Realty Income Corporation
Acquisitions
3
Major Deals Covered
$9.3B
Disclosed Deal Value
Realty Income's largest disclosed acquisition here is Spirit Realty Capital for $9.3B in 2024. This page covers 3 major deals from 2013 to 2024, each with its price where disclosed and the reason behind it.
| Company | Year | Price | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Realty Capital Trust | 2013 | Undisclosed | Realty Income acquired American Realty Capital Trust in 2013. |
| VEREIT | 2021 | Undisclosed | To expand Realty Income's net lease property base, tenant diversification, and public-market scale through an all-stock merger. |
| Spirit Realty Capital | 2024 | $9.3B | To add a large diversified net lease portfolio and increase scale through an all-stock acquisition that closed in January 2024. |
2024
$9.3B
To add a large diversified net lease portfolio and increase scale through an all-stock acquisition that closed in January 2024.
The Spirit acquisition increased portfolio size, tenant diversification, and acquisition capacity across retail, industrial, and other net lease categories.
2021
To expand Realty Income's net lease property base, tenant diversification, and public-market scale through an all-stock merger.
The all-stock merger closed in November 2021 and materially increased property count and diversification; most office assets were spun off into Orion Office REIT.
2013
Realty Income acquired American Realty Capital Trust in 2013.
Realty Income's growth plan has three legs: keep buying net lease property at scale (it invested $2.6 billion in Q2 2026 at a 7.3% initial cash yield), widen the opportunity set beyond U.S. retail into Europe, industrial, gaming and data centers, and raise private capital so it can invest more without issuing as much stock. In August 2026 it presented this as a push into a $15 trillion addressable market.
Realty Income makes money by collecting rent. It buys freestanding commercial properties, often through sale-leasebacks in which a retailer or operator sells its real estate and signs a long lease to stay in place. Most leases are triple-net, so tenants pay property taxes, insurance and maintenance, which keeps Realty Income's operating costs low. Rent typically rises through fixed annual escalators or CPI-linked clauses. Retail remains the largest property type, with industrial, gaming and data center assets growing, and the company is building a private-capital arm (Realty Income Investment Management) that earns fees on third-party money. As a REIT it must distribute most taxable income, which it pays as a monthly dividend.
In November 2021 Realty Income completed its all-stock merger with VEREIT, a large rival net lease REIT, and spun most of the combined office properties into Orion Office REIT.
In January 2024 Realty Income completed its all-stock acquisition of Spirit Realty Capital, adding a large diversified net lease portfolio.
In December 2022, Realty Income acquired the land and real estate assets of the luxury Encore Boston Harbor Resort and Casino from Wynn Resorts for $1.7 billion in cash, leasing it back under a 30-year triple-net lease with contractual CPI-linked escalators.
In September 2023, Realty Income invested $950 million to acquire a common and preferred equity stake in the real estate assets of the well-known Bellagio Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in partnership with Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT).
In January 2013 Realty Income acquired American Realty Capital Trust, adding hundreds of net-leased retail and industrial properties.
Realty Income executes a disciplined integration playbook: immediately absorbing acquired leases into its centralized asset management system, eliminating redundant public corporate overhead, and refinancing higher-cost debt at Realty Income's 'A-' interest rates.
Realty Income's European investments started with a 2019 Sainsbury's sale-leaseback in the U.K. and have expanded to eight other European countries by 2026.
Realty Income targets about $8 billion of 2026 investment across U.S. and European net lease property, industrial assets, data centers through its Cloud Capital joint venture, and deals funded with third-party capital.
In January 2024, Realty Income completed an all-stock merger with Spirit Realty Capital valued at $9.3 billion, adding thousands of premier net-lease retail and industrial assets and generating immediate AFFO per share accretion.
In November 2021, Realty Income acquired rival net-lease REIT VEREIT for approximately $11 billion in stock, adding over 3,800 properties, capturing substantial corporate overhead synergies, and spinning off office assets into Orion Office REIT.
In December 2022, Realty Income acquired the land and real estate assets of Encore Boston Harbor resort casino for $1.7 billion in a 30-year triple-net sale-leaseback transaction with Wynn Resorts, marking its bold entry into premier gaming real estate.
Realty Income executed major European portfolio sale-leasebacks, including a £429 million deal with UK grocer Sainsbury’s in 2019, a €527 million deal for 82 Decathlon sporting goods stores across Germany, France, and Spain in 2023, and agreements with Carrefour.
In late 2023, Realty Income invested $200 million for an 80% equity interest in a $1.0 billion joint venture with Digital Realty to develop two build-to-suit hyperscale data centers in Northern Virginia.
Realty Income structures large corporate acquisitions as tax-free all-stock mergers, issuing new shares at a premium equity valuation and assuming low-coupon debt, avoiding expensive cash outlays.
When acquiring large portfolios, Realty Income systematically identifies and disposes of lower-quality or non-core assets (such as suburban office buildings), recycling hundreds of millions in proceeds into high-yield retail and industrial net leases.
Realty Income continues to deploy billions annually across fragmented European retail sale-leasebacks, specialized gaming and hospitality properties, powered data centers, and programmatic sale-leasebacks with credit-worthy multinational corporations.
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