions paid with cash provided by operations. Our cumulative distributions paid and net income attributable to common stockholders from inception through December 31, 2019 were $194.8 million and $169.4 million, respectively.
The loss of or the inability to retain key real estate and debt finance professionals at our advisor could delay or hinder implementation of our investment strategies, which could limit our ability to make distributions and decrease the value of an investment in our shares.
Our success depends to a significant degree upon the contributions of Keith D. Hall and Peter McMillan III, each of whom would be difficult to replace. Neither we nor our affiliates have employment agreements with Messrs. Hall or McMillan. Messrs. Hall and McMillan may not remain associated with us. If any of these persons were to cease their association with us, our operating results could suffer. We do not intend to maintain key person life insurance on any person. We believe that our future success depends, in large part, upon our advisor’s and its affiliates’ ability to attract and retain highly skilled managerial, operational and marketing professionals. Competition for such professionals is intense, and our advisor and its affiliates may be unsuccessful in attracting and retaining such skilled individuals. If we lose or are unable to obtain the services of highly skilled professionals our ability to implement our investment strategies could be delayed or hindered, and the value of our stockholders’ investment may decline.
Our rights and the rights of our stockholders to recover claims against our independent directors are limited, which could reduce our stockholders’ and our recovery against our independent directors if they negligently cause us to incur losses.
Maryland law provides that a director has no liability in that capacity if he performs his duties in good faith, in a manner he reasonably believes to be in our best interests and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. Our charter provides that no independent director shall be liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages and that we will generally indemnify them for losses unless they are grossly negligent or engage in willful misconduct. As a result, our stockholders and we may have more limited rights against our independent directors than might otherwise exist under common law, which could reduce our stockholders’ and our recovery from these persons if they act in a negligent manner. In addition, we may be obligated to fund the defense costs incurred by our independent directors (as well as by our other directors, officers, employees (if we ever have employees) and agents) in some cases, which would decrease the cash otherwise available for distribution to our stockholders.
We may change our targeted investments without stockholder consent.
We may change our targeted investments and investment guidelines at any time without the consent of our stockholders, which could result in us making investments that are different from, and possibly riskier than, our targeted investments as described in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For example, we modified our investment objectives and criteria in January 2012 and we may do so again in the future. A change in our targeted investments or investment guidelines may increase our exposure to interest rate risk, default risk and real estate market fluctuations, all of which could adversely affect the value of our common stock and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
We face risks associated with security breaches through cyber-attacks, cyber intrusions or otherwise, as well as other significant disruptions of our information technology (IT) networks and related systems.
We face risks associated with security breaches, whether through cyber-attacks or cyber intrusions over the Internet, malware, computer viruses, attachments to e-mails, persons inside our organization or persons with access to systems inside our organization, and other significant disruptions of our IT networks and related systems. The risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber-attack or cyber intrusion, including by computer hackers, foreign governments and cyber terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. Our IT networks and related systems are essential to the operation of our business and our ability to perform day-to-day operations. Although we make efforts to maintain the security and integrity of these types of IT networks and related systems, and we have implemented various measures to manage the risk of a security breach or disruption, there can be no assurance that our security efforts and measures will be effective or that attempted security breaches or disruptions would not be successful or damaging. Even the most well protected information, networks, systems and facilities remain potentially vulnerable because the techniques used in such attempted security breaches evolve and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, and in some cases are designed not be detected and, in fact, may not be detected. Accordingly, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate security barriers or other preventative measures, and thus it is impossible for us to entirely mitigate this risk.
A security breach or other significant disruption involving our IT networks and related systems could:
•disrupt the proper functioning of our networks and systems and therefore our operations;
•result in misstated financial reports, violations of loan covenants and/or missed reporting deadlines;
•result in our inability 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 of ours or others, which others could use to compete against us or which could expose us to damage claims by third-parties for disruptive, destructive or otherwise harmful purposes and outcomes;
•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
•damage our reputation among our stockholders.
Any or all of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our bylaws designate the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.
Our bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland shall be the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders with respect to our company, our directors, our officers or our employees (we note we currently have no employees). This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that the stockholder believes is favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees, which may discourage meritorious claims from being asserted against us and our directors, officers and employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision 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 such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. We adopted this provision because we believe it makes it less likely that we will be forced to incur the expense of defending duplicative actions in multiple forums and less likely that plaintiffs’ attorneys will be able to employ such litigation to coerce us into otherwise unjustified settlements, and we believe the risk of a court declining to enforce this provision is remote, as the General Assembly of Maryland has specifically amended the Maryland General Corporation Law to authorize the adoption of such provisions.
Risks Related to Conflicts of Interest
Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and its affiliates, including all of our executive officers and some of our directors and other key real estate and debt finance professionals, face conflicts of interest caused by their compensation arrangements with us, which could result in actions that are not in the long-term best interests of our stockholders.
All of our executive officers and some of our directors and other key real estate and debt finance professionals are also officers, directors, managers, key professionals and/or holders of a direct or indirect controlling interest in our advisor, Pacific Oak Capital Markets Group LLC (“Pacific Oak Capital Markets Group”) and other affiliated Pacific Oak entities. Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and its affiliates receive substantial fees from us. These fees could influence our advisor’s advice to us as well as the judgment of affiliates of Pacific Oak Capital Advisors. Among other matters, these compensation arrangements could affect their judgment with respect to:
•the continuation, renewal or enforcement of our agreements with Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and its affiliates, including the advisory agreement;
•public offerings of equity by us, which may entitle Pacific Oak Capital Markets Group to dealer-manager fees and may entitle Pacific Oak Capital Advisors to asset management fees and certain other fees;
•sales of investments, which may entitle Pacific Oak Capital Advisors to disposition fees and possible subordinated incentive fees;
•acquisitions of investments and originations of loans, which may entitle Pacific Oak Capital Advisors to acquisition and origination fees and asset management fees and, in the case of acquisitions of investments from other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs, might entitle affiliates of Pacific Oak Capital Advisors to disposition fees and possible subordinated incentive fees in connection with its services for the seller;
•borrowings to acquire investments and to originate loans, which borrowings may increase the acquisition and origination fees and asset management fees payable to Pacific Oak Capital Advisors;
•whether to engage Pacific Oak Capital Advisors, which may receive fees in connection with the management of our properties regardless of the quality of the services provided to us, to manage our properties; and
•whether we pursue a liquidity event such as a listing of our shares of common stock on a national securities exchange, a sale of the company or a liquidation of our assets, which (i) may make it more likely for us to become self-managed or internalize our management, (ii) could positively or negatively affect the sales efforts for other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs, depending on the price at which our shares trade or the consideration received by our stockholders, and/or (iii) affect the advisory fees received by our advisor.
The fees our advisor may receive in connection with the acquisition, origination or management of assets are based on the cost of the investment, and not based on the quality of the investment or the quality of the services rendered to us. This may influence our advisor to recommend riskier transactions to us.
Pacific Oak Capital Advisors faces conflicts of interest relating to the leasing of properties and such conflicts may not be resolved in our favor, meaning that we may obtain less credit-worthy or desirable tenants, which could limit our ability to make distributions and reduce our stockholders’ overall investment return.
We and other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs and Pacific Oak-advised investors rely on our sponsors and other key real estate professionals at our advisor, including Messrs. Hall and McMillan, to supervise the property management and leasing of properties. If the Pacific Oak team of real estate professionals directs credit-worthy prospective tenants to properties owned by another Pacific Oak-sponsored program or Pacific Oak-advised investor when they could direct such tenants to our properties, our tenant base may have more inherent risk and our properties’ occupancy may be lower than might otherwise be the case.
Further, Messrs. Hall and McMillan and existing and future Pacific Oak-sponsored programs and Pacific Oak-advised investors are generally not prohibited from engaging, directly or indirectly, in any business or from possessing interests in any other business venture or ventures, including businesses and ventures involved in the acquisition, development, ownership, leasing or sale of real estate investments.
Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and the key real estate professionals associated with Pacific Oak Capital Advisors face conflicts of interest relating to the acquisition and origination of assets and leasing and disposition of properties due to their relationship with other real estate programs and such conflicts may not be resolved in our favor, which could limit our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders and reduce our stockholders’ overall investment return.
We rely on our sponsor, Pacific Oak Holding Group, LLC, and other key real estate professionals at our advisor, including Messrs. Hall and McMillan, to identify suitable investment opportunities for us and to supervise the property management and leasing and eventual disposition of properties. Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity REIT II, Inc. (“Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity REIT II”) is also advised by Pacific Oak Capital Advisors. Keppel Pacific Oak US REIT is externally managed by a joint venture between (i) an entity in which Messrs. Hall and McMillan have an indirect ownership interest and (ii) Keppel Capital Holding Pte. Ltd., which is not affiliated with us, and has also engaged Pacific Oak Capital Advisors to act as its asset manager in the United States. Through Pacific Oak Capital Advisors these programs rely on many of the same real estate and debt finance professionals as will future programs advised by our advisor or professionals associated with our advisor. As such, we and other programs that currently have funds available for investment rely on many of the same real estate and debt finance professionals employed by Pacific Oak Capital Advisors, as will future Pacific Oak-sponsored programs, Pacific Oak-advised investors and other programs sponsored by Messrs. Hall and McMillan. Many investment opportunities that are suitable for us may also be suitable for other programs and investors. When these real estate and debt finance professionals direct an investment opportunity to any program or investor they, in their sole discretion, will offer the opportunity to the program or investor for which the investment opportunity is most suitable based on the investment objectives, portfolio and criteria of each program or investor.
For so long as we are externally advised, our charter provides that it shall not be a proper purpose of the corporation for us to make any significant investment unless Pacific Oak Capital Advisors has recommended the investment to us. Thus, the real estate and debt finance professionals of Pacific Oak Capital Advisors could direct attractive investment opportunities to other programs or investors. Such events could result in us investing in properties that provide less attractive returns, which would reduce the level of distributions we may be able to pay our stockholders.
We and other programs and investors also rely on these real estate professionals to supervise the property management and leasing of properties. If the Pacific Oak team of real estate professionals directs creditworthy prospective tenants to properties owned by another program or investor when it could direct such tenants to our properties, our tenant base may have more inherent risk and our properties’ occupancy may be lower than might otherwise be the case.
In addition, we and other programs advised by Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and its affiliates or key real estate professionals, rely on our sponsor and other key real estate professionals at our advisor to sell our properties. These programs and Pacific Oak-advised investors may possess properties in similar locations and/or of the same property types as ours and may be attempting to sell these properties at the same time we are attempting to sell some of our properties. If our advisor directs potential purchasers to properties owned by other programs they advise when it could direct such purchasers to our properties, we may be unable to sell some or all of our properties at the time or at the price we otherwise would, which could limit our ability to pay distributions and reduce our stockholders’ overall investment return.
Further, existing and future programs associated with Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and its affiliates, as well as Messrs. Hall and McMillan generally, are not and will not be prohibited from engaging, directly or indirectly, in any business or from possessing interests in any other business venture or ventures, including businesses and ventures involved in the acquisition, origination, development, ownership, leasing or sale of real estate-related investments.
Pacific Oak Capital Advisors will face conflicts of interest relating to joint ventures that we may form with affiliates of Pacific Oak Capital Advisors, which conflicts could result in a disproportionate benefit to the other venture partners at our expense.
If approved by both a majority of our board of directors and a majority of our independent directors, we may enter into joint venture agreements with other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs or affiliated entities for the acquisition, development or improvement of properties or other investments. Pacific Oak Capital Advisors, our advisor and its affiliates, the advisors to the other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs and the investment advisers to institutional investors in real estate and real estate-related assets, have some of the same executive officers, directors and other key real estate and debt finance professionals; and these persons will face conflicts of interest in determining which Pacific Oak program or investor should enter into any particular joint venture agreement. These persons may also face a conflict in structuring the terms of the relationship between our interests and the interests of the Pacific Oak-affiliated co-venturer and in managing the joint venture. Any joint venture agreement or transaction between us and a Pacific Oak-affiliated co-venturer will not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiation of the type normally conducted between unrelated co-venturers. The Pacific Oak-affiliated co-venturer may have economic or business interests or goals that are or may become inconsistent with our business interests or goals. These co-venturers may thus benefit to our and stockholders’ detriment.
Pacific Oak Capital Advisors, the real estate and debt finance professionals assembled by our advisor, their affiliates and our officers face competing demands on their time and this may cause our operations and our stockholders’ investment to suffer.
We rely on Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and the real estate, management, accounting and debt finance professionals our advisor has assembled, including Messrs. Hall, McMillan and Michael A. Bender for the day-to-day operation of our business. Messrs. Hall, McMillan, and Bender are executive officers of POSOR II. As a result of their interests in other Pacific Oak programs, their obligations to other investors and the fact that they engage in and they will continue to engage in other business activities on behalf of themselves and others, Messrs. Hall, McMillan and Bender face conflicts of interest in allocating their time among us, POSOR II, Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs as well as other business activities in which they are involved. In addition, Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and their affiliates share many of the same key real estate and debt finance professionals. During times of intense activity in other programs and ventures, these individuals may devote less time and fewer resources to our business than are necessary or appropriate to manage our business. Furthermore, some or all of these individuals may become employees of another Pacific Oak-sponsored program in an internalization transaction or, if we internalize our advisor, may not become our employees as a result of their relationship with other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs. If these events occur, the returns on our investments, and the value of our stockholders’ investments, may decline.
All of our executive officers and some of our directors and the key real estate and debt finance professionals assembled by our advisor face conflicts of interest related to their positions and/or interests in Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and its affiliates, which could hinder our ability to implement our business strategy and to generate returns to our stockholders.
All of our executive officers, some of our directors and other key real estate and debt finance professionals assembled by our advisor are also executive officers, directors, managers, key professionals and/or holders of a direct or indirect controlling interest in our advisor, and other affiliated Pacific Oak entities. Through Pacific Oak-affiliated entities, some of these persons also serve as the investment advisors to institutional investors in real estate and real estate-related assets and through Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and its affiliates these persons serve as the advisor to POSOR II and other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs. As a result, they owe fiduciary duties to each of these entities, their members and limited partners and these investors, which fiduciary duties may from time to time conflict with the fiduciary duties that they owe to us and our stockholders. Their loyalties to these other entities and investors could result in action or inaction that is detrimental to our business, which could harm the implementation of our business strategy and our investment and leasing opportunities. Further, Messrs. Hall and McMillan and existing and future Pacific Oak-sponsored programs and Pacific Oak-advised investors generally are not and will not be prohibited from engaging, directly or indirectly, in any business or from possessing interests in any other business venture or ventures, including businesses and ventures involved in the acquisition, development, ownership, leasing or sale of real estate investments. If we do not successfully implement our business strategy, we may be unable to generate the cash needed to make distributions to our stockholders and to maintain or increase the value of our assets.
Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure
Our charter limits the number of shares a person may own, which may discourage a takeover that could otherwise result in a premium price to our stockholders.
Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. To help us comply with the REIT ownership requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Internal Revenue Code”), our charter prohibits a person from directly or constructively owning more than 9.8% of our outstanding shares, unless exempted by our board of directors. This restriction may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all of our assets) that might provide a premium price for holders of our common stock.
Our charter permits our board of directors to issue stock with terms that may subordinate the rights of our common stockholders or discourage a third party from acquiring us in a manner that could result in a premium price to our stockholders.
Our board of directors may classify or reclassify any unissued common stock or preferred stock and establish the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends and other distributions, qualifications and terms or conditions of redemption of any such stock. Thus, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of preferred stock with priority as to distributions and amounts payable upon liquidation over the rights of the holders of our common stock. Such preferred stock could also have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all of our assets) that might provide a premium price to holders of our common stock.
Our stockholders’ investment return may be reduced if we are required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act; if we or our subsidiaries become an unregistered investment company, we could not continue our business.
Neither we nor any of our subsidiaries intend to register as investment companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). If we or our subsidiaries were obligated to register as investment companies, we would have to comply with a variety of substantive requirements under the Investment Company Act that impose, among other things:
•limitations on capital structure;
•restrictions on specified investments;
•prohibitions on transactions with affiliates; and
•compliance with reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy disclosure and other rules and regulations that would significantly increase our operating expenses.
