The board of directors of InvenTrust Properties Corp has started looking at liquidity alternatives. The company will evaluate a possible listing on a national securities exchange as they continue with this process. InvenTrust Properties, formerly known as Inland American Real Estate Trust, is a publicly-listed non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT).
One of the biggest problems with non-traded REITs is a lack of liquidity. Haselkorn & Thibaut, a national investment fraud law firm, is currently representing investors that bought non-traded REITs and have set up a toll-free line at 1-800-856-3352 for investors to call to recover losses.
InvenTrust REIT Covid Problems
InvenTrust claims that the COVID-19 pandemic and related indecisions have coerced it to postpone its planned process of exploring and working on a feasible liquidity alternative. However, the company said the process is back on track after evaluating recent developments in business and market conditions.
InvenTrust has undertaken several corporate initiatives for preparing a liquidity alternative. Consequently, the board of directors approved a 5% increase in the company’s dividend rate, starting with the fourth quarter 2021 distribution to be paid in January 2022. This is the company’s second dividend rate hike of the year.
Stock Split
The board also approved a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of each issued and outstanding share, which is expected to be effective on August 5. As a result, shareholders received one share of post-split common stock for every 10 shares they held before the split. The fractional parts will be rounded up to whole numbers. InvenTrust reiterated that there won’t be any change to its business following the reverse stock split.
Post-split, investors will receive $0.205 per share in new dividends for the third quarter. Annually, stockholders will get $0.821 per share. The net asset value per share of the company was $2.89 as of December 1, 2020.
In the wake of exploring liquidity alternatives, InvenTrust has deferred its scheduled share repurchase program on September 5, 2021. Furthermore, the planned September 27, 2021 redemption date has been suspended, and all outstanding share repurchase requests currently will be made void.
Change of Management
Thomas McGuinness, the InvenTrust CEO, will retire from the company, and the board has already put in place a succession plan for the REIT’s executive team, according to a February’s The DI Wire report. Daniel (DJ) Busch will succeed McGuinness as CEO.
Busch served as executive VP, CFO, and treasurer of InvenTrust since 2019. He has held the president position of the company since February 2021. Mike Phillips was appointed CFO and treasurer in February 2021. Previously, Phillips worked as senior VP and chief accounting officer.
“Prior to joining the company in 2019, InvenTrust made tremendous progress to position the company’s premier Sunbelt, grocery-anchored portfolio and capital structure for a potential liquidity event. Our portfolio and strategy have been validated by the performance exhibited during COVID-19 and is well-positioned for the future,” commented Busch. “Our ability to increase our dividend a second time this year is a testament to the portfolio’s cash flow durability and our low-leverage model. Over the coming months, the InvenTrust team will continue to focus on executing on our strategy and providing value to our stockholders.”
InvenTrust Properties is a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests in grocery-anchored shopping centers located in the Sun Belt region of the US. The company was founded in 2005 and now owns 65 retail properties representing 10.8 million square feet of retail space.
