UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 8-K

Current Report

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): August 3, 2021

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code) (732) 577-9996

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instructions A.2. below):

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

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On August 3, 2021, Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation, a Maryland corporation (“MNR”), released an investor presentation relating to MNR’s pending merger with Equity Commonwealth (“EQC”).  MNR provided the presentation materials to representatives of Institutional Shareholder Services in connection with a meeting to discuss the transaction. A copy of the investor presentation is attached as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated herein by reference.

The information in this report and Exhibit 99.1 attached hereto is being furnished, not filed, for the purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and will not be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, unless specifically identified therein as being incorporated therein by reference.

No Offer or Solicitation

This communication is not intended to and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, sell or solicit any securities or any proxy, vote or approval in any jurisdiction pursuant to or in connection with the proposed merger or otherwise, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be deemed to be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

In connection with the proposed merger, Equity Commonwealth (“EQC”) has filed a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC, which became effective on July 23, 2021, to register the common shares of beneficial interest of EQC to be issued pursuant to the merger. The registration statement includes a joint proxy statement/prospectus which has been filed by EQC and MNR with the SEC and has been sent to the common shareholders of EQC seeking their approval of the share issuance and to the common shareholders of MNR seeking their approval of the merger (the “joint proxy statement/prospectus”). EQC and MNR may also file other documents regarding the proposed merger and share issuance with the SEC. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR INVESTMENT DECISION, INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO CAREFULLY READ THE ENTIRE REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND THE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS, AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THESE DOCUMENTS, CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED MERGER AND SHARE ISSUANCE. Investors and security holders may obtain free copies of the registration statement and joint proxy statement/prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC by EQC or MNR through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. In addition, investors and security holders may obtain free copies of the registration statement and the joint proxy statement/prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC by EQC on EQC’s website at www.eqcre.com and may obtain free copies of the joint proxy statement/prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC by MNR on MNR’s website at www.mreic.reit.

Participants in the Solicitation

EQC and certain of its trustees and executive officers and MNR and certain of its directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from EQC’s shareholders and from MNR’s shareholders in connection with the proposed merger and share issuance under the rules of the SEC. Investors may obtain information regarding the names, affiliations and interests of the trustees and executive officers of EQC and the directors and executive officers of MNR in the registration statement on Form S-4, the joint proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant materials filed with the SEC by EQC or MNR regarding the proposed merger and share issuance. You may obtain free copies of these documents at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies of documents filed with the SEC will also be available free of charge from EQC or MNR using the source indicated above.

Forward-Looking Statements

 

The forward-looking statements contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K reflect MNR’s current views about future events and are subject to numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and changes in circumstances regarding EQC and MNR that may cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement, including, without limitation, (i) inability to complete the proposed merger because, among other reasons, one or more conditions to the closing of the proposed merger may not be satisfied or waived; (ii) uncertainty as to the timing of completion of the proposed merger; (iii) potential adverse effects or changes to relationships with EQC’s and/or MNR’s tenants, employees, service providers or other parties resulting from the announcement or completion of the proposed merger; (iv) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against the parties and others related to the Merger Agreement; (v) possible disruptions from the proposed merger that could harm EQC’s or MNR’s respective business, including current plans and operations; (vi) unexpected costs, charges or expenses resulting from the proposed merger; (vii) uncertainty of the expected financial performance of EQC following completion of the proposed merger, including the possibility that the benefits anticipated from the proposed merger will not be realized or will not be realized within the expected time period; (viii) legislative, regulatory and economic developments; and (ix) unpredictability and severity of catastrophic events, including, but not limited to, acts of terrorism, outbreak of war or hostilities and epidemics and pandemics, including COVID-19, as well as EQC’s or MNR’s management’s response to any of the aforementioned factors. MNR does not guarantee that the mergers and events described will happen as described (or that they will happen at all).  For a further discussion of other factors that could cause MNR’s future results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in MNR’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for subsequent quarters.

 

(d) Exhibits.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.