Under the relevant provisions of Section 3(a)(1) of the Investment Company Act, an investment company is any issuer that:
•pursuant to section 3(a)(1)(A), is or holds itself out as being engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities (the “primarily engaged test”); or
•pursuant to section 3(a)(1)(C), is engaged or proposes to engage in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and owns or proposes to acquire “investment securities” having a value exceeding 40% of the value of such issuer’s total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis (the “40% test”). “Investment securities” excludes U.S. government securities and securities of majority-owned subsidiaries that are not themselves investment companies and are not relying on the exception from the definition of investment company under Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) (relating to private investment companies).
With respect to the primarily engaged test, we and our Operating Partnership are holding companies and do not intend to invest or trade in securities ourselves. Rather, through the majority-owned subsidiaries of our Operating Partnership, we and our Operating Partnership will be primarily engaged in the non-investment company businesses of these subsidiaries, namely the business of purchasing or otherwise acquiring real estate and real estate-related assets.
If any of the subsidiaries of our Operating Partnership fail to meet the 40% test, we believe they will usually, if not always, be able to rely on Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act for an exception from the definition of an investment company. (Otherwise, they should be able to rely on the exceptions for private investment companies pursuant to Section 3(c)(1) and Section 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act.) As reflected in no-action letters, the SEC staff’s position on Section 3(c)(5)(C) generally requires that an issuer maintain at least 55% of its assets in “mortgages and other liens on and interests in real estate,” or qualifying assets; at least 80% of its assets in qualifying assets plus real estate-related assets; and no more than 20% of the value of its assets in other than qualifying assets and real estate-related assets, which we refer to as miscellaneous assets. To constitute a qualifying asset under this 55% requirement, a real estate interest must meet various criteria based on no-action letters. We expect that any of the subsidiaries of our Operating Partnership relying on Section 3(c)(5)(C) will invest at least 55% of its assets in qualifying assets, and approximately an additional 25% of its assets in other types of real estate-related assets. If any subsidiary relies on Section 3(c)(5)(C), we expect to rely on guidance published by the SEC staff or on our analyses of guidance published with respect to types of assets to determine which assets are qualifying real estate assets and real estate-related assets.
Rapid changes in the values of our assets may make it more difficult for us to maintain our qualification as a REIT or our exception from the definition of an investment company under the Investment Company Act.
If the market value or income potential of our qualifying real estate assets changes as compared to the market value or income potential of our non-qualifying assets, or if the market value or income potential of our assets that are considered “real estate-related assets” under the Investment Company Act or REIT qualification tests changes as compared to the market value or income potential of our assets that are not considered “real estate-related assets” under the Investment Company Act or REIT qualification tests, whether as a result of increased interest rates, prepayment rates or other factors, we may need to modify our investment portfolio in order to maintain our REIT qualification or exception from the definition of an investment company. If the decline in asset values or income occurs quickly, this may be especially difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish. This difficulty may be exacerbated by the illiquid nature of many of the assets that we may own. We may have to make investment decisions that we otherwise would not make absent REIT and Investment Company Act considerations.
Our stockholders will have limited control over changes in our policies and operations, which increases the uncertainty and risks our stockholders face.
Our board of directors determines our major policies, including our policies regarding financing, growth, debt capitalization, REIT qualification and distributions. Our board of directors may amend or revise these and other policies without a vote of the stockholders. Under Maryland General Corporation Law and our charter, our stockholders have a right to vote only on limited matters. Our board’s broad discretion in setting policies and our stockholders’ inability to exert control over those policies increases the uncertainty and risks our stockholders face.
Our stockholders may not be able to sell their shares under our share redemption program and, if our stockholders are able to sell their shares under the program, they may not be able to recover full the amount of their investment in our shares.
Our share redemption program includes numerous restrictions that limit our stockholders’ ability to sell their shares. Our stockholders must hold their shares for at least one year in order to participate in the share redemption program, except for redemptions sought upon a stockholder’s death, “qualifying disability” or “determination of incompetence.” We limit the number of shares redeemed pursuant to the share redemption program as follows: (i) during any calendar year, we may redeem no more than 5% of the weighted-average number of shares outstanding during the prior calendar year and (ii) during 2020, we may redeem no more than $0.8 million of shares in connection with a stockholder’s death, “qualifying disability” or “determination of incompetence”. In addition, to the extent extra capacity from the bullet above is available with respect to redemptions in the last month of 2020, such capacity will be made available for redemption of shares other than in connection with a stockholder’s death, “qualifying disability” or “determination of incompetence.” We may increase or decrease this limit upon ten business days’ notice to stockholders. However, effective beginning with the month of February 2020, we have suspended (a) redemptions requested under the share redemption program in connection with a stockholder’s death, “qualifying disability” or “determination of incompetence”, until we and POSOR II file with the SEC a Registration Statement on Form S-4 containing a Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus for the proposed Merger, and (b) all other redemptions under the share redemption program until after the Merger closes. Our board of directors will reconsider the foregoing suspension if the merger negotiations terminate. Further, we have no obligation to redeem shares if the redemption would violate the restrictions on distributions under Maryland law, which prohibits distributions that would cause a corporation to fail to meet statutory tests of solvency. These limits may prevent us from accommodating all redemption requests made in any year. Our board is free to amend, suspend or terminate the share redemption program upon 10 business days’ notice.
The price at which we will redeem shares under the program is 95% of our most recent estimated value per share.
The most recent estimated value per share of our common stock is $10.63. For a full description of the methodologies and assumptions used to value our assets and liabilities in connection with the calculation of the estimated value per share, see Part II, Item 5, “Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities - Market Information.” The value of our shares will fluctuate over time in response to developments related to individual assets in our portfolio and the management of those assets and in response to the real estate and finance markets. As such, the estimated value per share does not take into account developments in our portfolio since December 17, 2019. We currently expect to utilize our advisor and/or an independent valuation firm to update our estimated value per share no later than December 2020. Upon updating our estimated value per share, the redemption price per share will also change. Because of the restrictions of our share redemption program, our stockholders may not be able to sell their shares under the program, and if stockholders are able to sell their shares, depending upon the then current redemption price, they may not recover the amount of their investment in us.
The estimated value per share of our common stock may not reflect the value that stockholders will receive for their investment.
On December 17, 2019, our board of directors approved an estimated value per share of our common stock of $10.63 based on the estimated value of our assets less the estimated value of our liabilities, or net asset value, divided by the number of shares outstanding as of September 30, 2019, with the exception of the following adjustments: (i) our real estate properties were valued as of October 31, 2019; (ii) an adjustment to reduce cash for the amount of capital expenditures incurred in October 2019; (iii) an adjustment for acquisition and disposition fees and expenses incurred in connection with the acquisition of Reven Housing REIT, Inc. and disposition of 125 John Carpenter; and (iv) a number of adjustments related to the participation fee potentiality liabilities to our former advisor, KBS Capital Advisors LLC, and our current advisor, Pacific Oak Capital Advisors, LLC, in connection with the termination of KBS Capital Advisors effective October 31, 2019 and the hiring of Pacific Oak Capital Advisors on November 1, 2019. Other than the adjustments, there have been no material changes between September 30, 2019 and December 17, 2019 to the net values of our assets and liabilities that materially impacted the overall estimated value per share. We are providing this estimated value per share to assist broker-dealers that participated in our initial public offering in meeting their customer account statement reporting obligations under National Association of Securities Dealers Conduct Rule 2340 as required by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). This valuation was performed in accordance with the provisions of and also to comply with Practice Guideline 2013–01, Valuations of Publicly Registered Non-Listed REITs, issued by the Investment Program Association (“IPA”) in April 2013. The estimated value per share was based upon the recommendation and valuation prepared by our advisor.
As with any valuation methodology, the methodologies used are based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that may not be accurate or complete. Different parties with different assumptions and estimates could derive a different estimated value per share, and these differences could be significant. The estimated value per share is not audited and does not represent the fair value of our assets less our liabilities according to GAAP, nor does it represent a liquidation value of our assets and liabilities or the amount at which our shares of common stock would trade at on a national securities exchange. The estimated value per share does not reflect a discount for the fact that we are externally managed, nor does it reflect a real estate portfolio premium/discount versus the sum of the individual property values. The estimated value per share also does not take into account estimated disposition costs and fees for real estate properties that are not held for sale, debt prepayment penalties that could apply upon the prepayment of certain of our debt obligations or the impact of restrictions on the assumption of debt. The estimated value per share does consider any participation or incentive fees that would be due to our advisor based on our aggregate net asset value and that would be payable in our hypothetical liquidation as of the valuation date in accordance with the terms of our advisory agreement.
Accordingly, with respect to the estimated value per share, we can give no assurance that:
•a stockholder would be able to resell his or her shares at this estimated value per share;
•a stockholder would ultimately realize distributions per share equal to our estimated value per share upon liquidation of our assets and settlement of our liabilities or a sale of the company;
•our shares of common stock would trade at the estimated value per share on a national securities exchange;
•an independent third-party appraiser or other third-party valuation firm would agree with our estimated value per share; or
•the methodology used to estimate our value per share would be acceptable to FINRA or for compliance with ERISA reporting requirements.
For a full description of the methodologies and assumptions used to value our assets and liabilities in connection with the calculation of the estimated value per share, see Part II, Item 5, “Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities — Market Information.” We currently expect to utilize our advisor and/or an independent valuation firm to update the estimated value per share in December 2020.
Our investors’ interest in us will be diluted if we issue additional shares, which could reduce the overall value of their investment.
Our common stockholders do not have preemptive rights to any shares we issue in the future. Our charter authorizes us to issue 1,010,000,000 shares of capital stock, of which 1,000,000,000 shares are designated as common stock and 10,000,000 shares are designated as preferred stock. Our board of directors may increase the number of authorized shares of capital stock without stockholder approval. Our board may elect to (i) sell additional shares in our current or future public offerings, including through our dividend reinvestment plan, (ii) issue equity interests in private offerings, (iii) issue shares to our advisor, or its successors or assigns, in payment of an outstanding fee obligation or (iv) issue shares of our common stock to sellers of assets we acquire in connection with an exchange of limited partnership interests of the Operating Partnership. To the extent we issue additional equity interests, our stockholders’ percentage ownership interest in us will be diluted. In addition, depending upon the terms and pricing of any additional offerings, the use of the proceeds and the value of our investments, our stockholders may also experience dilution in the book value and fair value of their shares and in the earnings and distributions per share.
Payment of fees to Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and its affiliates reduces cash available for investment and distribution and increases the risk that our stockholders will not be able to recover the amount of their investment in our shares.
Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and its affiliates perform services for us in connection with the selection, acquisition, origination, management, and administration of our investments. We pay them substantial fees for these services, which results in immediate dilution to the value of our stockholders’ investment and reduces the amount of cash available for investment or distribution to stockholders. Compensation to be paid to our advisor may be increased subject to approval by our conflicts committee and the other limitations in our charter, which would further dilute our stockholders’ investment and reduce the amount of cash available for investment or distribution to stockholders.
We may also pay significant fees during our listing/liquidation stage. Although most of the fees payable during our listing/liquidation stage are contingent on our investors first enjoying agreed-upon investment returns, the investment-return thresholds may be reduced subject to approval by our conflicts committee and the other limitations in our charter.
Therefore, these fees increase the risk that the amount available for distribution to common stockholders upon a liquidation of our portfolio would be less than the price paid by our stockholders to purchase shares in our initial public offering. These substantial fees and other payments also increase the risk that our stockholders will not be able to resell their shares at a profit, even if our shares are listed on a national securities exchange.
Failure to procure adequate capital and funding would negatively impact our results and may, in turn, negatively affect our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
We will depend upon the availability of adequate funding and capital for our operations. The failure to secure acceptable financing could reduce our taxable income, as our investments would no longer generate the same level of net interest income due to the lack of funding or increase in funding costs. A reduction in our net income could reduce our liquidity and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. We cannot assure our stockholders that any, or sufficient, funding or capital will be available to us in the future on terms that are acceptable to us. Therefore, in the event that we cannot obtain sufficient funding on acceptable terms, there may be a negative impact on our ability to make distributions.
Although we are not currently afforded the protection of the Maryland General Corporation Law relating to deterring or defending hostile takeovers, our board of directors could opt into these provisions of Maryland law in the future, which may discourage others from trying to acquire control of us and may prevent our stockholders from receiving a premium price for their stock in connection with a business combination.
Under Maryland law, “business combinations” between a Maryland corporation and certain interested stockholders or affiliates of interested stockholders are prohibited for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. These business combinations include a merger, consolidation, share exchange, or, in circumstances specified in the statute, an asset transfer or issuance or reclassification of equity securities. Also under Maryland law, control shares of a Maryland corporation acquired in a control share acquisition have no voting rights except to the extent approved by a vote of two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. Shares owned by the acquirer, an officer of the corporation or an employee of the corporation who is also a director of the corporation are excluded from the vote on whether to accord voting rights to the control shares. Should our board of directors opt into these provisions of Maryland law, it may discourage others from trying to acquire control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating any offer. Similarly, provisions of Title 3, Subtitle 8 of the Maryland General Corporation Law could provide similar anti-takeover protection.
Our charter includes an anti-takeover provision that may discourage a stockholder from launching a tender offer for our shares.
Our charter provides that any tender offer made by a stockholder, including any “mini-tender” offer, must comply with most provisions of Regulation 14D of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The offering stockholder must provide us with notice of such tender offer at least 10 business days before initiating the tender offer. If the offering stockholder does not comply with these requirements, we will have the right to redeem that stockholder’s shares and any shares acquired in such tender offer. In addition, the noncomplying stockholder shall be responsible for all of our expenses in connection with that stockholder’s noncompliance. This provision of our charter may discourage a stockholder from initiating a tender offer for our shares and prevent our stockholders from receiving a premium price for their shares in such a transaction.
General Risks Related to Investments
Our investments will be subject to the risks typically associated with real estate.
We have invested in and will continue to invest in a diverse portfolio of opportunistic real estate, real estate-related loans, real estate-related debt securities and other real estate-related investments. Each of these investments will be subject to the risks typically associated with real estate. Our potential investments in residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations and other real estate-related investments may be similarly affected by real estate property values. The value of real estate may be adversely affected by a number of risks, including:
•natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and pandemics;
•acts of war or terrorism, including the consequences of terrorist attacks, such as those that occurred on September 11, 2001;
•adverse changes in national and local economic and real estate conditions;
•an oversupply of (or a reduction in demand for) space in the areas where particular properties are located and the attractiveness of particular properties to prospective tenants;
•changes in governmental laws and regulations, fiscal policies and zoning ordinances and the related costs of compliance therewith and the potential for liability under applicable laws;
•costs of remediation and liabilities associated with environmental conditions affecting properties; and
•the potential for uninsured or underinsured property losses.
The value of each property is affected significantly by its ability to generate cash flow and net income, which in turn depends on the amount of rental or other income that can be generated net of expenses required to be incurred with respect to the property. Many expenditures associated with properties (such as operating expenses and capital expenditures) cannot be reduced when there is a reduction in income from the properties. These factors may have a material adverse effect on the ability of our borrowers to pay their loans and our tenants to pay their rent, as well as on the value that we can realize from other real estate-related assets we originate, own or acquire.
We depend on tenants for revenue, and lease defaults or terminations could reduce our net income and limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
The success of our real estate investments materially depends on the financial stability of our tenants. A default or termination by a significant tenant on its lease payments to us would cause us to lose the revenue associated with such lease and could require us to find an alternative source of revenue to meet mortgage payments and prevent a foreclosure, if the property is subject to a mortgage. In the event of a tenant default or bankruptcy, we may experience delays in enforcing our rights as landlord and may incur substantial costs in protecting our investment and re-leasing our property. If a tenant defaults on or terminates a significant lease, we may be unable to lease the property for the rent previously received or sell the property without incurring a loss. These events could cause us to reduce the amount of distributions to our stockholders.
Properties that have significant vacancies could be difficult to sell, which could diminish the return on these properties.
