Store Capital (STOR) 10-K2022 FY Annual report

Table of Contents

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

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Form 10-K

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For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

or

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For the transition period from                     to                     .

Commission File Number: 001-36739  

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STORE CAPITAL LLC

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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8377 East Hartford Drive, Suite 100, Scottsdale, Arizona 85255

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (480) 256-1100

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ☐    No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ⌧    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. 

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. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. Yes ☒ No ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.  ☐ 

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b).  ☐  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

As of March 20, 2023 there were 1,125 units of equity outstanding.

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PART I

In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, or this Annual Report, references to “we,” “us,” “our,” “the Company,” “S|T|O|R|E” or “STORE Capital,” are references to STORE Capital Corporation, a Maryland corporation, prior to, and to STORE Capital LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, upon and following the completion of the Merger, and references to the “Merger” are references to the Merger as defined in Item 1 below.

Forward-Looking Statements

This Annual Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements concerning our business and growth strategies, investment, financing and leasing activities and trends in our business, including trends in the market for long-term, triple-net leases of freestanding, single-tenant properties, and expected liquidity needs and sources (including the ability to obtain financing or raise capital). Words such as “estimate,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “believe,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seek,” “approximately” or “plan,” or the negative of these words, and phrases or similar words or phrases that are predictions of or indicate future events or trends and that do not relate solely to historical matters, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. You can also identify forward-looking statements by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions of management.

Forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties, and you should not rely on them as predictions of future events. Forward-looking statements depend on assumptions, data or methods that may be incorrect or imprecise, and we may not be able to realize them. The following risks, among others, could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those set forth or contemplated in the forward-looking statements:

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You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of the document in which they are contained. While forward-looking statements reflect our good faith beliefs, they are not guarantees of future performance. We undertake no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to any forward-looking statement that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date as of which that forward-looking statement speaks or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.

Item 1. BUSINESS

The Merger

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On September 15, 2022, STORE Capital Corporation, a Maryland corporation, Ivory Parent, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Parent”) and Ivory REIT, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Merger Sub” and, together with Parent, the “Parent Parties”), entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”). The Parent Parties are affiliates of GIC, a global institutional investor, and Oak Street Real Estate Capital, a division of Blue Owl Capital, Inc. On February 3, 2023 (the “Closing Date”), pursuant to the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, STORE Capital Corporation merged with and into Merger Sub (the “Merger”) with Merger Sub surviving (the “Surviving Entity”) and the separate existence of STORE Capital Corporation ceased. Immediately following the completion of the Merger, the Surviving Entity changed its name to STORE Capital LLC. References herein to “we”, the “Company” “S|T|O|R|E” or “STORE Capital” are references to STORE Capital Corporation prior to the Merger and to STORE Capital LLC upon and following the Merger. As of the Closing Date of the Merger, the common equity of the Company is no longer publicly traded.

Overview

General. S|T|O|R|E is an internally managed net-lease real estate investment trust, or REIT, that is a leader in the acquisition, investment and management of Single Tenant Operational Real Estate, or STORE Properties, which is our target market and the inspiration for our name. A STORE Property is a real property location at which a company operates its business and generates sales and profits, which makes the location a profit center and, therefore, fundamentally important to that business. Our portfolio is highly diversified and our customers operate across a wide variety of industries within the service, service-oriented retail and manufacturing sectors of the U.S. economy.

Taxation as a Real Estate Investment Trust. STORE Capital Corporation elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust, or a REIT, under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, commencing with its initial taxable year ended December 31, 2011. STORE Capital LLC has elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, commencing with its initial taxable year ended December 31, 2022. To continue to qualify as a REIT, we must continue to meet certain tests which, among other things, require that our assets consist primarily of real estate assets, our income be derived primarily from real estate assets, and that we distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (other than our net capital gains) to our members annually.

The Net-Lease Model and Sustainability. S|T|O|R|E is a net-lease REIT. Accordingly, we acquire STORE Properties from business owners, and then lease the properties back to the business owners under net-leases, substantially all of which are triple-net. Under a triple-net lease, our customer (the tenant) is solely responsible for operating the business conducted at the property subject to the lease, keeping the property and improvements in good order and repair, remodeling and updating the building as it deems appropriate to maximize business value, and paying the insurance, property taxes and other property-related expenses. Under the triple-net lease model, therefore, S|T|O|R|E is not a real estate operator; rather, we provide real estate financing solutions to customers seeking a long-term, more efficient cost alternative to real estate ownership. Following our acquisition of a property, it is our customer, and not S|T|O|R|E, that controls the property, including with respect to decisions as to when and how to implement environmentally sustainable practices at a given property.

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Our Corporate Responsibility. We define success by our ability to make a positive difference for all of our stakeholders. S|T|O|R|E’s beginning was inspired by our belief that we could make a positive difference for real estate intensive businesses across the U.S. by delivering innovative and superior real estate capital solutions. That belief has guided our efforts to bring much needed capital and liquidity opportunities to middle-market and larger businesses which, in turn, have brought value creation and growth to our customers, owners and employees. For our many customers, S|T|O|R|E’s real estate lease solutions have contributed to their prospects for wealth creation and to their ability to grow, create jobs and contribute to many communities across the country. In turn, meeting the needs of our customers provides an extraordinary investment opportunity that we believe creates sustainable long-term wealth. We are committed to operating our business responsibly, guarding our valuable reputation and creating long-term and sustainable value for our company through a robust business model and attentiveness to our many stakeholders. S|T|O|R|E is committed to playing an important role for middle-market and larger companies across the U.S. in order to help them succeed, while making a positive impact on our collective communities, both today and for future generations.

Our Target Market and Asset Class

We provide real estate financing solutions principally to middle-market and larger businesses that own single tenant profit-center real estate locations on which they conduct their businesses and generate revenues and profits, which we refer to as Single Tenant Operational Real Estate or “STORE Properties.” Our customers operate these STORE Properties within the broad-based service, service-oriented retail and manufacturing sectors of the U.S. economy. We have designed our net-lease solutions to provide a long-term, cost efficient way to improve our customers’ capital structures and, thus, be a preferred alternative to real estate ownership.

Our customers typically have the choice either to own or to lease the real estate they use in their daily businesses. They choose to lease for various reasons, including the potential to lower their cost of capital, as leasing supplants traditional financing options that tie up the equity in their real estate. Leasing is also viewed as an attractive alternative to our customers because it generally locks in scheduled payments, at lower levels and for longer periods, than traditional financing options; these factors are viewed favorably relative to the amounts funded.

Because STORE Properties are profit-center locations, payment of rent under our lease contracts is supported not only by the credit quality of the tenant and the residual value of the real estate, but also and primarily by the profits produced by the business operations at the locations we own (e.g. unit-level profitability).

Creating Superior Lease Contracts

We believe that our net-lease contracts, and not simply tenant or real estate quality, are central to our potential to deliver superior long-term risk-adjusted rates of return. Contract quality embodies tenant and real estate characteristics, together with other investment attributes we believe are highly material. Contract attributes include the prices we pay for the real estate we own, inclusive of the prices relative to new construction cost. Other important contract attributes include the ability to receive unit-level financial statements, which allows us to evaluate unit-level cash flows relative to the rents we receive. Likewise, over many years of providing real estate net-lease capital, we have determined that tenant alignments of interest are highly important. Such alignments of interest can include full parent company recourse, credit enhancements in the form of guarantees, cross default provisions and the use of master leases. Master leases, which comprise most of our multi-property net-lease contracts, are individual lease contracts that bind multiple properties and offer landlords greater security in the event of tenant insolvency and bankruptcy. Whereas individual property leases provide tenants with the opportunity to evaluate the desirability and viability of each individual property they rent in the event of a bankruptcy, master leases bind multiple properties, permitting landlords to benefit from aggregate property performance and limiting tenants’ ability to pick and choose which leases to retain. Other important tenant contract considerations include contractual lease escalations, indemnification provisions, lease renewal rights, and the ability to sublease and assign leases, as well as qualitative considerations, such as alternative real estate use assessment and the composition of a tenant’s capitalization structure.

