On July 29, 2022, Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (the “Company”) filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, replacing the Company’s prior shelf registration statement that was nearing the end of its three year life. Through the shelf registration, the Company and its subsidiaries may issue debt and equity securities, although no specific transaction is currently contemplated. However, in order to maintain the ability to issue equity through an at-the-market program as the Company believes to be appropriate, on July 29, 2022 the Company and its operating partnership, Piedmont Operating Partnership, LP, entered into an Equity Distribution Agreement (the “Equity Distribution Agreement”) with J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, BofA Securities, Inc., Scotia Capital (USA) Inc., TD Securities (USA) LLC, Truist Securities, Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, as managers (collectively, the “Managers”), JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Bank of America, N.A., The Bank of Nova Scotia, The Toronto-Dominion Bank, Truist Bank and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as forward purchasers (collectively, the “Forward Purchasers”), and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, BofA Securities, Inc., Scotia Capital (USA), Inc., TD Securities (USA) LLC, Truist Securities, Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, as forward sellers (collectively, the “Forward Sellers”), pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell, from time to time, through the Managers, as the Company’s agents, or to the Managers for resale, shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, having an aggregate gross sales price of up to $250 million. The Company also entered into separate Master Forward Confirmations on July 29, 2022 (each, a “Master Forward Confirmation” and collectively, the “Master Forward Confirmations”) with each of the Forward Purchasers.
The shares of common stock to be sold pursuant to the Equity Distribution Agreement will be issued pursuant to a prospectus dated July 29, 2022, and a prospectus supplement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 29, 2022, in connection with one or more offerings of shares from the Company’s effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (Registration No. 333-266389). Sales of shares of the Company’s common stock through the Managers, if any, will be made in amounts and at times to be determined by the Company from time to time, but the Company has no obligation to sell any of the shares in the offering and may suspend sales in connection with the offering at any time. Actual sales will depend on a variety of factors to be determined by the Company from time to time, including (among others) market conditions, the trading price of the Company’s common shares and determinations by the Company of the appropriate sources of funding for the Company. Any sales of shares of the Company’s common stock through the Managers will be made by means of ordinary brokers’ transactions on the New York Stock Exchange or otherwise at market prices prevailing at the time of sale, in block transactions, or as otherwise agreed upon by us and the Managers.
The Equity Distribution Agreement provides that, in addition to the issuance and sale of shares by the Company through the Managers, the Company may also enter into one or more forward sale agreements under any of the Master Forward Confirmations. In connection with any forward sale agreement, the relevant Forward Purchaser or its affiliate will, at the Company’s request, borrow from third parties and, through its affiliated Forward Seller, sell a number of shares equal to the number of shares underlying such forward sale agreement. In no event will the aggregate number of shares sold through the Managers under the Sales Agreements or pursuant to the forward sale agreements and under the Master Forward Confirmations have an aggregate sales price in excess of $250 million.
The Company will not initially receive any proceeds from the sale of borrowed shares by a Forward Seller. The Company expects to fully physically settle each particular forward sale agreement (by delivering shares) with the relevant Forward Purchaser on one or more dates specified by the Company on or prior to the maturity date of that particular forward sale agreement, in which case the Company will expect to receive aggregate net cash proceeds at settlement equal to the number of shares underlying the particular forward sale agreement multiplied by the relevant forward sale price. However, subject to certain conditions, the Company may also elect to cash settle or net share settle a particular forward sale agreement, in which case the Company may not receive any proceeds (in the case of cash settlement) or will not receive any proceeds (in the case of net share settlement), and the Company may owe cash (in the case of cash settlement) or shares (in the case of net share settlement) to the relevant Forward Purchaser.
This Current Report on Form 8-K shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.
The Equity Distribution Agreement and the form of Master Forward Confirmation are filed as Exhibit 1.1 and 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K, respectively, and are incorporated herein by reference. The foregoing description of the Equity Distribution Agreement, the Master Forward Confirmations and the transactions contemplated thereby is qualified in its entirety by reference to Exhibits 1.1 and 99.1.
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