A property may incur vacancies either by the expiration of tenant leases or the continued default of tenants under their leases. If vacancies continue for a long period of time, we may suffer reduced revenues resulting in less cash available to distribute to our stockholders. In addition, because a property’s market value depends principally upon the value of the leases associated with that property, the resale value of a property with high or prolonged vacancies could suffer, which could further reduce our returns.
Our opportunistic property-acquisition strategy involves a higher risk of loss than would a strategy of investing in other properties.
A substantial portion of our portfolio consists of direct investments in opportunistic real estate. We consider opportunistic or enhanced-return properties to be properties with significant possibilities for short-term capital appreciation, such as non-stabilized properties, properties with moderate vacancies or near-term lease rollovers, poorly managed and positioned properties, properties owned by distressed sellers and built-to-suit properties. These properties may include, but are not limited to, office, industrial and retail properties, hospitality properties and undeveloped residential lots.
Traditional performance metrics of real estate assets may not be meaningful for opportunistic real estate. Non-stabilized properties, for example, do not have stabilized occupancy rates to provide a useful measure of revenue. Appraisals may provide a sense of the value of the investment, but any appraisal of the property will be based on numerous estimates, judgments and assumptions that significantly affect the appraised value of the underlying property. Further, an appraisal of a non-stabilized property, in particular, involves a high degree of subjectivity due to high vacancy levels and uncertainties with respect to future market rental rates and timing of lease-up and stabilization. Accordingly, different assumptions may materially change the appraised value of the property. In addition, the value of the property will change over time.
In addition, we may pursue more than one strategy to create value in an opportunistic real estate investment. These strategies may include development, redevelopment, or lease-up of such property. Our ability to generate a return on these investments will depend on numerous factors, some or all of which may be out of our control, such as (i) our ability to correctly price an asset that is not generating an optimal level of revenue or otherwise performing under its potential, (ii) our ability to choose and execute on a successful value-creating strategy, (iii) our ability to avoid delays, regulatory hurdles, and other potential impediments, (iv) local market conditions, and (v) competition for similar properties in the same market. The factors described above make it challenging to evaluate opportunistic real estate investments and make investments in such properties riskier than investments in other properties.
Investment in non-conforming and non-investment grade loans may involve increased risk of loss.
Loans we acquire or originate may not conform to conventional loan criteria applied by traditional lenders and may not be rated or may be rated as non-investment grade. Non-investment grade ratings for these loans typically result from the overall leverage of the loans, the lack of a strong operating history for the properties underlying the loans, the borrowers’ credit history, the properties’ underlying cash flow or other factors. As a result, non-conforming and non-investment grade loans we acquire or originate may have a higher risk of default and loss than conventional loans. Any loss we incur may reduce distributions to stockholders and adversely affect the value of our common stock.
Risks of cost overruns and non-completion of the construction or renovation of the properties underlying loans we make or acquire may materially and adversely affect our investment.
The renovation, refurbishment or expansion by a borrower under a mortgaged or leveraged property involves risks of cost overruns and non-completion. Costs of construction or improvements to bring a property up to standards established for the market position intended for that property may exceed original estimates, possibly making a project uneconomical. Other risks may include environmental risks and the possibility of construction, rehabilitation and subsequent leasing of the property not being completed on schedule. If such construction or renovation is not completed in a timely manner, or if it costs more than expected, the borrower may experience a prolonged impairment of net operating income and may not be able to make payments on our investment.
Investments that are not United States government insured involve risk of loss.
We may originate and acquire uninsured loans and assets as part of our investment strategy. Such loans and assets may include mortgage loans, mezzanine loans and bridge loans. While holding such interests, we are subject to risks of borrower defaults, bankruptcies, fraud, losses and special hazard losses that are not covered by standard hazard insurance. In the event of any default under loans, we bear the risk of loss of principal and nonpayment of interest and fees to the extent of any deficiency between the value of the collateral and the principal amount of the loan. To the extent we suffer such losses with respect to our investments in such loans, the value of our company and the price of our common stock may be adversely affected.
Prepayments can adversely affect the yields on our investments.
The yields of our assets may be affected by the rate of prepayments differing from our projections. Prepayments on debt instruments, where permitted under the debt documents, are influenced by changes in current interest rates and a variety of economic, geographic and other factors beyond our control, and consequently, such prepayment rates cannot be predicted with certainty. If we are unable to invest the proceeds of any prepayments we receive in assets with at least an equivalent yield, the yield on our portfolio will decline. In addition, we may acquire assets at a discount or premium and if the asset does not repay when expected, our anticipated yield may be impacted. Under certain interest rate and prepayment scenarios we may fail to recoup fully our cost of acquisition of certain investments.
If credit spreads widen before we obtain long-term financing for our assets, the value of our assets may suffer.
We will price our assets based on our assumptions about future credit spreads for financing of those assets. We expect to obtain longer-term financing for our assets using structured financing techniques in the future. In such financings, interest rates are typically set at a spread over a certain benchmark, such as the yield on United States Treasury obligations, swaps, or London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”). If the spread that borrowers will pay over the benchmark widens and the rates we charge on our assets to be securitized are not increased accordingly, our income may be reduced or we may suffer losses.
Hedging against interest rate and foreign currency exposure may adversely affect our earnings, limit our gains or result in losses, which could adversely affect cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
We have entered into, and may continue to enter into, interest rate swap agreements and other interest rate and foreign currency hedging strategies. Our hedging activity will vary in scope based on the level of interest rates, the type of portfolio investments held, the foreign currency held and other changing market conditions. Interest rate and foreign currency hedging may fail to protect or could adversely affect us because, among other things:
•interest rate and foreign currency hedging can be expensive, particularly during periods of rising and volatile interest rates or exchange rates, as applicable;
•available interest rate and foreign currency hedging products may not correspond directly with the risk for which protection is sought;
•the duration of the hedge may not match the duration of the related liability or asset;
•the amount of income that a REIT may earn from hedging transactions to offset losses due to fluctuations in interest rates is limited by federal tax provisions governing REITs;
•the credit quality of the party owing money on the hedge may be downgraded to such an extent that it impairs our ability to sell or assign our side of the hedging transaction;
•the party owing money in the hedging transaction may default on its obligation to pay; and
•we may purchase a hedge that turns out not to be necessary, i.e., a hedge that is out of the money.
Any hedging activity we engage in may adversely affect our earnings, which could adversely affect cash available for distribution to our stockholders. Therefore, while we may enter into such transactions to seek to reduce interest rate and foreign currency risks, unanticipated changes in interest rates or exchange rates, as applicable, may result in poorer overall investment performance than if we had not engaged in any such hedging transactions. In addition, the degree of correlation between price movements of the instruments used in a hedging strategy and price movements in the portfolio positions being hedged or liabilities being hedged may vary materially. Moreover, for a variety of reasons, we may not seek to establish a perfect correlation between such hedging instruments and the interest rate risk or exchange rate risk sought to be hedged. Any such imperfect correlation may prevent us from achieving the intended accounting treatment and may expose us to risk of loss.
Hedging instruments often are not traded on regulated exchanges, guaranteed by an exchange or its clearing house, or regulated by any U.S. or foreign governmental authorities and involve risks and costs.
The cost of using hedging instruments increases as the period covered by the instrument increases and during periods of rising and volatile interest rates. We may increase our hedging activity and thus increase our hedging costs during periods when interest rates are volatile or rising and hedging costs have increased. In addition, hedging instruments involve risk since they often are not traded on regulated exchanges, guaranteed by an exchange or its clearing house, or regulated by any U.S. or foreign governmental authorities. Consequently, there are no requirements with respect to record keeping, financial responsibility or segregation of customer funds and positions. Furthermore, the enforceability of agreements underlying derivative transactions may depend on compliance with applicable statutory, commodity and other regulatory requirements and, depending on the identity of the counterparty, applicable international requirements. The business failure of a hedging counterparty with whom we enter into a hedging transaction will most likely result in a default. Default by a party with whom we enter into a hedging transaction may result in the loss of unrealized profits and force us to cover our resale commitments, if any, at the then current market price. Although generally we will seek to reserve the right to terminate our hedging positions, it may not always be possible to dispose of or close out a hedging position without the consent of the hedging counterparty, and we may not be able to enter into an offsetting contract in order to cover our risk. We cannot be certain that a liquid secondary market will exist for hedging instruments purchased or sold, and we may be required to maintain a position until exercise or expiration, which could result in losses.
We will assume the credit risk of our counterparties with respect to derivative transactions.
We may enter into derivative contracts for risk management purposes to hedge our exposure to cash flow variability caused by changing interest rates on our future variable rate real estate loans receivable and variable rate notes payable. These derivative contracts generally are entered into with bank counterparties and are not traded on an organized exchange or guaranteed by a central clearing organization. We would therefore assume the credit risk that our counterparties will fail to make periodic payments when due under these contracts or become insolvent. If a counterparty fails to make a required payment, becomes the subject of a bankruptcy case, or otherwise defaults under the applicable contract, we would have the right to terminate all outstanding derivative transactions with that counterparty and settle them based on their net market value or replacement cost. In such an event, we may be required to make a termination payment to the counterparty, or we may have the right to collect a termination payment from such counterparty. We assume the credit risk that the counterparty will not be able to make any termination payment owing to us. We may not receive any collateral from a counterparty, or we may receive collateral that is insufficient to satisfy the counterparty’s obligation to make a termination payment. If a counterparty is the subject of a bankruptcy case, we will be an unsecured creditor in such case unless the counterparty has pledged sufficient collateral to us to satisfy the counterparty’s obligations to us.
We will assume the risk that our derivative counterparty may terminate transactions early.
If we fail to make a required payment or otherwise default under the terms of a derivative contract, the counterparty would have the right to terminate all outstanding derivative transactions between us and that counterparty and settle them based on their net market value or replacement cost. In certain circumstances, the counterparty may have the right to terminate derivative transactions early even if we are not defaulting. If our derivative transactions are terminated early, it may not be possible for us to replace those transactions with another counterparty, on as favorable terms or at all.
We may be required to collateralize our derivative transactions.
We may be required to secure our obligations to our counterparties under our derivative contracts by pledging collateral to our counterparties. That collateral may be in the form of cash, securities or other assets. If we default under a derivative contract with a counterparty, or if a counterparty otherwise terminates one or more derivative contracts early, that counterparty may apply such collateral toward our obligation to make a termination payment to the counterparty. If we have pledged securities or other assets, the counterparty may liquidate those assets in order to satisfy our obligations. If we are required to post cash or securities as collateral, such cash or securities will not be available for use in our business. Cash or securities pledged to counterparties may be repledged by counterparties and may not be held in segregated accounts. Therefore, in the event of a counterparty insolvency, we may not be entitled to recover some or all collateral pledged to that counterparty, which could result in losses and have an adverse effect on our operations.
There can be no assurance that the direct or indirect effects of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, enacted in July 2010 for the purpose of stabilizing or reforming the financial markets, and other applicable non-U.S. regulation will not have an adverse effect on our interest rate hedging activities.
Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act imposed additional regulations on derivatives markets and transactions. Such regulations and, to the extent we trade with counterparties organized in non-US jurisdictions, any applicable regulations in those jurisdictions, are still being implemented, and will affect our interest rate hedging activities. While the full impact of regulation on our interest rate hedging activities cannot be fully assessed until all final rules and regulations are implemented, such regulation may affect our ability to enter into hedging or other risk management transactions, may increase our costs in entering into such transactions, and may result in us entering into such transactions on less favorable terms than prior to effectiveness of such regulation. For example, subject to an exception under the Dodd-Frank Act for “end-users” of swaps upon which we may seek to rely, we may be required to clear certain interest rate hedging transactions by submitting them to a derivatives clearing organization. In addition, to the extent we are required to clear any such transactions, we will be required to, among other things, post margin in connection with such transactions. The occurrence of any of the foregoing events may have an adverse effect on our business and our stockholders’ returns.
Our investments in debt securities and preferred and common equity securities will be subject to the specific risks relating to the particular issuer of the securities and may involve greater risk of loss than secured debt financings.
We may make equity investments in funds or corporate entities with a primary focus on the commercial real estate and real estate finance industries or with significant exposure to real estate, such as REITs, hotels and gaming companies. We may purchase the common or preferred stock of these entities or purchase or write options with respect to their stock. We may eventually seek to acquire or gain a controlling interest in the companies that we target. We do not expect our non-controlling equity investments in other public companies to represent a substantial portion of our assets at any one time. We may also invest in debt securities and preferred equity securities issued by funds or corporate entities with a primary focus on the commercial real estate and real estate finance industries or with significant exposure to real estate. Our investments in debt securities and preferred and common equity securities will involve special risks relating to the particular issuer of the securities, including the financial condition and business outlook of the issuer. Issuers that are REITs and other real estate companies are subject to the inherent risks associated with real estate investments. Furthermore, debt securities and preferred and common equity securities may involve greater risk of loss than secured debt financings due to a variety of factors, including that such investments are generally unsecured and may also be subordinated to other obligations of the issuer. As a result, investments in debt securities and preferred and common equity securities are subject to risks of (i) limited liquidity in the secondary trading market, (ii) substantial market price volatility resulting from changes in prevailing interest rates, (iii) subordination to the claims of banks and senior lenders to the issuer, (iv) the operation of mandatory sinking fund or call/redemption provisions during periods of declining interest rates that could cause the issuer to reinvest redemption proceeds in lower yielding assets, (v) the possibility that earnings of the issuer may be insufficient to meet its debt service and distribution obligations, and (vi) the declining creditworthiness and potential for insolvency of the issuer during periods of rising interest rates and economic downturn. These risks may adversely affect the value of outstanding debt securities and preferred and common equity securities and the ability of the issuers thereof to make principal, interest and/or distribution payments to us.
Declines in the market values of our investments may adversely affect periodic reported results of operations and credit availability, which may reduce earnings and, in turn, cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
Our investments in equity securities are carried at estimated fair value and temporary changes in the market values of those assets will be directly charged or credited to the income statement.
A decline in the market value of our assets may adversely affect us, particularly in instances where we have borrowed money based on the market value of those assets. If the market value of those assets declines, the lender may require us to post additional collateral to support the loan. If we were unable to post the additional collateral, we may have to sell assets at a time when we might not otherwise choose to do so. A reduction in credit available may reduce our earnings and, in turn, cash available for distribution to stockholders.
Further, credit facility providers may require us to maintain a certain amount of cash reserves or to set aside unlevered assets sufficient to maintain a specified liquidity position, which would allow us to satisfy our collateral obligations. As a result, we may not be able to leverage our assets as fully as we would choose, which could reduce our return on equity. In the event that we are unable to meet these contractual obligations, our financial condition could deteriorate rapidly.
Market values of our investments may decline for a number of reasons, such as changes in prevailing interest rates, increases in defaults, increases in voluntary prepayments for our investments that are subject to prepayment risk, widening of credit spreads, downgrades of ratings of the securities by ratings agencies and global recession or significant declines in the overall economy.
Our joint venture partners could take actions that decrease the value of an investment to us and lower our stockholders’ overall return.
We have entered into, and may continue to enter into, joint ventures with third parties to make investments. We may also make investments in partnerships or other co-ownership arrangements or participations. Such investments may involve risks not otherwise present with other methods of investment, including, for example, the following risks:
•that our co-venturer or partner in an investment could become insolvent or bankrupt;
•that such co-venturer or partner may at any time have economic or business interests or goals that are or that become inconsistent with our business interests or goals; or
•that such co-venturer or partner may be in a position to take action contrary to our instructions or requests or contrary to our policies or objectives.
Any of the above might subject us to liabilities and thus reduce our returns on our investment with that co-venturer or partner.
Our due diligence may not reveal all of a borrower’s liabilities and may not reveal other weaknesses in its business.
Before making a loan to a borrower or acquiring debt or equity securities of a company, we assess the strength and skills of such entity’s management and other factors that we believe are material to the performance of the investment. In making the assessment and otherwise conducting customary due diligence, we rely on the resources available to us and, in some cases, an investigation by third parties. This process is particularly important and subjective with respect to newly organized or private entities because there may be little or no information publicly available about the entities. There can be no assurance that our due diligence processes will uncover all relevant facts or that any investment will be successful.