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Our Business Process

We operate a platform for the acquisition of, investment in and management of STORE Properties that creates value through four core competencies.

Environmental Stewardship

We are committed to environmental sustainability and the mitigation of environmental risks in connection with the development of our property portfolio. This commitment reflects the fact that the properties we acquire are subject to both state and federal environmental regulations, but, more importantly, it aligns with our belief that being conscious of, and seeking to address and manage, environmental risks within our control, and supporting our customers to do the same in their businesses, plays a role in building and sustaining successful enterprises; and, thus, is material to the success of our own business.

Our environmental initiatives and partnerships focus on energy savings and carbon footprint reduction in our customers’ facilities. As we are a triple-net lease REIT, without direct control of physical locations, our primary strategy includes educating ourselves and our customers on evolving environmental strategies, soliciting feedback, and gathering environmental data from our customers. This includes developing relationships between our customers and environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) vendor partners, and supporting our tenants in the implementation of green programs including energy efficiency and carbon reduction programs.

Human Capital Management

We believe that to continue delivering strong financial results, we must execute on a human capital strategy that prioritizes, among other things: (i) establishing a work environment that: attracts, develops, and retains top talent; (ii) affording our employees an engaging work experience that allows for career development and opportunities for meaningful civic involvement; (iii) evaluating compensation and benefits, and rewarding outstanding performance; (iv) engaging with, and obtaining feedback from, our employees on their workplace experiences; (v) enabling every employee at every level to be treated with dignity and respect, to be free from discrimination and harassment, and to devote their full attention and best efforts to performing their job to the best of their respective abilities; and (vi) communicating with our board of directors on key topics.

As part of our efforts to achieve these priorities:

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As of December 31, 2022, we had 116 full-time employees, all of whom are located in our single office in Scottsdale, Arizona. None of our employees are subject to a collective bargaining agreement. We consider our employee relations to be good.

Competition

We face competition in the acquisition and financing of STORE Properties from numerous investors, including, but not limited to, traded and non-traded public REITs, private equity investors and other institutional investment funds, as well as private wealth management advisory firms that serve high net worth investors (also known as family offices).

Regulations and Requirements

Our properties are subject to various laws and regulations, including regulations relating to fire and safety requirements, as well as affirmative and negative contractual covenants and, in some instances, common area obligations. We believe that each of our customers has the necessary permits and approvals to operate and conduct their businesses on our properties. Moreover, our properties are subject to Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and similar state and local laws and regulations (collectively, the “ADA”). Our customers have primary responsibility for complying with these regulations and other requirements pursuant to our lease and loan agreements; however, we may have liability in certain circumstances if our tenants do not comply with such laws and regulations. As of January 31, 2023, we are not aware of any ADA non-compliance that we believe would have a material adverse effect on the results of our operations.

Additionally, our properties are subject to environmental laws and regulations, which may give rise to liabilities related to the presence, handling or discharge of hazardous materials that may emanate from properties that we purchase, regardless of fault. We mitigate the possible liabilities from such laws and regulations by undertaking extensive environmental due diligence and by entering into leases with the sellers of our properties, pursuant to which the sellers agree to certain covenants and indemnities that typically require the sellers to comply with applicable environmental laws and regulations and remediate or take other corrective action should any environmental issues arise. We believe the costs of capital expenditures related to environmental liabilities will not have a material impact on the results of our operations, as such costs are typically borne by the sellers, previous owners, and tenants of our properties.

About Us

STORE Capital Corporation was incorporated under the laws of Maryland on May 17, 2011. STORE Capital LLC was formed under the laws of Delaware on August 30, 2022. Our offices are located at 8377 E. Hartford Drive, Suite 100, Scottsdale, Arizona 85255. We currently lease approximately 34,500 square feet of office space from an unaffiliated third party. Our telephone number is (480) 256-1100 and our website is www.storecapital.com.

Available Information

We electronically file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, our annual reports on
Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. You may obtain a free copy of our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports, on the day of filing with the SEC on our website, or by sending an email message to info@storecapital.com.

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Item 1A. RISK FACTORS

There are many factors that affect our business, financial condition, operating results, cash flows and distributions. The following is a description of important factors that may cause our actual results of operations in future periods to differ materially from those currently expected or discussed in forward-looking statements set forth in this Annual Report. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only risks we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we may currently deem immaterial also may impair our business operations. Forward-looking statements and such risks, uncertainties and other factors speak only as of the date of this Annual Report, and we expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein, to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto, or any other change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except to the extent otherwise required by law. See “Forward-Looking Statements.”

Risks Related to Our Business and Operations

The value of our real estate is subject to fluctuation, and risks related to investing in real estate may have an adverse effect on our financial condition.

We are subject to all of the general risks associated with the ownership of real estate. While the revenues from our leases are not directly dependent upon the value of the underlying real estate, significant declines in real estate values could adversely affect us in many ways, including a decline in the residual values of properties at lease expiration, possible lease abandonments by our customers and a decline in the attractiveness of triple-net lease transactions to potential sellers. Moreover, significant declines in real estate values may also affect our ability to execute leases on attractive terms with potential tenants. In addition, we periodically review our real estate assets for impairment based on the projected operating cash flow of the property over our anticipated holding period. Impairment charges have a direct impact on our results of operation. A financial failure or other default by a customer will likely reduce or eliminate the operating cash flow generated by that customer’s leased property and might decrease the value of that property and result in a non-cash impairment charge. Also, to the extent we purchase real estate in an unstable market, we are subject to the risk that if the real estate market ceases to attract the same level of capital investment in the future that it attracts at the time of our purchases, or the number of companies seeking to acquire properties decreases, the value of our investments may not appreciate or may decrease significantly below the amounts we paid.

Contingent rent escalators may expose us to inflation risk and can hinder our growth and profitability.

A substantial portion of our leases contain variable-rate contingent rent escalators that periodically increase the base rent payable by the customer. Our leases with rent escalators indexed to future increases in the Consumer Price Index (“CPI”) primarily adjust over a one-year period but may adjust over multiple-year periods. Generally, these escalators increase rent at (i) 1 to 1.25 times the change in the CPI over a specified period or (ii) a fixed percentage. As a result of these escalators, during periods of deflation or low inflation, small increases or decreases in the CPI may cause us to receive lower rental revenues than we would receive under leases with fixed-rate rent escalators. Conversely, when inflation is higher, contingent rent increases may not keep up with the rate of inflation. Higher inflation may also have an adverse impact on our customers if increases in their operating expenses exceed increases in revenue, which may adversely affect our customers’ ability to satisfy their financial obligations to us.

The success of our business depends upon the success of our customers’ businesses, and bankruptcy laws will limit our remedies in the event of customer defaults.

We lease substantially all of our properties to customers who operate businesses at the leased properties. We underwrite and evaluate investment risk on the basis that the profitability of these businesses is the primary source that supports the payments on our leases and loans, which we refer to as “unit-level profitability.” We believe the success of our investments materially depends upon whether our customers generate unit level profitability at the locations we acquire and lease back or finance.

If any of our customers struggle financially, they may decline to extend or renew their leases, miss rental payments or declare bankruptcy. Claims for unpaid future rent are rarely paid in full and are subject to statutory limitations that would likely cause us to receive rental revenues substantially below the contractually specified rent. We are often

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subject to this risk because our triple-net leases generally involve a single tenant, but this risk is magnified when we lease multiple properties to a single customer under a master lease. Federal bankruptcy laws may prohibit us from evicting bankrupt customers solely upon bankruptcy, and we may not recover the premises promptly from the tenant or from a trustee or debtor-in-possession in bankruptcy proceedings. We may also be unable to re-lease a terminated or rejected space on comparable terms, or at all, or sell a vacant space upon a customer’s bankruptcy. We will be responsible for all of the operating costs at vacant properties until they are sold or re-let, if at all.

