While COVID-19 has had a negative impact on many businesses globally, the chief executive officer of New York City-based Global Net Lease said his company—which owns 288 properties in the United States, Canada and in Europe—is thriving.
"We are operating well and have been functioning well during COVID-19," CEO James Nelson tells GlobeSt.com. "Our teams are working from home and managing the company. They are doing this and refinancing and acquiring properties. It's business as usual, despite COVID-19."
Among its latest achievements: it closed on a multi-property refinancing for $76.4 million of seven properties throughout France. The company entered into a loan agreement with HSBC France. The maturity date of the loan is May 14, 2025.
"We started 18 months ago to refinance all of our properties in Europe," Nelson said. "We completed the United Kingdom financing and German financing and Finnish financing and France was the last one."
The largest of the French companies, Sagemcom, is located on the outskirts of Paris, Nelson said. The company specializes in technology.
"This gives us a stable base of financing," Nelson said. "What we did is really invisible to our tenants, but what it shows is that we are able to execute on financing with our banks at very attractive rates which benefits our shareholders in the long run. We have tens of thousands of investors, including retail investors and institutional investors."
Despite the global pandemic, Nelson said, "We are very pleased to report that, as of April 30, we collected on 98% of the rents payable during the month."
When looking at purchasing properties today, Nelson said that—because of COVID-19—"you might go back to 2008 and see how they performed during that financial crisis It wasn't just an American recession, it was a global recession."
Nelson said the company's portfolio is comprised of "high-quality tenants with long-term leases."
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Robert Storace
Robert Storace covers legal trends, lawsuits and analysis for the Connecticut Law Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @RobertSCTLaw or reach him at 203-437-5950.