We depend on debtors for our revenue, and, accordingly, our revenue and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders will be dependent upon the success and economic viability of such debtors.
The success of our investments in real estate-related loans, real estate-related debt securities and other real estate-related investments materially depend on the financial stability of the debtors underlying such investments. The inability of a single major debtor or a number of smaller debtors to meet their payment obligations could result in reduced revenue or losses for us.
Our inability to sell a property at the time and on the terms we want could limit our ability to pay cash distributions to our stockholders.
Many factors that are beyond our control affect the real estate market and could affect our ability to sell properties for the price, on the terms or within the time frame that we desire. These factors include general economic conditions, the availability of financing, interest rates and other factors, including supply and demand. Because real estate investments are relatively illiquid, we have a limited ability to vary our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions. Further, before we can sell a property on the terms we want, it may be necessary to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements. However, we can give no assurance that we will have the funds available to correct such defects or to make such improvements. We may be unable to sell our properties at a profit. Our inability to sell properties at the time and on the terms we want could reduce our cash flow and limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders and could reduce the value of our shares.
Potential development and construction delays and resultant increased costs and risks may hinder our operating results and decrease our net income.
From time to time, we may acquire unimproved real property or properties that are under development or construction. Investments in such properties will be subject to the uncertainties associated with the development and construction of real property, including those related to re-zoning land for development, environmental concerns of governmental entities and/or community groups and our builders’ ability to build in conformity with plans, specifications, budgeted costs and timetables. If a builder fails to perform, we may resort to legal action to rescind the purchase or the construction contract or to compel performance. A builder’s performance may also be affected or delayed by conditions beyond the builder’s control. Delays in completing construction could also give tenants the right to terminate preconstruction leases. We may incur additional risks when we make periodic progress payments or other advances to builders before they complete construction. These and other factors can result in increased costs of a project or loss of our investment. In addition, we will be subject to normal lease-up risks relating to newly constructed projects. We also must rely on rental income and expense projections and estimates of the fair market value of property upon completion of construction when agreeing upon a purchase price at the time we acquire the property. If our projections are inaccurate, we may pay too much for a property, and the return on our investment could suffer.
Costs imposed pursuant to governmental laws and regulations may reduce our net income and the cash available for distributions to our stockholders.
Real property and the operations conducted on real property are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to protection of the environment and human health. We could be subject to liability in the form of fines, penalties or damages for noncompliance with these laws and regulations. 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, the remediation of contamination associated with the release or disposal of solid and hazardous materials, the presence of toxic building materials, and other health and safety-related concerns.
Some of these laws and regulations may impose joint and several liability on the tenants, owners or operators of real property for the costs to investigate or remediate contaminated properties, regardless of fault, whether the contamination occurred prior to purchase, or whether the acts causing the contamination were legal. Activities of our tenants, the condition of properties at the time we buy them, 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.
The presence of hazardous substances, or the failure to properly manage or remediate these substances, may hinder our ability to sell, rent or pledge such property as collateral for future borrowings. Any material expenditures, fines, penalties, or damages we must pay will reduce our ability to make distributions and may reduce the value of our shares.
The costs of defending against claims of environmental liability, of complying with environmental regulatory requirements, of remediating any contaminated property, or of paying personal injury claims could reduce the amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.
Under various federal, state and local environmental laws, ordinances and regulations, a current or previous real property owner or operator may be liable for the cost of removing or remediating hazardous or toxic substances on, under or in such property. These costs could be substantial. Such laws often impose liability whether or not the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. Environmental laws also may impose liens on property or restrictions on the manner in which property may be used or businesses may be operated, and these restrictions may require substantial expenditures or prevent us from entering into leases with prospective tenants that may be impacted by such laws. Environmental laws provide for sanctions for noncompliance and may be enforced by governmental agencies or, in certain circumstances, by private parties. Certain environmental laws and common law principles could be used to impose liability for the release of and exposure to hazardous substances, including asbestos-containing materials and lead-based paint. Third parties may seek recovery from real property owners or operators for personal injury or property damage associated with exposure to released hazardous substances. The costs of defending against claims of environmental liability, of complying with environmental regulatory requirements, of remediating any contaminated property, or of paying personal injury claims could reduce the amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.
Costs associated with complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act may decrease cash available for distributions.
Our properties may be subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, or the Disabilities Act. Under the Disabilities Act, all places of public accommodation are required to comply with federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. The Disabilities Act has separate compliance requirements for “public accommodations” and “commercial facilities” that generally require that buildings and services 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. Any funds used for Disabilities Act compliance will reduce our net income and the amount of cash available for distributions to our stockholders.
Uninsured losses relating to real property or excessively expensive premiums for insurance coverage could reduce our cash flows and the return on our stockholders’ investment.
There are types of losses, generally catastrophic in nature, such as losses due to wars, acts of terrorism, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, pollution or environmental matters, that are uninsurable or not economically insurable, or may be insured subject to limitations, such as large deductibles or co-payments. Insurance risks associated with potential acts of terrorism could sharply increase the premiums we pay for coverage against property and casualty claims. Additionally, mortgage lenders in some cases have begun to insist that commercial property owners purchase coverage against terrorism as a condition for providing mortgage loans. Such insurance policies may not be available at reasonable costs, if at all, which could inhibit our ability to finance or refinance our properties. In such instances, we may be required to provide other financial support, either through financial assurances or self-insurance, to cover potential losses. We may not have adequate coverage for such losses. If any of our properties incurs a casualty loss that is not fully insured, the value of our assets will be reduced by any such uninsured loss, which may reduce the value of our shares. In addition, other than any working capital reserve or other reserves we may establish, we have no source of funding to repair or reconstruct any uninsured property. Also, to the extent we must pay unexpectedly large amounts for insurance, we could suffer reduced earnings that would result in lower distributions to our stockholders.
Terrorist attacks and other acts of violence or war may affect the markets in which we plan to operate, which could delay or hinder our ability to meet our investment objectives and reduce our stockholders’ overall return.
Terrorist attacks or armed conflicts may directly impact the value of our properties through damage, destruction, loss or increased security costs. Certain of our investments are located in major metropolitan areas. Insurance risks associated with potential acts of terrorism against office and other properties in major metropolitan areas could sharply increase the premiums we pay for coverage against property and casualty claims. Additionally, mortgage lenders in some cases have begun to insist that specific coverage against terrorism be purchased by commercial owners as a condition for providing loans. We may not be able to obtain insurance against the risk of terrorism because it may not be available or may not be available on terms that are economically feasible. The terrorism insurance that we obtain may not be sufficient to cover loss for damages to our properties as a result of terrorist attacks. In addition, certain losses resulting from these types of events are uninsurable and others may not be covered by our terrorism insurance. The costs of obtaining terrorism insurance and any uninsured losses we may suffer as a result of terrorist attacks could reduce the returns on our investments and limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Properties acquired as part of portfolios or in bulk may subject us to a variety of risks.
We expect that a substantial portion of future single-family home property acquisitions will be purchased as portfolios in bulk from owners of portfolios of single-family homes. To the extent the management and leasing of such properties have not been consistent with our property management and leasing standards, we may be subject to a variety of risks, including risks relating to the condition of the properties, the credit quality and employment stability of the tenants and compliance with applicable laws, among others. In addition, financial and other information provided to us regarding such portfolios during our due diligence may not be accurate, and we may not discover such inaccuracies until it is too late to seek remedies against such sellers. To the extent we timely pursue such remedies, we may not be able to successfully prevail against the seller in an action seeking damages for such inaccuracies.
A number of our single-family home properties are part of home owners associations (HOAs), and we and tenants of such properties are subject to the rules and regulations of such HOAs, which may be arbitrary or restrictive. Violations of such rules may subject us to additional fees, penalties and litigation with such HOAs which would be costly.
A number of our single-family home properties are located within HOAs, which are private entities that regulate the activities of owners and occupants of, and levy assessments on, properties in a residential subdivision. We pay all HOA fees and assessments directly. The majority of the HOA fees due on our properties are billed annually. The fees are paid when due by our property managers and are included in our property and operating expenses. HOAs in which we own properties may have or may enact onerous or arbitrary rules that restrict our ability to restore, market or lease our properties or require us to restore or maintain such properties at standards or costs that are in excess of our planned budgets. Such rules may include requirements for landscaping, limitations on signage promoting a property for lease or sale or the requirement that specific construction materials be used in restorations. Some HOAs also impose limits on the number of property owners who may rent their homes, which, if met or exceeded, would cause us to incur additional costs to sell the property and opportunity costs of lost rental revenue. Furthermore, many HOAs impose restrictions on the conduct of occupants of homes and the use of common areas, and we may have tenants who violate HOA rules and for which we may be liable as the property owner. Additionally, the boards of directors of the HOAs in which we own property may not make important disclosures about the properties or may block our access to HOA records, initiate litigation, restrict our ability to sell our properties, impose assessments or arbitrarily change the HOA rules. We may be unaware of or unable to review or comply with HOA rules before purchasing a property, and any such excessively restrictive or arbitrary regulations may cause us to sell such property at a loss, prevent us from renting such property or otherwise reduce our cash flow from such property, which would have an adverse effect on our returns on these properties.
We are subject to tenant relief laws and may be subject to rent control laws, which could negatively impact our rental revenue.
As an owner of single-family home rental properties, we expect that we will regularly be seeking to evict tenants who are not paying their rent or are otherwise in material violation of the terms of their lease. Eviction activities will result in additional legal costs and require the time and attention of our management. The eviction process is typically subject to numerous legal requirements and mandatory “cure” policies, which may increase our costs and delay our ability to gain possession of and stabilize a property. Additionally, state and local landlord-tenant laws may impose legal duties on us to assist tenants in relocating to new housing, or restrict our ability to recover certain costs or charge tenants for damage tenants cause to our property. Because such laws vary by state and locality, we will need to be familiar with and take appropriate steps to comply with applicable landlord-tenant laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate, and we will need to incur supervisory and legal expenses to ensure such compliance. To the extent that we do not comply with state or local laws, we may be subjected to civil litigation filed by individuals, a class of plaintiffs or by state or local law enforcement. We may be required to pay our adversaries’ litigation fees and expenses if judgment is entered against us in such litigation or if we settle such litigation.
Furthermore, rent control laws may affect our rental revenue. Especially in times of recession and economic slowdown, rent control initiatives can receive significant political support. If rent control becomes applicable to certain of our properties, the effects on both our rental revenue and the value of such properties could be material and adverse.
Class action, tenants’ rights and consumer rights litigation may result in increased expenses and harm our results.
There are numerous tenants’ rights and consumer rights organizations that operate in our single-family home property markets, and, as we grow in scale, we may attract attention from some of these organizations and become a target of legal demands or litigation. With the increased market for single-family rentals arising from former homeowners who may have lost their properties, some of these organizations may shift their litigation, lobbying, fundraising and grass roots organizing activities to focus on landlord-tenant issues, including issues relating to the Fair Housing Act, or FHA, and its state law counterparts. While we intend to conduct our business lawfully and in compliance with applicable landlord-tenant and consumer laws, such organizations might work in conjunction with trial and pro bono lawyers in one state or multiple states to attempt to bring claims against us on a class action basis for damages or injunctive relief. We cannot anticipate what form such legal actions might take if initiated or what remedies they may seek. Additionally, these organizations may lobby local county and municipal attorneys or state attorneys general to pursue enforcement or litigation against us or may lobby state and local legislatures to pass new laws and regulations to constrain our business operations. If they are successful in any such endeavors, they could limit our business operations and may impose on us significant litigation expenses, including settlements to avoid continued litigation or judgments for damages or injunctions.
Poor tenant selection and defaults by our tenants may negatively affect our financial performance and reputation.
Our success with single-family home rentals will depend, in large part, upon our ability to attract and retain qualified tenants for our single-family home properties. This will depend, in turn, upon our ability to screen applicants, identify good tenants and avoid tenants who may default. We will inevitably make mistakes in our selection of tenants, and we may rent to tenants whose default on our leases or failure to comply with the terms of the lease or HOA regulations negatively affect our financial performance, reputation and the quality and value of our properties. For example, tenants may default on payment of rent, make unreasonable and repeated demands for service or improvements, make unsupported or unjustified complaints to regulatory or political authorities, make use of our properties for illegal purposes, damage or make unauthorized structural changes to our properties which may not be fully covered by security deposits, refuse to leave the property when the lease is terminated, engage in domestic violence or similar disturbances, disturb nearby residents with noise, trash, odors or eyesores, fail to comply with HOA regulations, sub-let to less desirable individuals in violation of our leases or permit unauthorized persons to live with them. In addition, defaulting tenants will often be effectively judgment-proof. The process of evicting a defaulting tenant from a family residence can be adversarial, protracted and costly. Furthermore, some tenants facing eviction may damage or destroy the property. Damage to our properties may significantly delay re-leasing after eviction, necessitate expensive repairs or impair the rental revenue or value of the property, resulting in a lower than expected rate of return. In addition, we will incur turnover costs associated with re-leasing the properties, such as marketing expense and brokerage commissions, and will not collect revenue while the property is vacant. Although we will attempt to work with tenants to prevent such damage or destruction, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in all or most cases. Such tenants will not only cause us not to achieve our financial objectives for the properties in which they live, but may subject us to liability, and may damage our reputation with our other tenants and in the communities where we do business.
Risks Related to Our Financing Strategy
We use leverage in connection with our investments, which increases the risk of loss associated with our investments.
We have financed the acquisition and origination of a portion of our investments with mortgages and other borrowings. Although the use of leverage may enhance returns and increase the number of investments that we can make, it may also substantially increase the risk of loss. Our ability to execute this strategy depends on various conditions in the financing markets that are beyond our control, including liquidity and credit spreads. There can be no assurance that leveraged financing will be available to us on favorable terms or that, among other factors, the terms of such financing will parallel the maturities of the underlying assets acquired. If our strategy is not viable, we will have to find alternative forms of long-term financing for our assets, as secured revolving credit facilities and repurchase facilities may not accommodate long-term financing. This could subject us to more restrictive recourse indebtedness and the risk that debt service on less efficient forms of financing would require a larger portion of our cash flows, thereby reducing cash available for distribution to our stockholders, for our operations and for future business opportunities. If alternative financing is not available, we may have to liquidate assets at unfavorable prices to pay off such financing. The return on our investments and cash available for distribution to our stockholders may be reduced to the extent that changes in market conditions cause the cost of our financing to increase relative to the income that we can derive from the assets we acquire.
We may use leverage in connection with any real estate investments we make, which increases the risk of loss associated with this type of investment.
We may finance the acquisition and origination of certain real estate-related investments with warehouse lines of credit and repurchase agreements. In addition, we may engage in various types of securitizations in order to finance our loan originations. Although the use of leverage may enhance returns and increase the number of investments that we can make, it may also substantially increase the risk of loss. There can be no assurance that leveraged financing will be available to us on favorable terms or that, among other factors, the terms of such financing will parallel the maturities of the underlying assets acquired. If alternative financing is not available, we may have to liquidate assets at unfavorable prices to pay off such financing. The return on our investments and cash available for distribution to our stockholders may be reduced to the extent that changes in market conditions cause the cost of our financing to increase relative to the income that we can derive from the assets we acquire.
Our debt service payments will reduce our cash available for distribution. We may not be able to meet our debt service obligations and, to the extent that we cannot, we risk the loss of some or all of our assets to foreclosure or sale to satisfy our debt obligations. If we utilize repurchase agreement financing and if the market value of the assets subject to a repurchase agreement declines, we may be required to provide additional collateral or make cash payments to maintain the loan to collateral value ratio. If we are unable to provide such collateral or cash repayments, we may lose our economic interest in the underlying assets. Further, credit facility providers and warehouse facility providers may require us to maintain a certain amount of cash reserves or to set aside unleveraged assets sufficient to maintain a specified liquidity position that would allow us to satisfy our collateral obligations. As a result, we may not be able to leverage our assets as fully as we would choose, which could reduce our return on investment. In the event that we are unable to meet these collateral obligations, our financial condition could deteriorate rapidly.