Some service and service-oriented retail customers may be susceptible to e-commerce pressures.

Most of our portfolio is leased to, or financed by, customers operating service or service-oriented retail businesses. Service and service-oriented retail businesses using physical outlets face increasing competition from online retailers and service providers. While we believe the businesses in our portfolio are relatively insulated from e-commerce pressures, these businesses may face increased competition from alternative online providers given the rapidly changing business conditions spurred by technological innovation, changing consumer preferences and non-traditional competitors. There can be no assurance that our customers’ businesses will remain competitive with e-commerce providers in the future; any failure to do so would impair their ability to meet their lease obligations to us and materially and adversely affect us.

Geographic, market sector or industry concentrations within our portfolio may negatively affect our financial results.

Our operating performance is impacted by the economic conditions affecting the specific locales, market sectors and industries in which we have concentrations of properties. As a result of these concentrations, local economic, market sector, and industry conditions, changes in state or local governmental rules and regulations, acts of nature, epidemics, pandemics and public health crises and actions taken in response thereto, and other factors affecting those states, market sectors or industries could result in an adverse effect on our customers’ businesses and their ability to meet their obligations to us. Additionally, a failure to increase demand for our products by, among other ways, failing to convince middle-market and larger companies to sell and lease back their properties, or an increase in the availability of properties for rent, could materially and adversely affect us. As we continue to acquire properties, our portfolio may become more concentrated by customer, industry or geographic area. A less diverse portfolio could cause us to be more sensitive to the bankruptcy of fewer customers, changes in consumer trends of a particular industry and a general economic downturn in a particular geographic area.

Failure of our underwriting and risk management procedures to accurately evaluate a potential customer’s credit risk could materially and adversely affect our operating results and financial position.

Our success depends in part on the creditworthiness of our middle-market and larger customers who generally are not rated by any nationally recognized rating agency. We analyze creditworthiness using Moody’s Analytics RiskCalc, our methodology of estimating probability of lease rejection and our proprietary ‘Probability of Default’ model, each of which may fail to adequately assess a particular customer’s default risk. An expected default frequency (“EDF”) score from Moody’s Analytics RiskCalc lacks the extensive company participation required to obtain a credit rating published by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization such as Moody’s Investors Services, Inc. or S&P Global Ratings, a division of S&P Global, Inc., and may not be as indicative of creditworthiness. Substantially all of our customers are required to provide corporate-level financial information to us periodically or at our request. EDF scores and the financial ratios we calculate are based on unverified financial information from our customers, may reflect only a limited operating history and include various estimates and judgments made by the party preparing the financial information. The probability of lease rejection we assign to a particular investment may be inaccurate and may not incorporate significant risks of which we are unaware, which may cause us to invest in properties and lease them to customers who ultimately default, and we may be unable to recover our investment by re-leasing or selling the related property, on favorable terms, or at all.

We may be unable to identify and complete acquisitions of suitable properties, which may impede our growth.

Our ability to continue to acquire properties we believe to be suitable and compatible with our growth strategy may be constrained by numerous factors, including the following:

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We typically acquire only a small percentage of all properties that we evaluate (which we refer to as our “pipeline”). To the extent any of the foregoing decreases our pipeline or otherwise impacts our ability to continue to acquire suitable properties, our ability to grow our business will be adversely affected.

We face significant competition for customers, which may negatively impact the occupancy and rental rates of our properties, reduce the number of acquisitions we are able to complete or increase the cost of these acquisitions.

We compete with numerous developers, owners and operators of properties that often own similar properties in similar markets, and if our competitors offer lower rents than we are offering, we may be pressured to lower our rents or to offer more substantial rent abatements, customer improvements, early termination rights, below-market renewal options or other lease incentive payments in order to remain competitive. Competition for customers could negatively impact the occupancy and rental rates of STORE properties.

We also face competition for acquisitions of real property from investors, including traded and non-traded public REITs, private equity investors and other institutional investment funds, as well as private wealth management advisory firms, some of which have greater financial resources, a greater ability to borrow funds to acquire properties, the ability to offer more attractive terms to prospective customers and the willingness to accept greater risk or lower returns than we can prudently manage. This competition may increase the demand for STORE Properties and, therefore, reduce the number of, or increase the price for, suitable acquisition opportunities, all of which could materially and adversely affect us.

As leases expire, we may be unable to renew those leases or re-lease the space on favorable terms or at all.

We may not be able to renew leases or re-lease spaces without interruptions in rental revenue, at or above our current rental rates or without offering substantial rent abatements, customer improvement allowances, early termination rights or below market renewal options, and the terms of renewal, extension or re-lease may be less favorable to us than the prior lease. Because some of our properties are specifically designed for a particular customer’s business, we may be required to renovate the property, decrease the rent we charge or provide other concessions in order to lease the property to another prospective customer. If we need to sell such properties, we may have difficulty selling them to a third party due to the property’s unique design.

Some of our customers operate under franchise or license agreements, which, if terminated or not renewed prior to the expiration of their leases with us, would likely impair their ability to pay us rent.

Some of our customers operate their businesses under franchise or license agreements, which generally have terms that end earlier than the respective expiration dates of the related leases. In addition, a customer’s rights as a franchisee or licensee typically may be terminated by the franchisor and the customer may be precluded from competing with the franchisor or licensor upon termination. A franchisor’s or licensor’s termination or refusal to renew a franchise or license agreement would impact the customer’s ability to make payments under its lease or loan with us. We typically have no notice or cure rights with respect to such a termination and have no rights to assignment of any such agreement, which may have an adverse effect on our ability to mitigate losses arising from a default by a terminated franchisee on any of our leases or loans.

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If a customer defaults under either the ground lease or mortgage loan of a hybrid lease, we may be required to undertake foreclosure proceedings on the mortgage before we can re-lease or sell the property.

In certain circumstances, we may enter into hybrid leases with customers. A hybrid lease is a modified sale-leaseback transaction, where the customer sells us land and then we lease the land back to the customer under a ground lease and simultaneously make a mortgage loan to the customer secured by the improvements the customer continues to own. If a customer defaults under a hybrid lease, we may: (i) evict the customer under the ground lease and assume ownership of the improvements; or (ii) if required by a court, foreclose on the mortgage loan that is secured by the improvements. Under a ground lease, we, as the ground lessor, generally become the owner of the improvements on the land at lease maturity or if the customer defaults. If, upon default, a court requires us to foreclose on the mortgage, rather than evicting the customer, we might encounter delays and expenses in obtaining possession of the improvements, which in turn could delay our ability to promptly sell or re-lease the property.

Defaults by customers on mortgages we hold could lead to losses on our investments.

From time to time, we make or assume commercial mortgage loans. We have also made a limited number of investments on properties we own or finance in the form of loans secured by equipment or other fixtures owned by our customers. In the event of a default, we would not earn interest or receive a return of the principal of our loan and may also experience delays and costs in enforcing our rights as lender. Foreclosure and other similar proceedings used to enforce payment of real estate loans are generally subject to principles of equity, which are designed to relieve the indebted party from the legal effect of that party’s default. Foreclosure and other similar laws may limit our right to obtain a deficiency judgment against the defaulting party after a foreclosure or sale, and may lead to a loss or delay in the payment on loans we hold. If we do have to foreclose on a property, we may receive less in the foreclosure sale than the amount the customer owes us or that is needed to cover the costs to foreclose, repossess and sell the property.

Some of our customers rely on government funding, and their failure to continue to qualify for such funding could adversely impact their ability to make timely lease payments to us.

Some of our customers operate businesses that depend on government funding or reimbursements, such as customers in the education, healthcare and childcare related industries, which may require them to satisfy certain licensure or certification requirements in order to qualify for these government payments. The amount and timing of these government payments depend on various factors that often are beyond our or our customers’ control. If these customers fail to receive necessary government funding or fail to comply with related regulations, their cash flow could be materially affected, which may cause them to default on their leases and adversely impact our business.

Construction and renovation risks could adversely affect our profitability.

