Rufrano: “Great Progress Made Reestablishing Cole Capital”

Vereit (NYSE: VER), the publicly-traded real estate investment trust formerly known as American Realty Capital Properties Inc., hosted its year-end earning’s call this week, where executives answered questions about the progress being made to reestablish the “brand value” of Cole Capital, the non-traded REIT sponsor that has struggled since the ARCP accounting scandal shook the company in October 2014.

During the fourth quarter, Cole raised $116 million of new investor capital and continued to rebuild market share. According to investment bank Robert A. Stanger & Co., Cole ranked seventh for REIT capital raised in January 2016.

Equity raised for the fourth quarter was $150.2 million including $33.8 million from DRIP resulting in a 75 percent increase in new capital from the prior quarter. During the same period the non-listed REIT industry was up only 24 percent.

Glenn Rufrano, the chief executive officer of Vereit Inc., said, “This solid and steady progress is the result of reestablishing the excellent Cole brand following the 2014 turmoil.”

He indicated the “reemergence” and increase in capital raise is due to a number of factors, including the continued reinstatement of selling agreements, gaining new selling agreements, and cultivating new producers.

Rufrano also pointed to business cycle maturity, with Cole Corporate Income Trust II slated to close later this year, as well as the increased demand for Cole Real Estate Income Strategy (Daily NAV) in a changing regulatory environment. Cole Real Estate Income Strategy is a non-traded daily NAV real estate investment trust sponsored by the company.

Third, he cited the “Stability provided to Cole from Vereit’s execution of its business plan.”

Rufrano explained, “We have a five-year plan and a new budget…if we hit those numbers, we should be in good shape for next year. Obviously, if something happens that you don’t hit your cash flow or your revenue, then things could change.”