We may not be able to access financing sources on attractive terms, which could adversely affect our ability to execute our business plan.
We may finance our assets over the long-term through a variety of means, including repurchase agreements, credit facilities, issuances of commercial mortgage-backed securities and other structured financings. Our ability to execute this strategy will depend on various conditions in the markets for financing in this manner that are beyond our control, including lack of liquidity and greater credit spreads. We cannot be certain that these markets will remain an efficient source of long-term financing for our assets. If our strategy is not viable, we will have to find alternative forms of long-term financing for our assets, as secured revolving credit facilities and repurchase agreements may not accommodate long-term financing. This could subject us to more recourse indebtedness and the risk that debt service on less efficient forms of financing would require a larger portion of our cash flow, thereby reducing cash available for distribution to our stockholders and funds available for operations as well as for future business opportunities.
High mortgage rates or changes in underwriting standards may make it difficult for us to finance or refinance properties, which could reduce our cash flows from operations and the amount of cash distributions we can make.
If mortgage debt is unavailable at reasonable rates, we may not be able to finance our properties. If we place mortgage debt on a property, we run the risk of being unable to refinance part or all of the property subject to the mortgage debt when it becomes due or of being unable to refinance on favorable terms. If interest rates are higher when we refinance properties subject to mortgage debt, our income could be reduced. We may be unable to refinance or may only be able to partly refinance properties if underwriting standards, including loan to value ratios and yield requirements, among other requirements, are more strict than when we originally financed the properties. If any of these events occur, our cash flow could be reduced and/or we might have to pay down existing mortgages. This, in turn, would reduce cash available for distribution to our stockholders, could cause us to require additional capital and may hinder our ability to raise capital by issuing more stock or by borrowing more money.
Lenders may require us to enter into restrictive covenants relating to our operations, which could limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
When providing financing, a lender may impose restrictions on us that affect our distribution and operating policies and our ability to incur additional debt. Loan agreements into which we enter may contain covenants that limit our ability to further mortgage a property or that prohibit us from discontinuing insurance coverage or replacing Pacific Oak Capital Advisors as our advisor. These or other limitations would decrease our operating flexibility and our ability to achieve our operating objectives.
Increases in interest rates would increase the amount of our debt payments and limit our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders.
We have incurred significant amounts of variable rate debt. Increases in interest rates will increase the cost of that debt, which could reduce our cash flows from operations and the cash we have available to pay distributions to our stockholders. In addition, if we need to repay existing debt during periods of rising interest rates, we could be required to liquidate one or more of our investments at times that may not permit realization of the maximum return on such investments.
In a period of rising interest rates, our interest expense could increase while the interest we earn on our fixed-rate assets would not change, which would adversely affect our profitability.
Our operating results will depend in large part on differences between the income from our assets, net of credit losses and financing costs. Income from our assets may respond more slowly to interest rate fluctuations than the cost of our borrowings. Consequently, changes in interest rates, particularly short-term interest rates, may significantly influence our net income. Increases in these rates will tend to decrease our net income and market value of our assets. Interest rate fluctuations resulting in our interest expense exceeding our interest income would result in operating losses for us and may limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. We have incurred debt and increases in interest rates will increase the cost of that debt, which could reduce our cash flow from operations and the cash we have available for distribution to our stockholders. In addition, if we need to repay existing debt during periods of rising interest rates, we could be required to liquidate one or more of our investments at times that may not permit realization of the maximum return on such investments.
Changes to the LIBOR settling process and potential phasing out of LIBOR after 2021 could adversely affect our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
As of December 31, 2019, we have $385.4 million variable rate debt outstanding for which we pay interest based on the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”). LIBOR and certain other interest “benchmarks” may be subject to regulatory guidance and/or reform that could cause interest rates under our current or future debt agreements to perform differently than in the past or cause other unanticipated consequences. The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, has announced that it intends to stop encouraging or requiring banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR rates after 2021, and it is unclear whether new methods of calculating LIBOR will be established, such that LIBOR may continue to exist after 2021. While there is no consensus on what rate or rates may become accepted alternatives to LIBOR, the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, a steering committee comprised of U.S. financial market participants, selected the Secured Overnight Finance Rate (“SOFR”) as an alternative to LIBOR. SOFR is a broad measure of the cost of borrowing cash in the overnight U.S. treasury repo market, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York started to publish the SOFR in May 2018. At this time, it is impossible to predict whether the SOFR or another reference rate will become an accepted alternative to LIBOR. The discontinuation, reform or replacement of LIBOR or any other benchmark rates may have an unpredictable impact on contractual mechanics in the credit markets or cause disruption to the broader financial markets, and could have an adverse effect on LIBOR-based interest rates on our current or future debt obligations.
We have broad authority to incur debt and high debt levels could hinder our ability to make distributions and decrease the value of our stockholders’ investment.
Our charter limits our total liabilities to 75% of the cost (before deducting depreciation or other noncash reserves) of our tangible assets; however, we may exceed that limit if the majority of the conflicts committee of our board of directors approves each borrowing in excess of our charter limitation and we disclose such borrowings to our stockholders in our next quarterly report with an explanation from the conflicts committee of the justification for the excess borrowing. As of December 31, 2019, our borrowings and other liabilities were both approximately 68% of the cost (before depreciation and other noncash reserves) and book value (before depreciation) of our tangible assets, respectively. High debt levels would cause us to incur higher interest charges and higher debt service payments and may also be accompanied by restrictive covenants. These factors could limit the amount of cash we have available to distribute and could result in a decline in the value of our stockholders’ investment.
The change in the value of Israeli currency may materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
In March 2016, we issued 970.2 million Israeli new Shekels (approximately $249.2 million as of March 8, 2016) in 4.25% bonds to Israeli investors through a public offering, which bonds are denominated in Israeli new Shekels. On February 16, 2020, Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity BVI issued 254.1 million Israeli new Shekels (approximately $74.1 million as of February 16, 2020) of Series B debentures to Israeli investors pursuant to a public offering, which bonds are denominated in Israeli new Shekels. As a result, we are subject to foreign currency risk due to potential fluctuations in exchange rates between Israeli new Shekels and U.S. Dollars. More specifically, a significant change in the value of the Israeli new Shekels may have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. We have attempted to mitigate this foreign currency risk by using derivative contracts. However, there can be no assurance that those attempts to mitigate foreign currency risk will ultimately be successful.
The deed of trust that governs the bonds issued to Israeli investors includes restrictive covenants that may adversely affect our operations, which could limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
The deed of trust that governs the terms of the bonds issued to Israeli investors contains various restrictive covenants. Such restrictive covenants may prohibit us from making certain investments, selling properties or taking certain other actions that our board of directors otherwise believes to be in our best interests. Such restrictions may adversely affect our operations and limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. For example, we may not make investments through the BVI outside the U.S. and are restricted in our land and development investments made through the BVI. In addition, the BVI must maintain at least $475 million in consolidated equity and, except as necessary for us to maintain our qualification as a REIT, may not make distributions to us that would cause the consolidated equity capital of the BVI to drop below $600 million. In addition, certain significant transactions involving the BVI and our company, another Pacific Oak-sponsored company, or a Pacific Oak affiliate, or a sale of 60% of BVI assets, may require the consent of the bondholders. Finally, for as long as the debentures are outstanding, we may not conduct our investment strategy through an entity other than the BVI without the consent of the noteholders (unless those investments would be prohibited by the deed of trust, in which case we must conduct them outside of the BVI). A violation of any of the foregoing could constitute an event of default, result in an increase of the interest rate of the bonds in up to 1% (as of December 31, 2019 the interest rate was 4.25%) and cause the bonds to become immediately due and payable.
The Series B debentures are subject to the following covenants: (i) Pacific Oak Strategic Opportunity BVI must maintain at least $475 million in consolidated equity; (ii) a maximum debt to capital of 75%; and (iii) a minimum adjusted net operating income of $35.0 million for the trailing twelve months.
Federal Income Tax Risks
Failure to qualify as a REIT would reduce our net earnings available for investment or distribution.
Our qualification as a REIT will depend upon our ability to meet requirements regarding our organization and ownership, distributions of our income, the nature and diversification of our income and assets and other tests imposed by the Internal Revenue Code. If we fail to qualify as a REIT for any taxable year after electing REIT status, we will be subject to federal income tax on our taxable income at corporate rates (a maximum rate of 35% applied through 2017, with a 21% rate beginning 2018). In addition, we would generally be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year in which we lost our REIT status. Losing our REIT status would reduce our net earnings available for investment or distribution to stockholders because of the additional tax liability. In addition, distributions to stockholders would no longer qualify for the dividends-paid deduction and we would no longer be required to pay distributions. If this occurs, we might be required to borrow funds or liquidate some investments in order to pay the applicable tax.
Failure to qualify as a REIT would subject us to U.S. federal income tax, which would reduce the cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
We believe that we have operated and will continue to operate in a manner that will allow us to continue to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, commencing with the taxable year ended December 31, 2010. However, the U.S. federal income tax laws governing REITs are extremely complex, and interpretations of the U.S. federal income tax laws governing qualification as a REIT are limited. Qualifying as a REIT requires us to meet various tests regarding the nature of our assets and our income, the ownership of our outstanding stock, and the amount of our distributions on an ongoing basis. Accordingly, we cannot be certain that we will be successful in operating so we can remain qualified as a REIT. While we intend to continue to operate so that we will qualify as a REIT, given the highly complex nature of the rules governing REITs, the ongoing importance of factual determinations, including the tax treatment of certain investments we may make, and the possibility of future changes in our circumstances, no assurance can be given that we will so qualify for any particular year. If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any calendar year and we do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, we would be required to pay U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income. At regular corporate rates, and distributions to our stockholders would not be deductible by us in determining our taxable income. In such a case, we might need to borrow money or sell assets to pay that tax. Our payment of income tax would decrease the amount of our income available for distribution to our stockholders. Furthermore, if we fail to maintain our qualification as a REIT and we do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, we no longer would be required to distribute substantially all of our REIT taxable income to our stockholders. Unless our failure to qualify as a REIT were excused under federal tax laws, we would be disqualified from taxation as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which qualification was lost.
Our stockholders may have current tax liability on distributions they elect to reinvest in our common stock.
If our stockholders participate in our dividend reinvestment plan, they will be deemed to have received, and for income tax purposes will be taxed on, the amount reinvested in shares of our common stock to the extent the amount reinvested was not a tax-free return of capital. In addition, our stockholders will be treated for tax purposes as having received an additional distribution to the extent the shares are purchased at a discount to fair market value, if any. As a result, unless our stockholders are tax-exempt entities, they may have to use funds from other sources to pay their tax liability on the value of the shares of common stock received.
Even if we qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we may be subject to federal, state, local or other tax liabilities that reduce our cash flow and our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders.
Even if we qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we may be subject to some federal, state and local taxes on our income or property. For example:
•In order to qualify as a REIT, we must distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income to our stockholders (which is determined without regard to the dividends-paid deduction or net capital gain). To the extent that we satisfy the distribution requirement but distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, we will be subject to federal corporate income tax on the undistributed income.
•We will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on the amount, if any, by which distributions we pay in any calendar year are less than the sum of 85% of our ordinary income, 95% of our capital gain net income and 100% of our undistributed income from prior years.
•If we elect to treat property that we acquire in connection with a foreclosure of a mortgage loan or certain leasehold terminations as “foreclosure property,” we may avoid the 100% tax on the gain from a resale of that property, but the income from the sale or operation of that property may be subject to corporate income tax at the highest applicable rate.
•If we sell an asset, other than foreclosure property, that we hold primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business, our gain would be subject to the 100% “prohibited transaction” tax unless such sale were made by one of our taxable REIT subsidiaries or the sale met certain “safe harbor” requirements under the Internal Revenue Code.
•Any domestic taxable REIT subsidiary, or TRS, of ours will be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on its income, and on any non-arm’s-length transactions between us and any TRS, for instance, excessive rents charged to a TRS could be subject to a 100% tax. We may be subject to tax on income from certain activities conducted as a result of taking title to collateral.
•We may be subject to state or local income, property and transfer taxes, such as mortgage recording taxes.
REIT distribution requirements could adversely affect our ability to execute our business plan.
We generally must distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, subject to certain adjustments and excluding any net capital gain, in order for federal corporate income tax not to apply to earnings that we distribute. To the extent that we satisfy this distribution requirement, but distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, we will be subject to federal corporate income tax on our undistributed REIT taxable income. In addition, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax if the actual amount that we pay out to our stockholders in a calendar year is less than a minimum amount specified under federal tax laws. We also may decide to retain net capital gain we earn from the sale or other disposition of our property and pay U.S. federal income tax directly on such income. In that event, our stockholders would be treated as if they earned that income and paid the tax on it directly. However, stockholders that are tax-exempt, such as charities or qualified pension plans, would have no benefit from their deemed payment of such tax liability unless they file U.S. federal income tax returns and thereon seek a refund of such tax. We also will be subject to corporate tax on any undistributed taxable income. We intend to make distributions to our stockholders to comply with the REIT requirements of the Internal Revenue Code.
From time to time, we may generate taxable income greater than our income for financial reporting purposes, or our taxable income may be greater than our cash flow available for distribution to stockholders (for example, where a borrower defers the payment of interest in cash pursuant to a contractual right or otherwise). If we do not have other funds available in these situations we could be required to borrow funds, sell investments at disadvantageous prices or find another alternative source of funds to pay distributions sufficient to enable us to pay out enough of our taxable income to satisfy the REIT distribution requirements and to avoid corporate income tax and the 4% excise tax in a particular year. These alternatives could increase our costs or reduce our equity. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to operate solely on the basis of maximizing profits.
To maintain our REIT status, we may be forced to forego otherwise attractive business or investment opportunities, which may delay or hinder our ability to meet our investment objectives and reduce our stockholders’ overall return.
To qualify as a REIT, we must satisfy certain tests on an ongoing basis concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, nature of our assets and the amounts we distribute to our stockholders. We may be required to pay distributions to stockholders at times when it would be more advantageous to reinvest cash in our business or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution. Compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to operate solely on the basis of maximizing profits and reduce the value of our stockholders’ investment.
If our operating partnership fails to maintain its status as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, its income would be subject to taxation and our REIT status would be terminated.
We intend to maintain the status of our operating partnership as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, if the Internal Revenue Service (“Internal Revenue Service” or “IRS”) were to successfully challenge the status of our operating partnership as a partnership, it would be taxable as a corporation. In such event, this would reduce the amount of distributions that our operating partnership could make to us. This would also result in our losing REIT status and becoming subject to a corporate level tax on our own income. This would substantially reduce our cash available to pay distributions and the return on a stockholder’s investment. In addition, if any of the entities through which our operating partnership owns its properties, in whole or in part, loses its characterization as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the underlying entity would become subject to taxation as a corporation, thereby reducing distributions to our operating partnership and jeopardizing our ability to maintain REIT status.
Potential characterization of distributions or gain on sale may be treated as unrelated business taxable income to tax-exempt investors.
If (i) all or a portion of our assets are subject to the rules relating to taxable mortgage pools, (ii) we are a “pension-held REIT,” (iii) a tax-exempt stockholder has incurred debt to purchase or hold our common stock, or (iv) the residual Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit interests, or REMICs, we buy (if any) generate “excess inclusion income,” then a portion of the distributions to and, in the case of a stockholder described in clause (iii), gains realized on the sale of common stock by such tax-exempt stockholder may be subject to U.S. federal income tax as unrelated business taxable income under the Internal Revenue Code.
The tax on prohibited transactions will limit our ability to engage in transactions that would be treated as sales for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
A REIT’s net income from prohibited transactions is subject to a 100% tax. In general, prohibited transactions are sales or other dispositions of assets, other than foreclosure property, deemed held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. We might be subject to this tax if we were to dispose of loans in a manner that was treated as a sale of the loans for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Therefore, in order to avoid the prohibited transactions tax, we may choose not to engage in certain sales of loans at the REIT level, and may limit the structures we utilize for our securitization transactions, even though the sales or structures might otherwise be beneficial to us.
