Global Net Lease and The Necessity Retail REIT, two publicly traded net lease REITs, have announced a merger to create a new entity with approximately $10 billion in real estate assets. The merged company will become the third-largest publicly traded net lease REIT in the United States. Specializing in sale-leaseback transactions with single tenants, the new entity will operate under the name Global Net Lease. The merger will involve GNL acquiring Necessity Retail through an all-stock deal, leading to the internalization of management functions. This move is expected to result in annual cash savings of around $54 million for the new company. The merger is set to be completed in the third quarter.