In certain instances, we provide financing to our customers for the construction and/or renovation of their properties. We are therefore subject to the risks that this construction or renovation may not be completed. Construction and renovation costs for a property may exceed a customer’s original estimates due to increased costs of materials or labor, or other unexpected costs. A customer may also be unable to complete construction or renovation of a property on schedule, which could result in increased debt service expenses or construction costs. These additional expenses may affect the ability of the customer to make payments to us.

Our ability to fully control the maintenance of our net-leased properties may be limited.

Because our customers are the tenants of our net-leased properties and are responsible for the day-to-day maintenance and management of our properties, after lease expiration, we may incur expenses for deferred maintenance or other liabilities if a property is not adequately maintained. We visit our properties periodically, but these visits are not comprehensive inspections and deferred maintenance items may go unnoticed. Our leases generally provide for recourse against a customer in these instances, but bankrupt or financially troubled customers may be more likely to defer maintenance, and it may be more difficult to enforce remedies against such customers. We may not always be able to ascertain the financial circumstances of a given customer or forestall deterioration in the condition of a property.

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Failure to qualify as a REIT could adversely affect our financial condition.

Our qualification as a REIT requires us to satisfy numerous highly technical and complex requirements for which there are only limited judicial or administrative interpretations, and which involve the determination of various factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control. No guarantee can be made that we will be able to continue to be qualified as a REIT in the future. If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, we would be subject to federal income tax (and state and local taxes) on our taxable income at the regular corporate rate and be unable to deduct dividends when computing our taxable income. Also, unless the Internal Revenue Service granted us relief under certain statutory provisions, we could not re-elect REIT status until the fifth calendar year after the year in which we first failed to qualify as a REIT. The additional tax liability from such a failure could adversely affect our financial condition.

Risks Related to the Financing of Our Business

Our growth depends on external sources of debt and equity capital, which are outside of our control and affect our ability to seize strategic opportunities, satisfy debt obligations and make distributions to our members.

We rely on third-party sources to fund our debt and equity capital needs. Our access to third-party sources of capital depends, in part, on general market conditions, the market’s perception of our growth potential, our current debt levels, our credit ratings, our current and expected future earnings, and our cash flows and cash distributions.

In addition, in order to maintain our qualification as a REIT, we are generally required under the Code to, among other things, distribute annually at least 90% of our net REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gain, and we will be subject to income tax to the extent that we distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and including any net capital gain. Because of these distribution requirements, without access to third-party sources of capital, we may not be able to acquire properties when strategic opportunities exist, meet the capital and operating needs of our existing properties, satisfy our debt service obligations or make the cash distributions to our members necessary to maintain our qualification as a REIT.

Current market conditions, including increases in interest rates, could adversely affect our ability to refinance existing indebtedness or obtain additional financing for growth on acceptable terms or at all.

In periods during which credit markets experience significant price volatility, displacement and liquidity disruptions, liquidity in the financial markets can be impacted, making financing terms for customers less attractive, and in certain cases, rendering certain types of debt financing unavailable. In such periods, we may be unable to obtain debt financing on favorable terms, or at all, or fully refinance maturing indebtedness with new indebtedness. Furthermore, if prevailing interest rates or other factors at the time of refinancing result in higher interest rates upon refinancing, then the interest expense relating to that refinanced indebtedness would increase, and the increased interest rates could cause our interest costs and overall costs of capital to increase.

Our operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected if we or our subsidiaries are unable to make required payments on our debt.

We are subject to risks normally associated with debt financing, including the risk that our cash flows will be insufficient to meet required payments of principal and interest. If we are unable to make debt service payments as required on loans secured by properties we own, a lender could foreclose on the property or properties securing its debt. This could cause us to lose part or all of our investment. In addition, a significant portion of our investment portfolio consists of assets owned by our consolidated, bankruptcy remote, special purpose entity subsidiaries (“SPEs”) that have been pledged to secure the long-term borrowings of those SPEs. We or our other consolidated subsidiaries are the equity owners of our SPEs, which entitles us to the excess cash flows after debt service and all other required payments are made on the debt of our SPEs. If our SPEs fail to make the required payments on such indebtedness or fail to maintain the required debt service coverage ratios, distributions of excess cash flows to us may be reduced or suspended and the indebtedness may become immediately due and payable. If our SPEs are unable to pay the accelerated indebtedness, the pledged assets could be foreclosed upon and distributions of excess cash flows to us may be suspended or terminated, which could reduce the value of our portfolio and revenues available for distribution to our members.

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Our hedging strategies may not be successful in mitigating our risks associated with interest rates and could reduce our overall net return.

We attempt to mitigate our exposure to interest rate risk by entering into long-term fixed-rate financing through the combination of periodic debt offerings under our secured and unsecured debt programs including our STORE Master Funding program, our asset-backed securities conduit, through non-recourse secured borrowings, through insurance company and bank borrowings, by laddering our borrowing maturities and by using leases that generally provide for rent escalations during the term of the lease. However, the weighted average term of our borrowings does not match the weighted average term of our investments, and the methods we employ to mitigate our exposure to changes in interest rates involve risks, including the risk that the debt markets are volatile and tend to reflect the conditions of the then current economic climate. Our efforts may not be effective in reducing our exposure to interest rate changes, which may increase our cost of capital and reduce the net returns we earn on our portfolio.

We depend on the asset backed securities (“ABS”) market for a substantial portion of our long-term debt financing.

Historically, we have raised a significant amount of long-term debt capital through our STORE Master Funding program, which accesses the ABS market. Our ABS debt is issued by our SPEs, which issue multiple series of investment grade ABS notes from time to time as additional collateral is added to the collateral pool. Our ABS debt is generally non-recourse, but there are customary limited exceptions to recourse for matters such as fraud, misrepresentation, gross negligence or willful misconduct, misapplication of payments, bankruptcy and environmental liabilities.

We have generally used the proceeds from these ABS financings to repay debt and fund real estate acquisitions. Our obligations under these loans are generally secured by liens on certain of our properties. In the case of our STORE Master Funding program, subject to certain conditions and limitations, we may substitute real estate collateral for assets in the collateral pool from time to time. No assurance can be given that the ABS market or financing facilities with similar flexibility to substitute collateral will be available to us in the future.

A disruption in the financial markets for ABS debt may affect our ability to obtain long-term debt, which, in turn, may force us to acquire real estate assets at a lower than anticipated growth rate and negatively affect our return on equity. Furthermore, a reduction in the difference, or spread, between the rate we earn on our assets (primarily the lease rates we charge our customers) and the rate we pay on our liabilities (primarily the interest rates on our debt) could have a material and adverse effect on our financial condition.

A downgrade in our credit ratings could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

The credit ratings assigned to us and our debt, which are subject to ongoing evaluation by the rating agencies who have published them, could change based upon, among other things, our historical and projected business, prospects, liquidity, results of operations and financial condition, or the real estate industry generally. If any credit rating agency downgrades or lowers our credit rating, places any such rating on a so-called “watch list” for a possible downgrading or lowering or otherwise indicates a negative outlook for that rating, it could materially adversely affect the market price of our debt securities, as well as our costs and availability of capital.

The agreements governing some of our indebtedness contain restrictions and covenants which may limit our ability to enter into or obtain funding for certain transactions, operate our business or make distributions to our members.

The agreements governing some of our indebtedness contain restrictions and covenants, including financial covenants, that limit or will limit our ability to operate our business. These covenants, as well as any additional covenants to which we may be subject in the future because of additional indebtedness, could cause us to forego investment opportunities, reduce or eliminate distributions to our members or obtain financing on less than favorable terms. The covenants and other restrictions under our debt agreements may affect our ability to incur indebtedness, create liens on assets, sell or substitute assets, modify certain terms of our leases, prepay debt with higher interest rates, manage our cash flows and make distributions to our members. Additionally, these restrictions may adversely affect our operating and financial flexibility and may limit our ability to respond to changes in our business or competitive environment, all of which may materially and adversely affect us.

