Both funds were focused on acquiring institutional quality, net leased office, industrial and retail properties. Pruett says ECM has owned the majority of the assets for four to five years. The bulk of the properties slated for acquisition are industrial, followed closely by office and just a handful of retail. They are scattered across the nation.

The substantial majority of the office and industrial properties under contract are corporate or regional headquarters and significant regional or critical hub distribution facilities. “Some of the tenants are DuPont, Deutsche Telecom and Boeing,” Pruett adds.

Pruett contends investor interest in the net lease sector is increasing, as evidenced by compressed cap rates. He points out that total returns for the broader net lease sector, as measured by select broad based public net lease REITs, have outpaced total returns for the MSCI REIT Index, as well as select broad based public office and industrial REITs, by as much as 200% over one, two three, five and 10-year periods ending in 2010.

The ECM deals will close over the next three months, Pruett says. Assets with debt will have those loans paid off in most cases, although the buyers also are in the process of assuming some CMBS debt, he adds.

At the same time it is disposing of assets, ECM is acquiring properties. Pruett says the company has $250 million to $300 million worth of buys in the pipeline. “We’re going to continue to move forward and do what we always do,” he explains. “And, we’re still going down the IPO path.”