Equity Commonwealth

Greetings. Welcome to the Equity Commonwealth Second Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star 0 on your telephone keypad. Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Sarah Burns. You may begin.

Thank you, Alex. Good morning, and thanks for joining us to discuss Equity Commonwealth's results for the quarter ending June 30th, 2021, and an update on the merger between Equity Commonwealth and Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation. On the call today are David Helfand, President and CEO, David Weinberg, COO, and Bill Griffith, CFO. Please be advised that certain matters discussed during this conference call including relating to the pending merger, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. We refer you to the section titled Forward-Looking Statements in the press release issued yesterday, as well as the section titled Risk Factors in our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for subsequent quarters for a discussion of factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from any forward-looking statement. The company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements made today. We have made important filings with the FCC in connection with the pending merger. Today's call is not intended to be and is not a substitute for those filings. We urge you to read those materials carefully before making any voting or investment decisions. We also post important information on our website at www.eqcre.com, including information that may be material. The portion of today's remarks on our quarterly earnings also includes certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to yesterday's press release and supplemental containing our results for reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to our GAAP financial results. With that, I will turn the call over to David Helfand.

Thanks, Sarah. Good morning. We appreciate you joining us. I'll begin with an update on today on the company's current activities as we prepare to complete the merger with Monmouth. Since we announced the deal with Monmouth in May, we've been focused on the successful completion of the transaction and integration of the Monmouth assets and team. As we spent more time with the Monmouth team and toured more of the real estate, our conviction and excitement for the deal has grown. We continue to view the merger as a compelling opportunity for both Equity Commonwealth and Monmouth shareholders to participate in the opportunity to build a leading business in the industrial sector. We believe the tailwinds propelling the business will continue with strong demand driven by e-commerce expansion, as well as reshoring by U.S. manufacturers and retailers, increasing inventory levels to mitigate supply chain challenges. Combination of Monmouth's portfolio of high-quality assets with cash flows from creditworthy customers, coupled with approximately $5 billion of balance sheet capacity, provides the combined entity with the ability to grow without the need to raise equity. As the market for industrial product remains highly competitive, cap rates continue to compress, we're looking at a broad range of opportunities including M&A, large portfolios, and working closely with merchant builders to source investment opportunities. Our investment philosophy is less focused on targeting specific markets and instead is guided by identifying opportunities to achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns. With respect to the shareholder meeting to vote on the transaction, this morning we filed an amendment to the proxy, changing the date of the shareholder meeting to August 24th to comply with notice requirements. As we approach the vote, we look forward to engaging with investors on this transformational opportunity. With that, I'll turn the call over to David.