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General Real Estate Risks

Real estate investments are relatively illiquid and property vacancies could result in significant capital expenditures.

We may desire to sell a property in the future because of changes in market conditions, poor customer performance or default under any mortgage we hold, or to avail ourselves of other opportunities. We may also be required to sell a property in the future to meet debt obligations or avoid a default. Particularly with respect to certain types of real estate assets, such as movie theaters, that cannot always be sold quickly, we may be unable to realize our investment objective by sale, other disposition or refinancing at attractive prices within any given period of time or may otherwise be unable to complete any exit strategy. In addition, as a REIT, the Code limits our ability to dispose of properties in ways that are not applicable to other types of real estate companies. In particular, the tax laws applicable to REITs effectively require that we hold our properties for investment, rather than primarily for sale in the ordinary course of business, which may cause us to forgo or defer sales of properties that otherwise would be in our best interest. We may be required to invest in the restoration or modification of a property before we can sell it. The inability to respond promptly to changes in the performance of our property portfolio could adversely affect our financial condition and ability to service our debt and make distributions to our members.

The loss of a customer, either through lease expiration or customer bankruptcy, may require us to spend significant amounts of capital to renovate the property before it is suitable for a new customer and cause us to incur significant costs in the form of ongoing expenses for property maintenance, taxes, insurance and other expenses.

Uninsured losses relating to real property may adversely affect our returns.

Our contracts generally require our customers to maintain insurance customary for similar types of commercial property. Depending on the location of the property or nature of its use, losses of a catastrophic nature may be covered by insurance policies held by our customers with limitations, such as large deductibles or copayments, that a customer may not be able to meet. In addition, factors such as inflation, changes in building codes and ordinances, environmental considerations, public safety threats and others may result in insurance proceeds that are insufficient to repair or replace a damaged or destroyed property. In the event of a substantial or comprehensive loss of any of our properties, we may not be able to rebuild such property to its existing specifications without significant capital expenditures, which may exceed any amounts received under insurance policies, due to the upgrades needed to meet zoning and building code requirements. The loss of our capital investment in, or anticipated future returns from, our properties due to material uninsured losses could materially and adversely affect us.

Environmentally hazardous conditions may adversely affect our operating results.

Our properties may be subject to known and unknown environmental liabilities under various federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to human health and the environment, some of which may impose joint and several liability on certain statutory classes of persons, including owners or operators, for the costs of investigation or remediation of contaminated properties. These laws and regulations apply to past and present business operations on the properties, and the use, storage, handling and recycling or disposal of hazardous substances or wastes. We may be liable regardless of our knowledge of the contamination, the timing of the contamination, the cause of the contamination or the party responsible for the contamination. Our customers generally must indemnify us from all or most environmental compliance costs, but if a customer fails to, or cannot, comply, we may be required to pay such costs. These costs could be substantial, and because these potential environmental liabilities are generally uncapped, these costs could significantly exceed the property’s value. There can be no assurance that our environmental due diligence efforts will reveal all environmental conditions at the properties in our pipeline.

Under the laws of many states, contamination on a site may give rise to a lien on the site for clean-up costs. Several states will grant priority to a “super lien” for clean-up costs over all existing liens, including those of existing mortgages. If any of the properties on which we have a mortgage are or become contaminated and subject to a super lien, we may not be able to recover the full value of our investment.

Certain federal, state and local laws, regulations and ordinances govern the use, removal and/or replacement of underground storage tanks in the event of a release on, or an upgrade or redevelopment of, certain properties. Such laws,

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as well as common law standards, may impose liability for any releases of hazardous substances associated with the underground storage tanks and may allow third parties to seek recovery from the owners or operators of such properties for damages associated with such releases.

In a few states, transfers of some types of sites are conditioned upon cleanup of contamination prior to transfer, including in cases where a lender has become the owner of the site through a foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure or otherwise. If any of our properties in these states are subject to such contamination, we may be subject to substantial clean-up costs before we are able to sell or otherwise transfer the property. Additionally, certain federal, state and local laws, regulations and ordinances govern the removal, encapsulation or disturbance of asbestos containing materials (“ACMs”) in the event of the remodeling, renovation or demolition of a building. Such laws, as well as common law standards, may impose liability for releases of ACMs and may impose fines and penalties against us or our customers for failure to comply with these requirements or allow third parties to seek recovery from us or our customers.

In addition, our properties may contain or develop harmful mold, exposure to which may cause a variety of adverse health effects. Exposure to mold at any of our properties could require us to undertake a costly remediation program to contain or remove the mold and could subject us to liability if property damage or health concerns arise.

If we or our customers become subject to any of the above-mentioned environmental risks, we may be materially and adversely affected.

We may be subject to liabilities and costs associated with the impacts of climate change.

The impacts of climate change on our properties or operations are highly uncertain and would be particular to the geographic areas in which we operate. Such impacts may result from increased frequency of natural disasters, changes in rainfall and storm patterns and intensities, water shortages, changing sea levels, rising energy and environmental costs, and changing temperatures, which may impact our or our tenants’ ability to obtain property insurance on acceptable terms. While most all of our leases are triple-net, and generally impose responsibility on our tenants for the property-level operating costs and require our tenants to indemnify us for environmental liabilities, there can be no assurance that a given tenant will be able to satisfy its payment obligations to us under its lease if climate change adversely impacts a particular property.

Certain provisions of our leases or loan agreements may be unenforceable, which could adversely impact us.

Our rights and obligations with respect to our leases, mortgage loans or other loans are governed by written agreements. A court could determine that one or more provisions of such an agreement are unenforceable, such as a particular remedy (including rights to indemnification), a loan prepayment provision or a provision governing our security interest in the underlying collateral of a customer. We could be adversely impacted if, for example, this were to happen with respect to a master lease governing our rights relating to multiple properties.

Other General Risks

We face risks associated with security breaches through cyber-attacks, cyber intrusions or otherwise, as well as other significant disruptions of our IT networks and related systems.

While we do not collect or maintain the types of information that are most often targeted in cyber-attacks, such as credit card data, bank account information, or sensitive personal information, we nevertheless face risks associated with security breaches through cyber-attacks, malware, computer viruses and malicious codes, ransomware, unauthorized access attempts, denial of service attacks, phishing, social engineering, bad actors with access to systems inside our organization, and other significant disruptions of our IT networks and related systems. The risk of a security breach has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. Our IT networks and related systems are essential to the operation of our business, the availability and integrity of our data and our ability to perform day-to-day operations, and security breaches or system interruptions could result in misstated financial reports, violations of loan covenants, missed reporting deadlines, our inability to monitor our compliance with the rules and regulations regarding our qualification as a REIT, unauthorized access to, and destruction, loss, theft, misappropriation or release of proprietary, confidential, sensitive or otherwise valuable information of ours or others, the diversion of management attention and resources to remedy any resulting damages, liability for claims for

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breach of contract, damages, credits, penalties or termination of leases or other agreements, or damage to our reputation among our customers, lenders, vendors and investors generally.

We rely on information systems across our operations and corporate functions, in particular our finance and accounting departments, and depend on such systems to ensure payment of obligations, collection of cash, data warehousing to support analytics, and other various processes and procedures, and there can be no assurance that our security efforts will be effective in deterring security breaches or disruptions. Even the most well protected information, networks, systems and facilities remain potentially vulnerable because the techniques, tools and tactics used in such attempted security breaches evolve and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, and in some cases are designed to not be detected and, in fact, may not be detected. Accordingly, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate security barriers, disaster recovery or other preventative or corrective measures, and thus it is impossible for us to entirely counteract this risk or fully mitigate the harms after such an attack. And as we periodically upgrade our IT systems, we face the risk that these systems may not function properly and expose us to increased cybersecurity breaches and failures, which would expose us to reputational, competitive, operational, financial and business harm, as well as potential litigation and regulatory action.

We depend on key personnel; the loss of their full service could impair our ability to operate successfully.

