Item 1. Business
OVERVIEW
Until January 1, 2020, our predecessor,
Spirit MTA REIT, or SMTA, operated as an externally managed REIT that owned and managed a portfolio of single-tenant, operationally essential real estate throughout the United States that was generally leased on a long-term, triple-net basis to tenants operating within retail, office, and industrial property types. SMTA began operations through predecessor legal entities which were wholly-owned subsidiaries of Spirit Realty Capital
Inc., or Spirit.
LIQUIDATION OF SMTA
On
July 11, 2019, the board of trustees of SMTA adopted a plan of voluntary dissolution, or the Plan of Liquidation, which was subsequently approved by the shareholders of SMTA on September 4, 2019. The Plan of Liquidation provided for an
orderly sale of SMTAs remaining assets, payment of its liabilities and other obligations, and the winding up of its operations and its dissolution.
In accordance with the Plan of Liquidation, as of 12:01 A.M. Eastern Time on January 1, 2020, or the Effective Time, SMTA entered into a Liquidating
Trust Agreement, or the Trust Agreement, for the creation and operation of a newly-created trust called SMTA Liquidating Trust, a Maryland common law trust, or the Liquidating Trust and transferred to the Liquidating Trust the remaining 11
properties and other assets then owned by SMTA (subject to all of SMTAs liabilities). Pursuant to the Trust Agreement, as of the Effective Time, Steven G. Panagos, Steven H. Shepsman, Richard J. Stockton and Thomas J. Sullivan, the four
members of the board of trustees of SMTA, were appointed as the trustees of the Liquidating Trust, or the Liquidating Trustees. Also, as of the Effective Time, all of the units of beneficial interests of the Liquidating Trust, or the Trust Units,
were distributed to SMTAs shareholders, with each shareholder receiving one Trust Unit for each common share of SMTA then held of record by such shareholder.
As of the Effective Time, SMTA was dissolved and terminated and all of the outstanding common shares of SMTA were cancelled and are no longer outstanding.
Accordingly, on January 3, 2020, Form 15 was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, to terminate the registration of the common shares of SMTA under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act.
The Liquidating Trusts activities are restricted to winding up the affairs of SMTA as promptly as reasonably possible. Under the terms of the Trust
Agreement, the Liquidating Trust will not acquire any new properties, and is focused on liquidating the remaining assets. The Liquidating Trust will terminate upon the earlier of the distribution of all of the Liquidating Trusts assets in
accordance with the terms of the Trust Agreement, or the expiration of a period of three years from the effective date of the Liquidating Trust (or January 1, 2023). The existence of the Liquidating Trust may, however, be extended for
fixed-term extensions under certain circumstances at the Liquidating Trustees reasonable discretion pursuant to the terms of the Trust Agreement. The aggregate of all such extensions may not exceed three years unless the Liquidating Trustees
receive a favorable ruling from the Internal Revenue Service that any further extension would not adversely affect its status as a liquidating trust within the meaning of Treasury Regulations
Section 301.7701-4(d) for federal income tax purposes. This description of the Trust Agreement is qualified in its entirety by the text of the Trust Agreement, which has been incorporated by reference as
an exhibit to this Annual Report.
THE MANAGER
In
connection with the closing of the Master Trust 2014 Sale, the Asset Management Agreement between SMTA and Spirit Realty AM Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Spirit Realty Capital, Inc. (or the Initial Manager) was terminated and replaced by
an Interim Management Agreement under which the Initial Manager agreed to provide external management services for an initial annual term beginning September 20, 2019 for $1 million, plus certain cost reimbursements. The Interim Management
Agreement was assigned by SMTA to the Liquidating Trust by operation of law at the Effective Time.
On March 18, 2020, the Initial Manager notified
the Liquidating Trust of its intent to terminate the Interim Management Agreement with the Liquidating Trust effective September 14, 2020. After receipt of the termination notice from the Initial Manager, the Liquidating Trust began a search
process for a replacement manager. On April 16, 2020, the Liquidating Trust entered into an engagement agreement (or the Engagement Agreement) with Walker, Truesdell, Roth & Associates, Inc. (or WTR or the Manager), pursuant to which
WTR agreed to serve as manager of the Liquidating Trust under the direction and supervision of the Liquidating Trustees. WTR served as manager alongside the Initial Manager for a transition period until September 4, 2020, when the Interim
Management Agreement was formally terminated, which resulted in the resignation of the Initial Manager. The Engagement
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