It may be possible to reduce the impact of the prohibited transaction tax by conducting certain activities through taxable REIT subsidiaries. However, to the extent that we engage in such activities through taxable REIT subsidiaries, the income associated with such activities may be subject to full corporate income tax.
Complying with REIT requirements may force us to liquidate otherwise attractive investments.
To qualify as a REIT, we must ensure 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 residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities. The remainder of our investment in securities (other than government securities and qualified real estate assets) generally cannot include more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% of the value of our assets (other than government securities and qualified real estate assets) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, no more than 20% (25% for taxable years before 2018) of the value of our total assets can be represented by securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries and no more than 25% of the value of our total assets can be represented by “non-qualified publicly offered REIT debt instruments.” 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 from our portfolio otherwise attractive investments. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.
Liquidation of assets may jeopardize our REIT qualification.
To qualify as a REIT, we must comply with requirements regarding our assets and our sources of income. If we are compelled to liquidate our investments to repay obligations to our lenders, we may be unable to comply with these requirements, ultimately jeopardizing our qualification as a REIT, or we may be subject to a 100% tax on any resultant gain if we sell assets that are treated as dealer property or inventory.
Our acquisition of debt or securities investments may cause us to recognize income for U.S. federal income tax purposes even though no cash payments have been received on the debt investments.
We may acquire debt or securities investments in the secondary market for less than their face amount. The amount of such discount will generally be treated as a “market discount” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If these debt or securities investments provide for “payment-in-kind” interest, we may recognize “original issue discount,” or OID, for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Moreover, we may acquire distressed debt investments that are subsequently modified by agreement with the borrower. If the amendments to the outstanding debt constitute “significant modifications” under the applicable Department of the Treasury regulations (“Treasury Regulations”), the modified debt may be considered to have been reissued to us in a debt-for-debt exchange with the borrower. In that event, if the debt is considered to be “publicly traded” for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the modified debt in our hands may be considered to have been issued with OID to the extent the fair market value of the modified debt is less than the principal amount of the outstanding debt. In the event the debt is not considered to be “publicly traded” for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we may be required to recognize taxable income to the extent that the principal amount of the modified debt exceeds our cost of purchasing it. Also, certain loans that we originate and later modify and certain previously modified debt we acquire in the secondary market may be considered to have been issued with the OID at the time it was modified.
In general, we will be required to accrue OID on a debt instrument as taxable income in accordance with applicable federal income tax rules even though no cash payments may be received on such debt instrument on a current basis.
In the event a borrower with respect to a particular debt instrument encounters financial difficulty rendering it unable to pay stated interest as due, we may nonetheless be required to continue to recognize the unpaid interest as taxable income. Similarly, we may be required to accrue interest income with respect to subordinate mortgage-backed securities at the stated rate regardless of when their corresponding cash payments are received.
In order to meet the REIT distribution requirements, it might be necessary for us to arrange for short-term, or possibly long-term borrowings, or to pay distributions in the form of our shares or other taxable in-kind distributions of property. We may need to borrow funds at times when the market conditions are unfavorable. Such borrowings could increase our costs and reduce the value of a stockholder’s investment. In the event in-kind distributions are made, a stockholder’s tax liabilities associated with an investment in our common stock for a given year may exceed the amount of cash we distribute to such stockholder during such year.
Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge effectively.
The REIT provisions of the Internal Revenue Code may limit our ability to hedge our assets and operations. Under these provisions, any income that we generate from transactions intended to hedge our interest rate, inflation and/or currency risks will be excluded from gross income for purposes of the REIT 75% and 95% gross income tests if the purpose of the instrument is to (i) hedge interest rate risk on liabilities incurred to carry or acquire real estate, (ii) hedge risk of currency fluctuations with respect to any item of income or gain that would be qualifying income under the REIT 75% or 95% gross income tests, or (iii) manage risk with respect to the termination of certain prior hedging transactions described in (i) and/or (ii) above and, in each case, such instrument is properly identified under applicable Department of the Treasury regulations (“Treasury Regulations”). Income from hedging transactions that do not meet these requirements will generally constitute nonqualifying income for purposes of both the REIT 75% and 95% gross income tests. As a result of these rules, we may have to limit our use of hedging techniques that might otherwise be advantageous, which could result in greater risks associated with interest rate or other changes than we would otherwise incur.
Our ownership of and relationship with our taxable REIT subsidiaries will be limited and a failure to comply with the limits would jeopardize our REIT status and may result in the application of a 100% excise tax.
A REIT may own up to 100% of the stock of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. A taxable REIT subsidiary may earn income that would not be qualifying income if earned directly by the parent REIT. Both the subsidiary and the REIT must jointly elect to treat the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary. A corporation of which a taxable REIT subsidiary directly or indirectly owns more than 35% of the voting power or value of the stock will automatically be treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary. Overall, no more than 20% (25% for taxable years before 2018) of the value of a REIT’s assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. A domestic taxable REIT subsidiary will pay federal, state and local income tax at regular corporate rates on any income that it earns. In addition, the taxable REIT subsidiary rules limit the deductibility of interest paid or accrued by a taxable REIT subsidiary to its parent REIT to assure that the taxable REIT subsidiary is subject to an appropriate level of corporate taxation. The rules also impose a 100% excise tax on certain transactions between a taxable REIT subsidiary and its parent REIT that are not conducted on an arm’s-length basis. We cannot assure our stockholders that we will be able to comply with the 20% value limitation on ownership of taxable REIT subsidiary stock and securities on an ongoing basis so as to maintain REIT status or to avoid application of the 100% excise tax imposed on certain non-arm’s length transactions.
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 interest to continue to qualify as a REIT. While we intend to elect and qualify to be taxed as a REIT, we may not elect to be treated as a REIT or may terminate our REIT election if we determine that qualifying as a REIT is no longer in our best interests. If we cease to be a REIT, we would become subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income and would no longer be required to distribute most of our taxable income to our stockholders, which may have adverse consequences on our total return to our stockholders and on the market price of our common stock.
Changes recently made to the U.S. tax laws could have a negative impact on our business.
The President signed a tax reform bill into law on December 22, 2017 (the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”). Among other things, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:
•Reduces the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21% (including with respect to a taxable REIT subsidiary);
•Reduces the rate of U.S. federal withholding tax on distributions made to non-U.S. stockholders by a REIT that are attributable to gains from the sale or exchange of U.S. real property interests from 35% to 21%;
•If elected, allows an immediate 100% deduction of the cost of certain capital asset investments (generally excluding real estate assets), subject to a phase-down of the deduction percentage over time;
•Changes the recovery periods for certain real property and building improvements (for example, to 15 years for qualified improvement property under the modified accelerated cost recovery system if a technical correction is passed, and to 30 years (previously 40 years) for residential real property and 20 years (previously 40 years) for qualified improvement property under the alternative depreciation system);
•Restricts the deductibility of interest expense by businesses (generally, to 30% of the business’ adjusted taxable income) except, among others, real property businesses electing out of such restriction; we have made the election to elect out of this restriction during the 2018 tax year for the company and several joint venture entities; for certain entities, we have not yet determined whether we and/or our subsidiaries can and/or will make such an election;
•Requires the use of the less favorable alternative depreciation system to depreciate real property in the event a real property business elects to avoid the interest deduction restriction above;
•Restricts the benefits of like-kind exchanges that defer capital gains for tax purposes to exchanges of real property;
•Permanently repeals the “technical termination” rule for partnerships, meaning sales or exchanges of the interests in a partnership will be less likely to, among other things, terminate the taxable year of, and restart the depreciable lives of assets held by, such partnership for tax purposes;
•Requires accrual method taxpayers to take certain amounts in income no later than the taxable year in which such income is taken into account as revenue in an applicable financial statement prepared under GAAP, which, with respect to certain leases, could accelerate the inclusion of rental income;
•Eliminates the federal corporate alternative minimum tax;
•Reduces the highest marginal income tax rate for individuals to 37% from 39.6% (excluding, in each case, the 3.8% Medicare tax on net investment income);
•Generally allows a deduction for individuals equal to 20% of certain income from pass-through entities, including ordinary dividends distributed by a REIT (excluding capital gain dividends and qualified dividend income), generally resulting in a maximum effective U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to such dividends of 29.6% compared to 37% (excluding, in each case, the 3.8% Medicare tax on net investment income); and
•Limits certain deductions for individuals, including deductions for state and local income taxes, and eliminates deductions for miscellaneous itemized deductions (including certain investment expenses).
Many of the provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, in particular those affecting individual taxpayers, expire at the end of 2025.
As a result of the changes to U.S. federal tax laws implemented by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, our taxable income and the amount of distributions to our stockholders required in order to maintain our REIT status, and our relative tax advantage as a REIT, could change. As a REIT, we are required to distribute at least 90% of our taxable income to our stockholders annually.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is a complex revision to the U.S. federal income tax laws with various impacts on different categories of taxpayers and industries, and will require subsequent rulemaking and interpretation in a number of areas. The long-term impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on the overall economy, government revenues, our tenants, us, and the real estate industry cannot be reliably predicted at this time. Furthermore, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act may negatively impact certain of our tenants’ operating results, financial condition, and future business plans. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act may also result in reduced government revenues, and therefore reduced government spending, which may negatively impact some of our tenants that rely on government funding. There can be no assurance that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will not negatively impact our operating results, financial condition, and future business operations.
Dividends payable by REITs do not qualify for the reduced tax rates.
In general, the maximum tax rate for dividends payable to domestic stockholders that are individuals, trusts and estates is 20%. Dividends payable by REITs, however, are generally not eligible for this reduced rate; provided under current law, individuals may be able to deduct 20% of income received as ordinary REIT dividends, thus reducing the maximum effective U.S. federal income tax rate on such dividend. In addition, Treasury Regulations impose a minimum holding period for the 20% deduction that was not set forth in the Internal Revenue Code. Under the Treasury Regulations, in order for a REIT dividend with respect to a share of REIT stock to be treated as a qualified REIT dividend, the U.S. stockholder (i) must have held the share for more than 45 days during the 91-day period beginning on the date which is 45 days before the date on which such share becomes ex-dividend with respect to such dividend and (ii) cannot have been under an obligation to make related payments with respect to positions in substantially similar or related property, e.g., pursuant to a short sale. While this tax treatment does not adversely affect the taxation of REITs or dividends paid by REITs, the more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate dividends could cause investors who are individuals, trusts or estates to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in stock of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the stock of REITs, including our common stock.
If the IRS were to successfully recast our Israeli bond offerings as equity issuances rather than borrowings, our REIT qualification could be threatened.
We have structured our Israeli bond offerings to be viewed for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a borrowing by us via disregarded entities. If the IRS were to successfully recast our Israeli bond offerings as equity issuances rather than borrowings, our REIT qualification could be threatened.
Qualifying as a REIT involves highly technical and complex provisions of the Internal Revenue Code.
Qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex Internal Revenue Code provisions for which only limited judicial and administrative authorities exist. Even a technical or inadvertent violation could jeopardize our REIT qualification. Our continued qualification as a REIT will depend on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, stockholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. In addition, our ability to satisfy the requirements to qualify as a REIT depends in part on the actions of third parties over which we have no control or only limited influence, including in cases where we own an equity interest in an entity that is classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
The taxation of distributions to our stockholders can be complex; however, distributions that we make to our stockholders generally will be taxable as ordinary income, which may reduce their anticipated returns from an investment in us.
Distributions that we make to our taxable stockholders to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits (and not designated as capital gain dividends or qualified dividend income) generally will be taxable as ordinary income. However, a portion of our distributions may (i) be designated by us as capital gain dividends generally taxable as long-term capital gain to the extent that they are attributable to net capital gain recognized by us, (ii) be designated by us as qualified dividend income generally to the extent they are attributable to dividends we receive from non-REIT corporations, such as our taxable REIT subsidiaries, or (iii) constitute a return of capital generally to the extent that they exceed our current and accumulated earnings and profits as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A return of capital distribution is not taxable, but has the effect of reducing the basis of a stockholder’s investment in our common stock.
We may be required to pay some taxes due to actions of a taxable REIT subsidiary which would reduce our cash available for distribution to stockholders.
Any net taxable income earned directly by a taxable REIT subsidiary, or through entities that are disregarded for U.S. federal income tax purposes as entities separate from our taxable REIT subsidiaries, will be subject to federal and possibly state corporate income tax. In this regard, several provisions of the laws applicable to REITs and their subsidiaries ensure that a taxable REIT subsidiary will be subject to an appropriate level of U.S. federal income taxation. For example, a taxable REIT subsidiary may be limited in its ability to deduct certain interest payments made to an affiliated REIT. In addition, the REIT has to pay a 100% penalty tax on some payments that it receives or on some deductions taken by a taxable REIT subsidiary if the economic arrangements between the REIT, the REIT's customers, and the taxable REIT subsidiary are not comparable to similar arrangements between unrelated parties. Finally, some state and local jurisdictions may tax some of our income even though as a REIT we are not subject to U.S. federal income tax on that income because not all states and localities follow the U.S. federal income tax treatment of REITs. To the extent that we and our affiliates are required to pay federal, state and local taxes, we will have less cash available for distributions to stockholders.
We may distribute our common stock in a taxable distribution, in which case stockholders may sell shares of our common stock to pay tax on such distributions, and stockholders may receive less in cash than the amount of the dividend that is taxable.
We may make taxable distributions that are payable in cash and common stock. The IRS has issued private letter rulings to other REITs treating certain distributions that are paid partly in cash and partly in stock as taxable distributions that would satisfy the REIT annual distribution requirement and qualify for the dividends paid deduction for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Those rulings may be relied upon only by taxpayers to whom they were issued, but we could request a similar ruling from the IRS. Accordingly, it is unclear whether and to what extent we will be able to make taxable distributions payable in cash and common stock. If we made a taxable dividend payable in cash and common stock, taxable stockholders receiving such distributions will be required to include the dividend as taxable income to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, stockholders may be required to pay income tax with respect to such distributions in excess of the cash distributions received. If a U.S. stockholder sells the common stock that it receives as a dividend in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount recorded in earnings with respect to the dividend, depending on the market price of our common stock at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to certain non-U.S. stockholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. federal income tax with respect to such dividends, including in respect of all or a portion of such dividend that is payable in common stock.
Investments in other REITs and real estate partnerships could subject us to the tax risks associated with the tax status of such entities.
We may invest in the securities of other REITs and real estate partnerships. Such investments are subject to the risk that any such REIT or partnership may fail to satisfy the requirements to qualify as a REIT or a partnership, as the case may be, in any given taxable year. In the case of a REIT, such failure would subject such entity to taxation as a corporation, may require such REIT to incur indebtedness to pay its tax liabilities, may reduce its ability to make distributions to us, and may render it ineligible to elect REIT status prior to the fifth taxable year following the year in which it fails to so qualify. In the case of a partnership, such failure could subject such partnership to an entity level tax and reduce the entity’s ability to make distributions to us. In addition, such failures could, depending on the circumstances, jeopardize our ability to qualify as a REIT.
Non-U.S. stockholders will be subject to U.S. federal withholding tax and may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on distributions received from us and upon the disposition of our shares.
Subject to certain exceptions, distributions received from us will be treated as dividends of ordinary income to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits. Such dividends ordinarily will be subject to U.S. withholding tax at a 30% rate, or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable income tax treaty, unless the distributions are treated as “effectively connected” with the conduct by the non-U.S. stockholder of a U.S. trade or business. Pursuant to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980, or FIRPTA, capital gain distributions attributable to sales or exchanges of “U.S. real property interests,” or USRPIs, generally (subject to certain exceptions for “qualified foreign pension funds” and certain “qualified shareholders”) will be taxed to a non-U.S. stockholder (other than a qualified foreign pension plan, entities wholly owned by a qualified foreign pension plan and certain publicly traded foreign entities) as if such gain were effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business unless FIRPTA provides an exemption. However, a capital gain dividend will not be treated as effectively connected income if (i) the distribution is received with respect to a class of stock that is regularly traded on an established securities market located in the United States and (ii) the non-U.S. stockholder does not own more than 10% of the class of our stock at any time during the one-year period ending on the date the distribution is received. We do not anticipate that our shares will be “regularly traded” on an established securities market for the foreseeable future, and therefore, this exception is not expected to apply.