We rely on the experience, efforts and abilities of senior leadership and other key personnel. We cannot guarantee the continued employment of any of the members of our senior leadership team or key personnel, each of whom could be difficult to replace, given their extensive knowledge and experience. The loss of services of one or more members of our senior leadership team, or our inability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel, could adversely affect our business and be negatively perceived in the capital markets, diminish our investment opportunities and weaken our relationships with lenders, business partners, and customers.

We are subject to litigation which could materially and adversely affect us.

From time to time, we are subject to litigation in connection with the ordinary course operation of our business, including instances in which we are named as defendants in lawsuits arising out of accidents causing personal injuries or other events that occur on the properties operated by our customers. We generally seek to have our customers defend, and assume liability for, such matters involving their properties. In other cases, we may defend ourselves, invoke our insurance coverage or the coverage of our customers, and/or invoke our indemnification rights included in our leases. Resolution of these types of matters against us may result in significant legal fees and/or require us to pay significant fines, judgments or settlements, which, to the extent uninsured or in excess of insured limits, or not subject to indemnification, could adversely impact our earnings and cash flows. We also may become subject to litigation relating to our financing and other transactions. Certain types of litigation, if determined adversely to us, may affect the availability or cost of some of our insurance coverage, which could expose us to increased risks that would be uninsured and materially and adversely impact our ability to attract directors and officers.

Future federal, state and local rules or regulations may adversely affect our and our customers’ results of operations.

Compliance with future federal, state and local governmental rules or regulations, or stricter interpretation of existing governmental rules or regulations, may result in new costs, new liabilities, restrictions on current business activities and could cause a material and adverse effect on our and our customers’ results of operation. There is no way to predict what governmental rules or regulations will be enacted in the future, how future rules or regulations will be administered or interpreted or how future rules or regulations will affect our or our customers’ businesses.

Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

Item 2. PROPERTIES

As of December 31, 2022, our total investment in real estate and loans approximated $12.0 billion, representing investments in 3,084 property locations, substantially all of which are profit centers for our customers. The weighted average non-cancelable remaining term of our leases was approximately 13.1 years.

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Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We are subject to various legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of our business, including instances in which we are named as defendants in lawsuits arising out of accidents causing personal injuries or other events that occur on the properties operated by our customers. These matters are generally covered by insurance and/or by our customers pursuant to our contractual indemnification rights that we include in our leases. Management believes that the final outcome of such matters will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not Applicable.

PART II

Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON STOCK, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

There is no established public trading market for our common equity. 100.0% of our common equity is beneficially owned by our two members.

Distributions

Distributions will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on our actual funds from operations, financial condition and capital requirements, and the annual distribution requirements under the REIT provisions of the Code and other factors.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

During the three months ended December 31, 2022, the Company did not repurchase any of its equity securities.

Item 6. [Reserved]

Item 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read together with the “Business” section, as well as the consolidated financial statements and related notes in Part II, Item 8 in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this Annual Report, including information with respect to our plans and strategies for our business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should read “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and the “Forward-Looking Statements” sections of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by these forward-looking statements.

In 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued ASU 2019-07, Codification Updates to SEC Sections-Amendments to SEC Paragraphs Pursuant to SEC Final Rule Releases No. 33-10532, Disclosure Update and Simplification, which makes a number of changes meant to simplify certain disclosures in financial condition and results of operations, particularly by eliminating year-to-year comparisons between prior periods previously disclosed. In complying with the relevant aspects of the rule covering the current year Annual Report, we include disclosures on our cash flows and results of operations for fiscal year 2022 versus 2021 only. For discussion of our fiscal year 2021 compared to our fiscal year 2020, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report filed with the SEC for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.

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The Merger

On September 15, 2022, STORE Capital Corporation, a Maryland corporation, Ivory Parent, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Parent”) and Ivory REIT, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Merger Sub” and, together with Parent, the “Parent Parties”), entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”). The Parent Parties are affiliates of GIC, a global institutional investor, and Oak Street Real Estate Capital, a division of Blue Owl Capital, Inc. On February 3, 2023 (the “Closing Date”), pursuant to the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, STORE Capital Corporation merged with and into Merger Sub (the “Merger”) with Merger Sub surviving (the “Surviving Entity”) and the separate existence of STORE Capital Corporation ceased. Immediately following the completion of the Merger, the Surviving Entity changed its name to STORE Capital LLC. References herein to “we”, the “Company” “S|T|O|R|E”, or “STORE Capital” are references to STORE Capital Corporation prior to the Merger and to STORE Capital LLC upon and following the Merger. As of the Closing Date of the Merger, the common equity of the Company is no longer publicly traded.

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Following the Merger, we are a Delaware limited liability company organized as an internally managed real estate investment trust, or REIT. As a REIT, we will generally not be subject to federal income tax to the extent that we distribute all our taxable income to our members and meet other requirements.

Overview

We invest in Single Tenant Operational Real Estate, or STORE Property, which is our target market and the inspiration for our name. A STORE Property is a property location at which a company operates its business and generates sales and profits, which makes the location a profit center and, therefore, fundamentally important to that business. Due to the long-term nature of our leases, we focus our acquisition activity on properties that operate in industries we believe have long-term relevance, the majority of which are service industries. By acquiring the real estate from the operators and then leasing the real estate back to them, the operators become our long-term tenants, and we refer to them as our customers. Through the execution of these sale-leaseback transactions, we fill a need for our customers by providing them a source of long-term capital that enables them to avoid the need to incur debt and/or employ equity in order to finance the real estate that is essential to their business.

All the real estate we acquire is held by our wholly owned subsidiaries, many of which are special purpose bankruptcy remote entities formed to facilitate the financing of our real estate. We predominantly acquire our single-tenant properties directly from our customers in sale-leaseback transactions where our customers sell us their operating properties and then simultaneously enter into long-term triple-net leases with us to lease the properties back. Accordingly, our properties are fully occupied and under lease from the moment we acquire them.

We generate our cash from operations primarily through the monthly lease payments, or “base rent”, we receive from our customers under their long-term leases with us. We also receive interest payments on loans receivable, which are a smaller part of our portfolio. We refer to the monthly scheduled lease and interest payments due from our customers as “base rent and interest”. Most of our leases contain lease escalations every year or every several years that are based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index or a stated percentage, which allows the monthly lease payments we receive to increase somewhat over the life of the lease contracts. As of December 31, 2022, approximately 99% of our leases (based on base rent) were “triple-net” leases, which means that our customers are responsible for all the operating costs such as maintenance, insurance and property taxes associated with the properties they lease from us, including any increases in those costs that may occur as a result of inflation. The remaining leases have some landlord responsibilities, generally related to maintenance and structural component replacement that may be required on such properties in the future, although we do not currently anticipate incurring significant capital expenditures or property-level operating costs under such leases. Because our properties are single-tenant properties, almost all of which are under long-term leases, it is not necessary for us to perform any significant ongoing leasing activities on our properties.

We have dedicated an internal team to review and analyze ongoing customer financial performance, both at the corporate level and with respect to each property we own, in order to identify properties that may no longer be part of our long-term strategic plan and as such, we may from time to time decide to sell properties.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2022, our investment portfolio stood at approximately $12.0 billion, consisting of investments in 3,084 property locations. Substantially all of our cash from operations is generated by our investment portfolio.

Our primary cash expenditures are the principal and interest payments we make on the debt we use to finance our real estate investment portfolio and the general and administrative expenses of managing the portfolio and operating our business. Since substantially all our leases are triple net, our tenants are generally responsible for the maintenance, insurance and property taxes associated with the properties they lease from us. When a property becomes vacant through a tenant default or expiration of the lease term with no tenant renewal, we incur the property costs not paid by the tenant, as well as those property costs accruing during the time it takes to locate a substitute tenant or sell the property. We expect to incur some property-level operating costs from time to time in periods during which properties that become vacant are being remarketed. In addition, we may recognize an expense for certain property costs, such as real estate taxes billed in arrears, if we believe the tenant is likely to vacate the property before making payment on those obligations or may be unable to pay such costs in a timely manner. Property costs are generally not significant to our operations, but the amount of property costs can vary quarter to quarter based on the timing of property vacancies and the level of underperforming properties. We may advance certain property costs on behalf of our tenants but expect that the majority of these costs will be reimbursed by the tenant and do not anticipate that they will be significant to our operations.

