Mary Fedewa, president and CEO of STORE Capital Corp. (NYSE: STOR), participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITweek: 2022 Investor Conference in New York on June 7-9.
Fedewa discussed how STORE is positioned in an environment of increased inflation and rising interest rates. She noted that escalations in STORE’s leases help hedge against inflation, while all of STORE’s debt is fixed rate.
This year, STORE had its highest first quarter ever for acquisitions, which Fedewa attributed to continued momentum from 2021 and customers getting back into growth mode.
Meanwhile, Fedewa pointed to the size of the triple net space, which STORE estimates is about $4 trillion and comprised of about 200,000 companies. ”We play in a lane and it’s not a small lane, it’s a wide lane,” with an average deal size of $8 million to $12 million. “The runway is just really long,” she said.
As for reasons to invest in STORE, Fedewa noted that STORE is a multigenerational company with a “strong bench” of talent. Meanwhile, given the potential size of the market, “we can be very selective” when it comes to acquisitions, she noted.