Gain recognized by a non-U.S. stockholder upon the sale or exchange of our common stock generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxation unless such stock constitutes a USRPI under FIRPTA (subject to specific FIRPTA exemptions for certain non-U.S. stockholders). Our common stock will not constitute a USRPI so long as we are a “domestically-controlled qualified investment entity.” A domestically-controlled qualified investment entity includes a REIT if at all times during a specified testing period, less than 50% in value of such REIT’s stock is held directly or indirectly by non-U.S. stockholders. We believe, but cannot assure stockholders, that we will be a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity.
Even if we do not qualify as a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity at the time a non-U.S. stockholder sells or exchanges our common stock, gain arising from such a sale or exchange would not be subject to U.S. taxation under FIRPTA as a sale of a USRPI if: (a) our common stock is “regularly traded,” as defined by applicable Treasury Regulations, on an established securities market, and (b) such non-U.S. stockholder owned, actually and constructively, 10% or less of our common stock at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of the sale. However, it is not anticipated that our common stock will be “regularly traded” on an established market. We encourage stockholders to consult their tax advisors to determine the tax consequences applicable to them if they are non-U.S. stockholders.
Our qualification as a REIT may depend upon the accuracy of legal opinions or advice rendered or given or statements by the issuers of assets we acquire.
When purchasing securities, we may rely on opinions or advice of counsel for the issuer of such securities, or statements made in related offering documents, for purposes of determining, among other things, whether such securities represent debt or equity securities for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the value of such securities, and also to what extent those securities constitute qualified real estate assets for purposes of the REIT asset tests and produce qualified income for purposes of the 75% gross income test. The inaccuracy of any such opinions, advice or statements may adversely affect our ability to qualify as a REIT and result in significant corporate-level tax.
Our charter limits the number of shares a person may own, which may discourage a takeover that could otherwise result in a premium price paid to stockholders.
Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our board of directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. To help us comply with the REIT ownership requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, among other purposes, our charter prohibits a person from directly or constructively owning more than 9.8% in value of the aggregate of the outstanding shares of our stock of any class or series or more than 9.8% in value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the aggregate of the outstanding shares of our common stock, unless exempted (prospectively or retroactively) by our board of directors. This restriction may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all of our assets) that might otherwise provide a premium price for holders of our shares of common stock.
We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes.
At any time, the U.S. federal income tax laws or regulations governing REITs or the administrative interpretations of those laws or regulations may be amended. We cannot predict when or if any new U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, or any amendment to any existing U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, will be adopted, promulgated or become effective and any such law, regulation or interpretation may take effect retroactively. We and our stockholders could be adversely affected by any such change in, or any new, U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation.
Retirement Plan Risks
If stockholders fail to meet the fiduciary and other standards under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, or “ERISA,” or the Code as a result of an investment in our stock, they could be subject to criminal and civil penalties.
There are special considerations that apply to employee benefit plans subject to ERISA (such as profit-sharing, section 401(k) or pension plans) and other retirement plans or accounts subject to Section 4975 of the Code (such as an IRA) or any entity whose assets include such assets (each a “Benefit Plan”) that are investing in our shares. If stockholders are investing the assets of such a plan or account in our common stock, they should satisfy themselves that:
•the investment is consistent with their fiduciary and other obligations under ERISA and the Code;
•the investment is made in accordance with the documents and instruments governing the plan or IRA, including the plan’s or account’s investment policy;
•the investment satisfies the prudence and diversification requirements of Sections 404(a)(1)(B) and 404(a)(1)(C) of ERISA and other applicable provisions of ERISA and the Code;
•the investment in our shares, for which no trading market may exist, is consistent with the liquidity needs of the plan or IRA;
•the investment will not produce an unacceptable amount of “unrelated business taxable income” for the plan or IRA;
•the stockholders will be able to comply with the requirements under ERISA and the Code to value the assets of the plan or IRA annually; and
•the investment will not constitute a non-exempt prohibited transaction under Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code.
With respect to the annual valuation requirements described above, we expect to provide an estimated value of our net assets per share annually to those fiduciaries (including IRA trustees and custodians) who request it. Although this estimate will be based upon determinations of the NAV of our shares in accordance with our valuation procedures, no assurance can be given that such estimated value will satisfy the applicable annual valuation requirements under ERISA and the Code. The Department of Labor or the Internal Revenue Service may determine that a plan fiduciary or a fiduciary acting for an IRA is required to take further steps to determine the value of our common shares. In the absence of an appropriate determination of value, a plan fiduciary or a fiduciary acting for an IRA may be subject to damages, penalties or other sanctions.
Failure to satisfy the fiduciary standards of conduct and other applicable requirements of ERISA and the Code may result in the imposition of civil and criminal penalties, and can subject the fiduciary to claims for damages or for equitable remedies, including liability for investment losses. In addition, if an investment in our shares constitutes a non-exempt prohibited transaction under ERISA or the Code, the fiduciary or IRA owner who authorized or directed the investment may be subject to the imposition of excise taxes with respect to the amount invested. Additionally, the investment transaction may have to be undone. In the case of a prohibited transaction involving an IRA owner, the IRA may be disqualified as a tax-exempt account and all of the assets of the IRA may be deemed distributed and subjected to tax. ERISA plan fiduciaries and IRA owners should consult with counsel before making an investment in our shares.
If our assets are deemed to be plan assets, Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and we may be exposed to liabilities under Title I of ERISA and the Code.
In some circumstances where an ERISA plan holds an interest in an entity, the assets of the entity are deemed to be ERISA plan assets unless an exception applies. This is known as the “look-through rule.” Under those circumstances, the obligations and other responsibilities of plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries and plan administrators, and of parties in interest and disqualified persons, under Title I of ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code, as applicable, may be applicable, and there may be liability under these and other provisions of ERISA and the Code. We believe that our assets should not be treated as plan assets because the shares should qualify as “publicly-offered securities” that are exempt from the look-through rules under applicable Treasury Regulations. We note, however, that because certain limitations are imposed upon the transferability of shares so that we may qualify as a REIT, and perhaps for other reasons, it is possible that this exemption may not apply. If that is the case, and if Pacific Oak Capital Advisors or we are exposed to liability under ERISA or the Code, our performance and results of operations could be adversely affected. Prior to making an investment in us, stockholders should consult with their legal and other advisors concerning the impact of ERISA and the Code on this investment and our performance.
We do not intend to provide investment advice to any potential investor for a fee. However, we, Pacific Oak Capital Advisors and our respective affiliates receive certain fees and other consideration disclosed herein in connection with an investment. If it were determined we provided a Benefit Plan investor with investment advice for a fee, it could give rise to a determination that we constitute an investment advice fiduciary under ERISA. Such a determination could give rise to claims that our fee arrangements constitute non-exempt prohibited transactions under ERISA or the Code and/or claims that we have breached a fiduciary duty to a Benefit Plan investor. Adverse determinations with respect to ERISA fiduciary status or non-exempt prohibited transactions could result in significant civil penalties and excise taxes.
Risks Related to Proposed NAV REIT Conversion
Our NAV REIT strategy may not result in increased liquidity for our stockholders.
Although we intend, as part of our NAV REIT strategy, to adopt a revised share redemption program that allows us to redeem a greater percentage of our shares each year than our current share redemption program, we cannot provide assurances that we will do so. We may decide for market, regulatory or other reasons to have a more limited share redemption program or conduct periodic self-tender offers on terms that we believe are appropriate.
We will not be required to purchase any particular number of shares, at any particular frequency or at any particular pricing, pursuant to our share redemption program or pursuant to periodic self-tender offers. Our board of directors will be permitted to modify, suspend or terminate our share redemption program at any time.
We may not have sufficient funding to satisfy the demand for liquidity. Our primary source for funding is currently expected to be a portion of the net proceeds from our new ongoing public offerings and potential Israeli offerings, but we cannot guarantee that the net proceeds raised will be sufficient to satisfy the demand for liquidity and our other capital needs, such as capital expenditures and funds for new investments. If future redemption requests exceed the amount of funding available under our share redemption program and any additional funding made available under one or more self-tender offers, the number of rejected redemption or repurchase requests will increase over time.
You will be dependent on the board of directors to adopt and oversee valuation procedures to determine the NAV of our shares; the prices at which we sell and redeem our shares will be based on the NAV per share determined in accordance with these valuation procedures.
In connection with our NAV REIT strategy, our board of directors intends to adopt valuation procedures to determine a monthly NAV per share. However, we may compute the NAV less frequently than monthly, such as quarterly. In addition, the procedures, methods and assumptions used to determine the NAV will be solely in our discretion and subject to change, will not be subject to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) and will not be subject to independent audit. No rule or regulation requires that we calculate our NAV in a certain way. Our board of directors has not finalized these procedures and once they do, our board of directors may adopt changes to the valuation procedures. The valuation procedures we adopt may be different from those used in our prior estimated value per share calculations.
The prices at which we sell shares in our offerings and repurchase shares under our share redemption program and/or self-tender offers will not be market-based prices. We currently intend for those prices to be based on our monthly NAV per share. If our NAV calculations are too high, we may overpay for shares that we redeem, which would harm our remaining stockholders. If our NAV calculations are too low, we may dilute our existing stockholders when we sell new shares and we may underpay stockholders that sell their shares to us. There will be no market prices for our shares and you will be entirely dependent on us to determine an appropriate monthly NAV per share, which may not correspond to realizable value upon a sale of our assets.
Our NAV REIT strategy will result in additional expenses.
Our NAV REIT strategy will involve continuous, ongoing public offerings that will require registration with the SEC under federal securities laws and with each state in which we offer shares. Maintaining such offerings will result in offering expenses such as legal, accounting, printing, mailing and filing fees, charges of our transfer agent, charges of our advisor and/or transfer agent for administrative services related to the issuance of shares, reimbursement of bona fide due diligence expenses of broker-dealers, reimbursement of our advisor for costs in connection with preparing supplemental sales materials, the cost of bona fide training and education meetings held by us (primarily the travel, meal and lodging costs of registered representatives of broker-dealers), attendance and sponsorship fees payable to participating broker-dealers hosting retail seminars and travel, meal and lodging costs for registered persons associated with our dealer manager and officers and employees of our affiliates to attend retail seminars conducted by broker-dealers, legal fees of our dealer manager and promotional items. We also expect to incur additional expenses in connection with calculating a monthly NAV per share. Although we expect to reinvest the majority of the proceeds from the Singapore Transaction in new investments, we also expect to distribute a significant portion of the proceeds to our stockholders, which will reduce the size of our company and therefore make ongoing expenses as an NAV REIT more burdensome.
New investors in our new offerings may have divergent interests from investors in our initial public offering.
We conducted our initial public offering of common stock from November 2009 through November 2012. Our investors in the initial public offering have now held their shares between approximately seven and ten years. When (and if) we launch a new public offering as an NAV REIT, they will have held their shares for an even longer period. New investors in our company may place a greater priority on funding for new investments than for liquidity or other purposes. They may be more supportive of our NAV REIT strategy than our original investors. Divergent interests of our stockholders may affect decisions by our board of directors or management, and may impact stockholder votes on various matters.
We may not raise a meaningful amount of capital in our ongoing offerings as an NAV REIT.
We currently intend to use the proceeds from our offerings as an NAV REIT, net of the fees and other expenses we pay in connection with the offerings: (1) to make additional investments in accordance with our investment strategy and policies with the intention of growing the portfolio; (2) to provide increased liquidity to our stockholders in excess of what is currently offered; and (3) for other general corporate purposes (which may include repayment of our debt or any other corporate purposes we deem appropriate). However, we may not raise a meaningful amount of capital in our ongoing offerings as an NAV REIT, which would mean that we would not have as much money for any of these purposes. In particular, we may face challenges raising additional capital if we are not able to satisfy our stockholders’ redemption requests on a regular basis. In addition, we may face challenges raising additional capital unless and until we reinvest the proceeds from the Singapore Transaction in attractive replacement assets.
We may suffer from delays in locating suitable investments with the capital we raise in our ongoing offerings as a perpetual-life company.
As described above, we intend to use a portion of the net proceeds from our offerings as an NAV REIT to make additional investments in accordance with our investment strategy and policies with the intention of growing the portfolio. However, we could suffer from delays in locating suitable investments. The more shares we sell in our offerings, the more difficult it may be to invest the net offering proceeds promptly and on attractive terms. Our reliance on our advisor, and the real estate and debt finance professionals that our advisor retains to identify suitable investments for us at times when such persons are simultaneously seeking to identify suitable investments for other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs or Pacific Oak-advised investors could also delay the investment of the proceeds of this offering. Further, if we acquire properties prior to the start of construction or during the early stages of construction, it will typically take several months to complete construction and rent available space. Delays we encounter in the selection, acquisition and development of income-producing properties or the acquisition or origination of other real estate investments would likely limit our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders and may reduce their overall returns.
We may pay lower dividends as an NAV REIT than we otherwise would.
As an NAV REIT, we may pay lower dividends than we otherwise would, because as a perpetual-life NAV REIT (1) we may have a greater interest in retaining the capital for new investments, increased liquidity or other general purposes and (2) we may have a greater interest in keeping our NAV stable or rising.
Our NAV REIT strategy may increase the compensation to our advisor and its affiliates.
The new advisory fee structure proposed as an NAV REIT puts a greater emphasis on our performance and, accordingly, would result in greater compensation to our advisor as a percentage of our NAV if we perform sufficiently well. Furthermore if we succeed in raising additional capital and growing our company, we would expect the fees paid to our advisor and its affiliates to increase because of our larger size. We believe these changes help align the interests of our advisor and our stockholders in growing our company and performing well. The bottom line future impact to our stockholders of the proposed compensation changes is difficult to predict because it is subject to a number of factors, such as the amount of capital we raise in our public offerings, the number of acquisitions and dispositions that we make, and our performance.
Our directors and management face conflicts of interest in the pursuit of an NAV REIT strategy.
All of our executive officers, some of our directors and other key real estate and debt finance professionals are also officers, directors, managers, or key professionals of and/or holders of a direct or indirect controlling interest in our advisor, Pacific Oak Capital Markets Group, LLC, who we intend to hire as our dealer manager for our future public offerings, and other affiliated Pacific Oak entities. Keith D. Hall and Peter McMillan III are our sponsors and indirectly own and control our advisor. Our advisor is also the external advisor to other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs. Messrs. Hall and McMillan are executive officers and/or directors of other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs. Messrs. Hall and McMillan, and their teams of real estate and debt finance professionals may also sponsor or advise future programs or accounts in the future. Some of the material conflicts that our advisor and its affiliates face in connection with our pursuit of a perpetual-life strategy include the following:
•The new advisory fee structure proposed as an NAV REIT puts a greater emphasis on our performance and, accordingly, would result in greater compensation to our advisor as a percentage of our NAV if we perform sufficiently well. Furthermore if we succeed in raising additional capital and growing our company, we would expect the fees paid to our advisor and its affiliates to increase because of our larger size. We may implement other fee changes that are favorable to our advisor. In addition, a perpetual-life strategy is likely to extend the period in which our advisor and its affiliates may earn fees from us, in various forms, whether related to overall asset management, property management or otherwise.
•The compensation payable by us to our advisor and its affiliates may not be on terms that would result from arm’s-length negotiations, may be payable whether or not our stockholders receive distributions, and may be based on our NAV, the procedures for which our advisor will likely assist our board of directors in developing, overseeing, implementing and coordinating.
•The team of real estate and debt finance professionals at our advisor must determine which investment opportunities to recommend to us and the other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs that are raising funds for investment for whom Pacific Oak serves as an advisor as well as any programs Pacific Oak affiliates may sponsor in the future. Because investment opportunities that are suitable for us may also be suitable for other Pacific Oak-sponsored programs or Pacific Oak-advised investors, our advisor and its affiliates face conflicts of interest relating to the purchase of properties and other investments. Any such conflicts in directing investment opportunities may not be resolved in our favor, meaning that we could invest in less attractive assets, which could reduce the investment return to our stockholders.
