Broadstone Net Lease Looking to ‘Build on 2018’s Momentum’

ROCHESTER, NY—Broadstone Net Lease, Inc. reports that last year it acquired a total of 113 free-standing single-tenant, net leased commercial properties nationwide. The net-lease properties were acquired in 26 transactions for approximately $606.8 million.

In the fourth quarter, the Rochester, NY-based private REIT managed by Broadstone Real Estate, LLC, purchased 43 properties for approximately $241.5 million.

The REIT disposed of 20 properties in 2018, realizing approximately $57.3 million in gross proceeds. Based on its capital markets activity in 2018, as of Dec. 31, 2018 Broadstone Net Lease owned 621 retail, healthcare, industrial, office, and other properties in 42 states, with a total market value of approximately $3.5 billion.

Chris Czarnecki, BNL’s CEO, says of the firm’s 2018 performance, “Our continued access to capital through strong relationships with both our stockholders and debt financing partners allowed us to further build our portfolio of high quality, diversified, commercial, net leased assets while selectively disposing of non-core assets to reap and reinvest gains. As a result, we were able to provide a strong 13.1% total return to our stockholders for the year, assuming dividend reinvestment. We continue to identify and pursue attractive, accretive acquisition targets, and anticipate 2019 will build upon 2018’s momentum.”

BNL’s 2018 acquisitions were funded through a combination of cash from operations and proceeds from capital markets activities. The REIT raised approximately $283.7 million in new equity investments in 2018, including $81.5 million during the fourth quarter, through a combination of new and additional cash investments as well as reinvestments through the company’s distribution reinvestment plan and property contributed in exchange for membership units in BNL’s operating company, Broadstone Net Lease, LLC, through UPREIT transactions. At year-end 2018, the REIT had more than 3,100 stockholders.

Equity investment activity was supplemented by the issuance of a July 2018 debt private placement of $325 million of unsecured, fixed-rate, interest-only senior notes guaranteed by BNL.