Chris Czarnecki, president and CEO of Broadstone Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE: BNL), participated in a video interview in conjunction with Nareit’s REITworld: 2020 Annual Conference.
Broadstone completed its initial public offering (IPO) and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in September.
Czarnecki discussed the timing and motivation for the IPO. He noted that “Broadstone has long acted like a public company, even while we were sourcing capital privately.”
Broadstone chose to go public at this time, Czarnecki said, in order to continue to strengthen the balance sheet and gain financial flexibility. Broadstone also wanted to be able to make acquisitions, he noted.
According to Czarnecki, Broadstone’s diversified portfolio sets it apart.
“We’ve been diversified, intentionally, since day one…that gives us a lot of flexibility to pivot and adjust as market conditions change and allocate capital in a really effective manner,” Czarnecki said.
Czarnecki also commented on Broadstone’s size. “We’re at a really sweet spot,” with $4 billion-plus of portfolio value, he said, but small enough that external growth “really moves the needle…we love the dynamic of where we sit relative to our larger peers.”
For the next 12 months, Broadstone intends to have a bigger focus on industrial, which is about 45% of the portfolio today, as well as health care, which is about 20% of the portfolio, Czarnecki said.