•Our sponsors and their team of professionals at our advisor and its affiliates (including Pacific Oak Capital Markets Group, LLC, the expected dealer manager of our offerings) have to allocate their time between us and other programs and activities in which they are involved.
Risks Related to Proposed Merger
The merger consideration would not be adjusted in the event of any change in the relative values of the common stock of POSOR II or us.
Upon the consummation of the Merger, each outstanding share of POSOR II common stock will be converted automatically into the right to receive 0.9643 shares of our common stock. The exchange ratio will not be adjusted before or after consummation of the Merger. Except as expressly contemplated in the Merger Agreement, no change in the Merger consideration will be made for any reason, including the following (which may occur prior to consummation of the Merger or any time thereafter):
•changes in the respective businesses, operations, assets, liabilities and prospects of POSOR II or us;
•changes in the estimated value per share of either the shares of POSOR II common stock or our common stock;
•interest rates, general market and economic conditions, market and economic conditions in specific geographic regions, and other factors generally affecting the businesses of POSOR II and us;
•federal, state and local legislation, governmental regulation and legal developments in the businesses in which POSOR II and we operate;
•dissident stockholder activity, including any stockholder litigation challenging the transaction; and
•acquisitions, disposals or new development opportunities.
Completion of the Merger is subject to many conditions and if these conditions are not satisfied or waived, the Merger will not be completed, which could result in the expenditure of significant unrecoverable transaction costs.
The Merger Agreement is subject to many conditions, which must be satisfied or waived in order to complete the Merger. The mutual conditions of the parties include, among others, the approval by the POSOR II stockholders of the Merger and a POSOR II charter amendment. In addition, each party’s obligation to consummate the Merger is subject to certain other conditions, including, among others: (a) the accuracy of the other party’s representations and warranties (subject to customary materiality qualifiers and other customary exceptions); (b) the other party’s compliance with its covenants and agreements contained in the Merger Agreement (subject to customary materiality qualifiers); (c) the absence of any change, event, circumstance or development arising during the period from the date of the Merger Agreement until the effective time of the Merger that has had or would have a material adverse effect on the other party; (d) the receipt of an opinion of counsel of the other party to the effect that such party has been organized and has operated in conformity with the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT; and (e) the receipt of an opinion of counsel of each party to the effect that the Merger will qualify as a reorganization within the meaning of Section 368(a) of the Code.
There can be no assurance that the conditions to closing of the Merger will be satisfied or waived or that the Merger will be completed. Failure to consummate the Merger may adversely affect POSOR II’s or our results of operations and business prospects for the following reasons, among others: (i) each of POSOR II and we have incurred and will continue to incur certain transaction costs, regardless of whether the Merger closes, which could adversely affect each company’s financial condition, results of operations and ability to make distributions to its stockholders; and (ii) the Merger, whether or not it closes, will divert the attention of certain management and other key employees of POSOR II and us from ongoing business activities, including the pursuit of other opportunities that could be beneficial to POSOR II or us, respectively. In addition, POSOR II or we may terminate the Merger Agreement under certain circumstances, including, among other reasons, if the Merger is not completed by the November 19, 2020 (the “Outside Date”).
Failure to complete the Merger could negatively impact our future business and financial results.
If the Merger is not completed, our ongoing business could be materially and adversely affected and we will be subject to a variety of risks associated with the failure to complete the Merger, including the following:
•our being required to pay up to $3 million as reimbursement for POSOR II’s expenses in the event of termination of the Merger Agreement, under certain circumstances;
•our having to pay certain costs relating to the proposed merger, such as legal, accounting, financial advisor, filing, printing and mailing fees; and
•the diversion of our management focus and resources from operational matters and other strategic opportunities while working to implement the Merger.
If the Merger is not completed, these risks could materially affect our business and financial results.
The pendency of the Merger, including as a result of the restrictions on the operation of POSOR II’s and our business during the period between signing the Merger Agreement and the completion of the Merger, could adversely affect the business and operations of POSOR II, us, or both.
In connection with the pending Merger, some business partners or vendors of each of POSOR II and us may delay or defer decisions, which could negatively impact the revenues, earnings, cash flows and expenses of POSOR II and us, regardless of whether the Merger is completed. In addition, due to operating covenants in the Merger Agreement, each of POSOR II and we may be unable, during the pendency of the Merger, to pursue certain strategic transactions, undertake certain significant capital projects, undertake certain significant financing transactions and otherwise pursue other actions that are not in the ordinary course of business, even if such actions would prove beneficial.
Some of the directors and executive officers of POSOR I and POSOR II have interests in seeing the Merger completed that are different from, or in addition to, those of the POSOR I and POSOR II stockholders.
Some of the directors and executive officers of POSOR I and POSOR II have interests in seeing the Merger completed that are different from, or in addition to, those of the POSOR I and POSOR II stockholders. Specifically, Keith D. Hall and Peter McMillan III control and indirectly own Pacific Oak Holding Group, LLC, our sponsor and POSOR II’s sponsor since November 1, 2019. Pacific Oak Holding is the sole owner of Pacific Oak Capital Advisors, LLC, our advisor and POSOR II’s advisor since November 1, 2019. Messrs. Hall and McMillan are also two of our executive officers and directors and two of POSOR II’s executive officers and directors. Pacific Oak Capital Advisors earns fees from our advisory agreement with them and from POSOR II’s advisory agreement with them. The Merger may make it more likely that Pacific Oak Capital Advisors will continue to earn fees under the advisory agreement with respect to our and POSOR II’s assets, as compared to other strategic alternatives for us or POSOR II (such as a sale of POSOR II’s assets to a third party for cash).
In certain circumstances, either of POSOR II or we may terminate the Merger Agreement.
POSOR II or we may terminate the Merger Agreement if the Merger has not been consummated by the Outside Date. Also, the Merger Agreement may be terminated if a final and non-appealable order is entered prohibiting or disapproving the transaction, upon a material uncured breach by the other party that would cause the closing conditions not to be satisfied, or upon the failure to obtain receipt of approvals of the POSOR II stockholders. In addition, POSOR II has the right to terminate the Merger Agreement at any time prior to obtaining the necessary approvals of the POSOR II stockholders in order to enter into an Alternative Acquisition Agreement with respect to a Superior Proposal (as such terms are defined under the Merger Agreement). Finally, we have the right to terminate the Merger Agreement at any time prior to obtaining the approvals of the POSOR II stockholders, upon an Adverse Recommendation Change.
POSOR II and we each expect to incur substantial expenses related to the Merger.
POSOR II and we each expect to incur substantial expenses in connection with completing the Merger and integrating the properties and operations of POSOR II that we are acquiring with those of ours. While POSOR II and we each have assumed that a certain level of transaction expenses would be incurred, there are a number of factors beyond the control of each company that could affect the total amount or the timing of such expenses. Many of the expenses that will be incurred, by their nature, are difficult to estimate accurately at the present time. As a result, the transaction expenses associated with the Merger could, particularly in the near term, exceed the savings that we expect to achieve from the elimination of duplicative expenses and the realization of economies of scale and cost savings following the completion of the Merger.
The ownership positions of our and POSOR II stockholders will be diluted by the Merger.
The Merger will dilute the ownership position of our stockholders and result in POSOR II stockholders having an ownership stake in the combined company (“Combined Company”) that is smaller than their current stake in POSOR II. Upon completion of the Merger, based on the number of shares of our common stock and POSOR II common stock outstanding on March 23, 2020, our stockholders will own approximately 69.4% of the issued and outstanding shares of Combined Company common stock, and former POSOR II stockholders will own approximately 30.6% of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of the Combined Company. Consequently, our stockholders and POSOR II stockholders, as a general matter, will have less influence over the management and policies of the Combined Company following the Merger than each currently exercise over the management and policies of us and POSOR II, as applicable.
Litigation challenging the Merger may increase transaction costs and prevent the Merger from becoming effective or from becoming effective within the expected timeframe.
If any stockholder files a lawsuit challenging the Merger, POSOR II and we can provide no assurances as to the outcome of any such lawsuit, including the costs associated with defending these claims or any other liabilities that may be incurred in connection with the litigation or settlement of these claims. If plaintiffs are successful in obtaining an injunction prohibiting the parties from completing the Merger on the agreed-upon terms, such an injunction may prevent the completion of the Merger in the expected time frame, or may prevent it from being completed altogether. Whether or not any such plaintiffs’ claims are successful, this type of litigation is often expensive and diverts management’s attention and resources, which could adversely affect the operations of each company’s business.
Risks Related to the Combined Company Following the Merger
The Combined Company will have substantial indebtedness upon completion of the Merger.
In connection with the Merger, the Combined Company will assume and/or refinance certain indebtedness of ours and will be subject to risks associated with debt financing. As of December 31, 2019, POSOR II had $329.6 million of outstanding variable interest debt. After giving effect to the Merger, the Combined Company’s total pro forma consolidated indebtedness will increase. Taking into account our existing indebtedness, transaction expenses, and the assumption and/or refinancing of indebtedness in the Merger, the Combined Company’s pro forma consolidated indebtedness as of December 31, 2019, after giving effect to the Merger, would be approximately $1.0 billion. The indebtedness of the Combined Company will be comprised of $715.0 million of variable interest loans and $292.7 million of fixed interest loans.
The Combined Company’s indebtedness could have important consequences to holders of its common stock, including POSOR II stockholders who receive POSOR common stock in the Merger, including:
•vulnerability of the Combined Company to general adverse economic and industry conditions;
•limiting the Combined Company’s ability to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate requirements;
•requiring the use of a substantial portion of the Combined Company’s cash flow from operations for the payment of principal and interest on its indebtedness, thereby reducing its ability to use its cash flow to fund working capital, acquisitions, capital expenditures and general corporate requirements;
•limiting the Combined Company’s flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in its business and its industry; and
•putting the Combined Company at a disadvantage compared to its competitors with less indebtedness;
If the Combined Company defaults under a mortgage loan, it would automatically be in default under any other loan that has cross-default provisions, and it may lose the properties securing these loans.
Following the consummation of the Merger, the Combined Company may assume certain potential and unknown liabilities relating to POSOR II.
Following the consummation of the Merger, the Combined Company will have assumed certain potential and unknown liabilities relating to POSOR II. These liabilities could be significant and have a material adverse effect on the Combined Company’s business to the extent the Combined Company has not identified such liabilities or has underestimated the amount of such liabilities.
The Combined Company may incur adverse tax consequences if prior to the Merger, POSOR II, or SOR failed to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Each of POSOR II and we have operated in a manner that it believes has allowed it to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes under the Code and intends to continue to do so through the time of the Merger, and the Combined Company intends to continue operating in such a manner following the Merger. None of POSOR II or we have requested or plans to request a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, that it qualifies as a REIT. Qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex Code provisions for which there are only limited judicial and administrative interpretations. The complexity of these provisions and of the applicable Treasury Regulations is greater in the case of a REIT, like each of POSOR II and us, that holds its assets through a partnership. The determination of various factual matters and circumstances not entirely within the control of POSOR II or us may affect its ability to qualify as a REIT. In order to qualify as a REIT, each of POSOR II and we must satisfy a number of requirements, including requirements regarding the ownership of its stock and the composition of its gross income and assets. Also, a REIT must make distributions to stockholders aggregating annually at least 90% of its REIT taxable income, excluding any net capital gains.
If POSOR II or our company (or, following the Merger, the Combined Company) loses its REIT status, or is determined to have lost its REIT status in a prior year, it will face serious tax consequences that would substantially reduce its cash available for distribution, including cash available to pay dividends to its stockholders, because:
•it would be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on its net income for the years it did not qualify for taxation as a REIT (and, for such years, would not be allowed a deduction for dividends paid to stockholders in computing its taxable income);
•it could be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax for taxable years prior to January 1, 2018 and possibly increased state and local taxes for such periods;
•unless it is entitled to relief under applicable statutory provisions, neither it nor any “successor” company could elect to be taxed as a REIT until the fifth taxable year following the year during which it was disqualified; and
•for five years following re-election of REIT status, upon a taxable disposition of an asset owned as of such re-election, it could be subject to corporate level tax with respect to any built-in gain inherent in such asset at the time of re-election.
Following the Merger, the Combined Company will inherit any liability with respect to unpaid taxes of POSOR II for any periods prior to the Merger. In addition, as described above, if POSOR II failed to qualify as a REIT as of the Merger but the Combined Company nevertheless qualified as a REIT, in the event of a taxable disposition of a former POSOR II asset during the five years following the Merger the Combined Company would be subject to corporate tax with respect to any built-in gain inherent in such asset as of the Merger.
As a result of all these factors, any of POSOR II, we, or the Combined Company’s failure to qualify as a REIT could impair the Combined Company’s ability to expand its business and have other material adverse effects on the Combined Company. In addition, for years in which the Combined Company does not qualify as a REIT, it would not otherwise be required to make distributions to stockholders.
In certain circumstances, even if the Combined Company qualifies as a REIT, it and its subsidiaries may be subject to certain U.S. federal, state, and other taxes, which would reduce the Combined Company’s cash available for distribution to its stockholders.
Even if the Combined Company has qualified and continues to qualify as a REIT, it may be subject to some U.S. federal, state and local taxes on its income or property and, in certain cases, a 100% penalty tax, in the event it sells property as a dealer. Any U.S. federal, state or other taxes the Combined Company pays will reduce its cash available for distribution to stockholders.
If the Merger does not qualify as a tax-free reorganization, there may be adverse tax consequences.
The Merger is intended to qualify as a tax-free reorganization within the meaning of Section 368(a) of the Code. The closing of the Merger is conditioned on the receipt by each of POSOR II and us of an opinion of our counsel to the effect that the Merger will qualify as a tax-free reorganization within the meaning of Section 368(a) of the Code. However, these legal opinions will not be binding on the IRS or on the courts. If, for any reason, the Merger were to fail to qualify as a tax-free reorganization, then each POSOR II stockholder generally would recognize gain or loss, as applicable, equal to the difference between (i) the merger consideration (i.e. the fair market value of the shares of our common stock) received by the POSOR II stockholder in the Merger; and (ii) the POSOR II stockholder’s adjusted tax basis in its POSOR II common stock.
The Combined Company may have difficulty providing liquidity to stockholders through its share redemption program and/or tender offers.
The Merger is not a liquidity event for our stockholders or those of POSOR II. Both we and POSOR II have had recent difficulty in satisfying redemption requests under our respective share redemption programs. Other than special redemption requests submitted in connection with a stockholder’s death, “qualifying disability” or “determination of incompetence,” for the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2019, we had unfulfilled requests to redeem 3,294,070, 3,782,675, 4,595,566 and 5,813,699 shares, respectively, or 94.2%, 94.9%, 95.7% and 96.8%, respectively, of the shares submitted for redemption, due to funding limitations. We currently have $0.8 million available for redemptions in 2020, all of which is reserved exclusively for special redemptions. With respect to POSOR II, in January 2019, it exhausted funds available for redemptions under its share redemption program, other than special redemptions. As a result, in 2019, it redeemed a total of 277,452 shares in connection with ordinary redemption requests. In January 2020, it again exhausted funds available for redemptions other than special redemptions. It currently has outstanding and unfulfilled ordinary redemption requests representing 808,172 shares.
We cannot predict the demand for liquidity by stockholders of the Combined Company following the Merger, but if it simply remains at 2019 and 2020 levels, the Combined Company will need to provide additional funding compared to prior years in order to meet demand. We may not have sufficient funding to satisfy the demand for liquidity. Our primary source for funding is currently expected to be a portion of the net proceeds from new ongoing public offerings as an NAV REIT and potential Israeli offerings, but we cannot guarantee that the net proceeds raised will be sufficient to satisfy the demand for liquidity and our other capital needs, such as capital expenditures and funds for new investments. If future redemption requests exceed the amount of funding available under the Combined Company’s share redemption program and any additional funding made available under one or more self-tender offers, the number of rejected redemption or repurchase requests will increase over time.