VEREIT

VEREIT, Inc. (NYSE: VER), formerly known as American Realty Capital Properties Inc. or ARCP, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, is a commercial property real estate investment trust. The company owns, acquires, manages, leases, and finances a diversified portfolio of retail, restaurant, office, and industrial real estate assets. VEREIT serves customers in the United States. It is a publicly traded Maryland corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

VEREIT, Inc.
FormerlyAmerican Realty Capital Properties Inc., or ARCP
NYSE: VER
ISINUS92339V1008[1]
IndustryFinancial
GenreREIT
Founded2010 (2010) in Maryland, the United States
FounderNicholas Schorsch
Headquarters
Phoenix, Arizona
,
United States
Key people
Glenn Rufrano (CEO)[2]
Total equity$8.8 billion (2019)
Number of employees
350[3] (2017)
Websitevereit.com

Operations

VEREIT, Inc., headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, formerly known as American Realty Capital Properties Inc. or ARCP, is a commercial property real estate investment trust.[4][5][6] The company owns, acquires, manages, leases, and finances a diversified portfolio of retail, restaurant, office, and industrial real estate assets.[4][5] VEREIT serves customers in the United States.[4] It is a publicly traded Maryland corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange.[7]

In July 2019, VEREIT had 4,000 properties in its portfolio, consisting of 94,700,000 square feet (8,800,000 m2).[5] It had an equity value of $8.8 billion, with properties in 49 of the 50 US states.[5][8]

History

VEREIT was founded in 2010 by Nicholas Schorsch.[4][3][9]

In October 2013, the company agreed to purchase Cole Real Estate Investments Inc for $7.2 billion to create the largest US net-leased REIT, and the 14th-largest US publicly traded REIT.[8]

In October 2014, the company admitted to an accounting error of $23 million, leading to significant sales of the company's stock and a drop in its value by $3 billion.[6] The company fired Chief Financial Officer Brian Block after an audit committee investigation, and said that financial information in its 2013 10-K and Q1 and Q2 2014 quarterly reports "should no longer be relied upon."[9][10] Lawsuits followed, with investors claiming ARCP had misstated financials in order to inflate financial results.[6] In December Schorsch resigned as Chairman.[11]

Class action

In September 2019, VEREIT entered into agreements to settle pending class action litigation against it regarding among other things alleged violations of Section 11 of the 1933 Act (In re American Realty Capital Properties, Inc. Litigation and the remaining opt-out actions), at a cost to VEREIT of $765.5 million.[12][13] Certain defendants agreed to pay $1.025 billion, consisting of $738.5 million from the company, $225 million from the company's former external manager and its principals (American Realty Capital, led by Nicholas Schorsch), $12.5 million from the company's former CFO Brian Block who had been found guilty of securities fraud in 2017 and sentenced to 18 months in prison, and $49 million from the company's former auditor Grant Thornton.[13][6][14]

References
  1. "VER Stock | VEREIT Stock Price Today | Markets Insider". Business Insider.
  2. "Leadership in Real Estate and Financial Services | VEREIT". www.vereit.com.
  3. "#23 Vereit," Forbes.
  4. "VEREIT Inc," Bloomberg.
  5. "Vereit: $10 Is Finally In Sight". Seeking Alpha. July 12, 2019.
  6. Kelly, Bruce (September 9, 2019). "Nicholas Schorsch's former flagship REIT settles with investors for $1 billion". Investment News.
  7. "VEREIT Enters Into Agreements to Settle Pending Litigations," 21 WFMJ, September 9, 2019.
  8. Ilaina Jonas and Mridhula Raghavan (October 23, 2013). "American Realty clinches Cole Real Estate deal for $7 billion," Reuters.
  9. Erin Carlyle (October 29, 2014). "Schorsch's American Realty Capital Properties Fires CFO Over Inflated Earnings," Forbes.
  10. Wursthorn, Michael (November 5, 2014). "Schorsch Brokerage Tells Advisers Not to Recommend Own Company Stock". The Wall Street Journal.
  11. Bruce Kelly (January 28, 2015). "Grant Thornton resigns as auditor for eight Schorsch-linked nontraded REITs," Investment News.
  12. "In re American Realty Capital Properties, Inc. Litigation; Third Class Action Complaint for Violations of the Federal Securities Laws," United States District Court Southern District of New York, September 30, 2013.
  13. "VEREIT® Enters Into Agreements to Settle Pending Litigations". Yahoo. September 9, 2019.
  14. Heller, Matthew (November 9, 2017). "Ex-American Realty CFO Gets 18 Months in Jail". CFO.
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