Dealmaker: American Finance Trust Acquires $1.3B Retail Portfolio

American Finance Trust, New York, agreed to acquire a portfolio of 81 multi-tenant retail centers from CIM Real Estate Finance Trust, Phoenix, for $1.3 billion.

The transactions represented a 7.19 percent cash capitalization rate.

American Finance Trust will fund the acquisition through cash, borrowings under the company’s credit facility, property-level debt and $53 million of equity issuance to the sellers.

In connection with the transaction, American Finance Trust will rebrand itself The Necessity Retail REIT and trade under the new ticker “RTL.”

In a separate transaction, American Finance Trust sold its non-core portfolio of three office buildings leased to Sanofi S.A. for $261 million, representing a 6.38 percent cash capitalization rate. The sale reduced the company’s exposure to office assets from 7 percent to 1 percent.

Michael Weil, CEO of American Finance Trust, called the Sanofi office asset sale an integral step toward transforming the firm into a REIT focused on necessity retail.