We intend to continue to grow through additional real estate investments. To accomplish this objective, we must continue to identify real estate acquisitions that are consistent with our underwriting guidelines and raise future additional capital to make such acquisitions. We acquire real estate with a combination of debt and equity capital, proceeds from the sale of properties and cash from operations that is not otherwise distributed to our members in the form of distributions. We also periodically commit to fund the construction of new properties for our customers or to provide them funds to improve and/or renovate properties we lease to them. These additional investments will generally result in increases to the rental revenue or interest income due under the related contracts.

Financing Strategy

Our debt capital is initially provided on a short-term, temporary basis through a multi-year, variable-rate unsecured revolving credit facility with a group of banks. We manage our long-term leverage position through the strategic and economic issuance of long-term fixed-rate debt on both a secured and unsecured basis. By matching the expected cash inflows from our long-term real estate leases with the expected cash outflows of our long-term fixed-rate debt, we “lock in”, for as long as is economically feasible, the expected positive difference between our scheduled cash inflows on the leases and the cash outflows on our debt payments. By locking in this difference, or spread, we seek to reduce the risk that increases in interest rates would adversely impact our profitability. In addition, we use various financial instruments designed to mitigate the impact of interest rate fluctuations on our cash flows and earnings, including hedging strategies such as interest rate swaps and caps, depending on our analysis of the interest rate environment and the costs and risks of such strategies. We also ladder our debt maturities in order to minimize the gap between our free cash flow (which we define as our cash from operations less distributions plus proceeds from our sale of properties) and our annual debt maturities.

Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility

As of December 31, 2022, we had $555.0 million outstanding under our previous unsecured revolving credit facility. Borrowings under the previous facility required monthly payments of interest at a rate selected by us of either (1) LIBOR plus a credit spread ranging from 0.70% to 1.40%, or (2) the Base Rate, as defined in the credit agreement, plus a credit spread ranging from 0.00% to 0.40%. The credit spread used was based on our credit rating as defined in the credit agreement. We were also required to pay a facility fee on the total commitment amount ranging from 0.10% to 0.30%. As of December 31, 2022, the applicable credit spread for LIBOR-based borrowings was 0.85% and the facility fee was 0.20%.

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Under the terms of the facility, we were subject to various restrictive financial and nonfinancial covenants, which, among other things, required us to maintain certain leverage ratios, cash flow and debt service coverage ratios and secured borrowing ratios. The facility was recourse to us, and, as of December 31, 2022, we were in compliance with the financial and nonfinancial covenants under the facility.

In connection with the completion of the Merger on February 3, 2023, we repaid in full all amounts outstanding under, and terminated, the previous revolving credit facility agreement. Concurrently, we entered into a new unsecured credit agreement with a group of lenders which provides for a senior unsecured revolving credit facility of up to $500.0 million. The facility is scheduled to mature in February 2027 and includes two six-month extension options, subject to certain conditions and the payment of a 0.075% extension fee. Borrowings under the facility require monthly payments of interest at a rate selected by us of either (1) SOFR plus an adjustment of 0.10%, plus a credit spread ranging from 1.00% to 1.45%, or (2) the Base Rate, as defined in the credit agreement, plus a credit spread ranging from 0.00% to 0.45%. The credit spread used is based on our consolidated total leverage ratio as defined in the credit agreement. We are also required to pay a facility fee on the total commitment amount ranging from 0.15% to 0.30% based on our consolidated total leverage ratio. Our credit agreement allows for a further reduction in the pricing of one basis point if certain environmental sustainability metrics are met. In March 2023, we entered into an incremental amendment to the unsecured credit agreement which provides for increases to the commitments under the revolving credit facility in an amount of $150.0 million.

Senior Unsecured Term Debt

As of December 31, 2022, we had an aggregate principal amount of $1.4 billion of underwritten public notes outstanding. These senior unsecured notes bear a weighted average coupon rate of 3.63% and interest on these notes is paid semi-annually. The supplemental indentures governing our public notes contain various restrictive covenants, including limitations on our ability to incur additional secured and unsecured indebtedness. As of December 31, 2022, we were in compliance with these covenants.

Prior to our inaugural issuance of public debt in March 2018, our unsecured long-term debt had been issued through the private placement of notes to institutional investors. The financial covenants of the privately placed notes are similar to our previous unsecured revolving credit facility, and, as of December 31, 2022, we were in compliance with these covenants. In November 2022, at maturity we paid off an aggregate principal amount of $75.0 million of such unsecured privately placed notes. Upon the completion of the Merger, we were required to offer to repurchase the remaining $300.0 million in aggregate principal amount of such privately placed notes. Following the closing of the repurchase offer period, we repurchased $185.6 million in aggregate principal amounts of such notes.

In April 2022, we entered into a term loan agreement under which we borrowed an aggregate $600.0 million of floating-rate, unsecured term loans; the loans consisted of a $400.0 million five-year loan and a $200.0 million seven-year loan. The interest rate on each of the term loans reset daily at Daily Simple SOFR plus an adjustment of 0.10% plus a credit rating-based credit spread ranging from 0.75% to 1.60% on the five-year loan and 1.25% to 2.20% on the seven-year loan. The applicable credit spread as of December 31, 2022 was 0.95% for the five-year loan and 1.25% for the seven-year loan. In conjunction with entering into these floating-rate term loans, we also entered into interest rate swap agreements that effectively converted the floating rates to a weighted average fixed rate of 3.68%.

The April 2022 term loans were arranged with lenders that also participated in our previous unsecured revolving credit facility and the financial covenants of the term loans matched the covenants of that facility. As of December 31, 2022, we were in compliance with these covenants. The term loans were senior unsecured obligations, required monthly interest payments and could be prepaid at any time; the seven-year loan had a prepayment premium of 2% if repaid in year one and 1% if repaid in year two.

In December 2022, we entered into a term loan agreement with an initial commitment of $100.0 million of unsecured, floating-rate, short-term borrowings. As of December 31, 2022, we had borrowings of $90.0 million outstanding on this term loan. The loan matured at the consummation of the Merger. The interest rate on this loan reset daily at Daily Simple SOFR, plus an adjustment of 0.10% plus a credit rating-based credit spread ranging from 0.75% to 1.60%. The credit spread applicable as of December 31, 2022 was 0.95%. The term loan agreement included an incremental borrowing feature that allowed us to request up to an additional $100.0 million of term borrowings after

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December 31, 2022. The loan was arranged with a lender that also participated in our previous unsecured revolving credit facility. The financial covenants of the term loan matched the covenants of the previous unsecured revolving credit facility. As of December 31, 2022, we were in compliance with these covenants. The term loan was a senior unsecured obligation and required monthly interest payments.

In connection with the completion of the Merger on February 3, 2023, we repaid all amounts outstanding and terminated both the April 2022 term loans and the December 2022 term loan. Concurrently, we entered into an unsecured credit agreement with a group of lenders which provides for an unsecured, variable-rate term loan of $600.0 million. The term loan matures in April 2027 and the interest rate resets daily at Daily Simple SOFR plus an adjustment of 0.10%, plus a credit spread ranging from 1.10% to 1.70% based on our consolidated total leverage ratio as defined in the credit agreement. Our credit agreement allows for a further reduction in the pricing of one basis point if certain environmental sustainability metrics are met. Our existing cash flow hedges were transferred to the new term loan and effectively convert the variable-rate on the term loan to a fixed rate of 3.88%. In March 2023, we entered into an incremental amendment to the unsecured credit agreement which provides for increases to the term loan in an amount of $200.0 million. In connection with the amendment, we entered into one interest rate swap agreement with a notional amount of $200.0 million that effectively converts the incremental borrowings to a fixed interest rate of 5.17% for the remaining term of the loan.

