Business

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Business

Business

Equity Commonwealth, or the Company, is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, formed in 1986 under the laws of the State of Maryland. Our business is primarily the ownership and operation of office properties in the United States.

The Company operates in an umbrella partnership real estate investment trust, or UPREIT, and conducts substantially all of its activities through EQC Operating Trust, a Maryland real estate investment trust, or the Operating Trust. The Company beneficially owned 99.8% of the outstanding shares of beneficial interest, designated as units, in the Operating Trust, or OP Units, as of September 30, 2021, and the Company is the sole trustee of the Operating Trust.  As the sole trustee, the Company generally has the power under the declaration of trust of the Operating Trust to manage and conduct the business of the Operating Trust, subject to certain limited approval and voting rights of other holders of OP Units.

At September 30, 2021, our portfolio consisted of four properties (eight buildings), with a combined 1.5 million square feet. As of September 30, 2021, we had $3.0 billion of cash and cash equivalents.

On May 4, 2021, we entered into a merger agreement to acquire Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation (NYSE: MNR), or Monmouth, a publicly-traded industrial REIT. On August 31, 2021, following Monmouth’s failure to obtain shareholder approval of the merger, in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement, we terminated the merger agreement and were reimbursed $10.0 million by Monmouth for our out-of-pocket expenses. Total transaction costs net of the reimbursement resulted in $0.1 million of general and administrative expense recorded in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021. For more information regarding the termination of the merger agreement, please read the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on August 31, 2021.