AR Global Rebuffed by Federal Judge in Fight Against Blackwells Capital
Blackwells Capital LLC, was vindicated last week by a New York federal judge who rejected The Necessity Retail REIT Inc. (NASDAQ: RTL) and Global Net Lease Inc. (NYSE: GNL), two formerly non-traded REITs externally managed by AR Global (the successor company to American Realty Capital), claims that a joint venture conspiracy to make them adopt a new investment advisor is unsupported.
As The DI Wire previously reported, Blackwells filed a lawsuit against AR Global in December 2022 which was followed by a countersuit. In October 2022, Blackwells originally charged AR Global with “corporate piracy of the highest order” in regards to their management of the formerly non-traded REITs after GNL rejected “a purported notice” from the stockholder that stated its intention to nominate two individuals to the company’s board of directors and to have six proposals considered at the company’s 2023 annual meeting of stockholders. Blackwells most recently launched a website, StopARGlobal.com, which details they claims of mismanagement by AR Global.
U.S. District Judge James P. Oetken refused to order Jason Aintabi’s Blackwells not to make “false statements” claiming that the joint venture between the two companies doesn’t exist. Judge Oetken also denied to prohibit the company from “publishing soliciting materials or soliciting any proxies.”
The district judge also rejected GNL and RTL’s claim that a May 2022 investment agreement between Blackwells and Related Fund Management was a material admission that infringed SEC rules.
Blackwells Capital was founded in 2016 by Jason Aintabi and invests in public securities, ranging property development and management to REITs and adjacent real estate activities, including financing, origination, and managing real estate backed securities, including direct mezzanine and equity investments.
As of Dec. 31, 2022, Global Net Lease Inc. owned 309 properties consisting of 39.2 million rentable square feet, which were 98.0% leased, with a weighted-average remaining lease term of 8.1 years.
As of Dec. 31, 2022, Necessity Retail REIT Inc. owned 1,044 properties, comprised of 27.9 million rentable square feet, which were 93.7% leased, including 935 single-tenant net leased commercial properties, 897 of which are retail properties, and 109 multi-tenant retail properties.
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