The aggregate outstanding principal amount of our unsecured senior notes and term loans payable was $2.4 billion as of December 31, 2022 and the following is a summary, by year, of the scheduled payments of both principal and interest for these notes (in thousands).

Non-recourse Secured Debt

As of December 31, 2022, approximately 30% of our real estate investment portfolio served as collateral for outstanding borrowings under our STORE Master Funding debt program. We believe our STORE Master Funding program allows for flexibility not commonly found in non-recourse debt, often making it preferable to traditional debt issued in the commercial mortgage-backed securities market. Under the program, STORE Capital serves as both master and special servicer for the collateral pool, allowing for active portfolio monitoring and prompt issue resolution. In addition, features of the program allowing for the sale or substitution of collateral, provided certain criteria are met, facilitate active portfolio management. Through this debt program, we arrange for bankruptcy remote, special purpose entity subsidiaries to issue multiple series of investment-grade asset-backed net-lease mortgage notes, or ABS notes, from time to time as additional collateral is added to the collateral pool and leverage can be added in incremental note issuances based on the value of the collateral pool.

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The ABS notes are generally issued by our wholly owned special purpose entity subsidiaries to institutional investors through the asset backed securities market. These ABS notes are typically issued in two classes, Class A and Class B. At the time of issuance, the Class A notes represent approximately 70% of the appraised value of the underlying real estate collateral owned by the issuing subsidiaries and are currently rated AAA or A+ by S&P Global Ratings.

The aggregate outstanding principal amount of our secured mortgage notes payable was $2.3 billion as of December 31, 2022 and the scheduled maturities, including balloon payments, and scheduled interest payments on our aggregate secured mortgage notes payable are as follows (in thousands):

Debt Summary

As of December 31, 2022, our aggregate secured and unsecured term debt had an outstanding principal balance of $4.7 billion, a weighted average maturity of 5.9 years and a weighted average interest rate of 3.9%. The following is a summary of the outstanding balance of our borrowings as well as a summary of the portion of our real estate investment portfolio that is either pledged as collateral for these borrowings or is unencumbered as of December 31, 2022:

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Our decision to use either senior unsecured term debt, STORE Master Funding or other non-recourse traditional mortgage loan borrowings depends on our view of the most strategic blend of unsecured versus secured debt that is needed to maintain our targeted level of overall corporate leverage as well as on borrowing costs, debt terms, debt flexibility and the tenant and industry diversification levels of our real estate assets. Our growing pool of unencumbered assets will increase our financial flexibility by providing us with assets that can support senior unsecured financing or that can serve as substitute collateral for existing debt. Should market factors, which are beyond our control, adversely impact our access to these debt sources at economically feasible rates, our ability to grow through additional real estate acquisitions will be limited to any undistributed amounts available from our operations and any additional equity capital raises from our members.

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For additional details and terms regarding these debt instruments, see Note 4 to the December 31, 2022 consolidated financial statements.

Equity

We historically accessed the equity markets in various ways. As part of these efforts, we established “at the market” equity distribution programs, or ATM programs, pursuant to which, from time to time, we could offer and sell registered shares of our common stock through a group of banks acting as our sales agents. Most recently, in November 2020, we established a $900 million ATM program (the “2020 ATM Program”).

The following tables outline the common stock issuances under our 2020 ATM Program (in millions except share and per share information):

The 2020 ATM Program was terminated upon the closing of the Merger.

Cash Flows

Substantially all our cash from operations is generated by our investment portfolio. As shown in the following table, net cash provided by operating activities in 2022 increased by $91.0 million over 2021, primarily as a result of the increase in the size of our real estate investment portfolio, which generated additional rental revenue and interest income. Our investments in real estate, loans and financing receivables during 2022 were $111.2 million more than 2021. During 2022, our investment activity was primarily funded with a combination of cash from operations, borrowings on our revolving credit facility, net proceeds received from our term loan borrowings, proceeds from the issuance of stock and proceeds from the sale of real estate properties. Investment activity during 2021 was primarily funded with a combination of cash from operations, proceeds from the issuance of stock, proceeds from the sale of real estate properties, proceeds from the issuance of common stock, proceeds from the issuance of long-term debt in June and November of 2021 and borrowings on our revolving credit facility. From a financing perspective, our activities provided $648.4 million of net cash during 2022 as compared to $439.9 million in 2021. Financing activities in 2022 include the aggregate $600.0 million of bank term loans we entered into in April, $425.0 million of net borrowings on the revolving credit facility, and an additional $90.0 million of bank term loans we entered into in December, offset by $267.6 million of aggregate debt repayments on our secured and unsecured long-term debt. We paid dividends to our stockholders totaling $439.1 million and $398.0 million during 2022 and 2021, respectively.

As of December 31, 2022, we had liquidity of $35.1 million on our balance sheet. Management believes that our current cash balance, the immediate borrowing capacity available on our unsecured revolving credit facility, and cash generated by our operations is sufficient to fund our operations for the foreseeable future and allow us to acquire the real estate for which we currently have made commitments. In order to continue to grow our real estate portfolio in the future,

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beyond the excess cash generated by our operations and our ability to borrow, we would expect to raise additional equity capital from our members.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2 to the December 31, 2022 consolidated financial statements.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our discussion and analysis of our historical financial condition and results of operations is based upon our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Although management believes its estimates are reasonable, actual results could differ materially from those estimates. The accounting policies discussed below are considered critical because changes to certain judgments and assumptions inherent in these policies could affect the financial statements. For more information on our accounting policies, please refer to the notes to our consolidated financial statements.

Accounting for Real Estate Investments

Classification and Cost

We record the acquisition of real estate properties at cost, including acquisition and closing costs. We allocate the cost of real estate properties to the tangible and intangible assets and liabilities acquired based on their estimated relative fair values. Intangible assets and liabilities acquired may include the value of existing in-place leases, above-market or below-market lease value of in-place leases and ground lease-related intangibles, as applicable. Management uses multiple sources to estimate fair value, including independent appraisals and information obtained about each property as a result of its pre-acquisition due diligence and its marketing and leasing activities. Certain of our lease contracts allow our customers the option, at their election, to purchase the leased property from us at a specified time or times (generally at the greater of the then-fair market value or our cost, as defined in the lease contracts). Subsequent to the adoption of Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842)(“ASC Topic 842”) on January 1, 2019, for real estate assets acquired through a sale-leaseback transaction and subject to a lease contract which contains a purchase option, we will account for such an acquisition as a financing arrangement and record the investment in loans and financing receivables on the consolidated balance sheet.

In-place lease intangibles are valued based on management’s estimates of lost rent and carrying costs during the time it would take to locate a tenant if the property were vacant, considering current market conditions and costs to execute similar leases. In estimating lost rent and carrying costs, management considers market rents, real estate taxes, insurance, costs to execute similar leases (including leasing commissions) and other related costs.

The fair value of any above-market or below-market lease is estimated based on the present value of the difference between the contractual amounts to be paid pursuant to the in-place lease and management’s estimate of current market lease rates for the property, measured over a period equal to the remaining term of the lease.

Impairment

We review our real estate investments and related lease intangibles periodically for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable through operations. Such events or changes in circumstances may include an expectation to sell certain assets in accordance with our long-term strategic plans. Management considers factors such as expected future undiscounted cash flows, capitalization and discount rates, terminal value, tenant improvements, market trends (such as the effects of leasing demand and competition) and other factors including bona fide purchase offers received from third parties in making this assessment. If an asset is determined to be impaired, the impairment is calculated as the amount by which the carrying value of the asset exceeds its

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estimated fair value. Estimating future cash flows is highly subjective and such estimates could differ materially from actual results.

Results of Operations

Overview

As of December 31, 2022, our real estate investment portfolio had grown to approximately $12.0 billion, consisting of investments in 3,084 property locations in 49 states. Approximately 94% of the real estate investment portfolio represents commercial real estate properties subject to long-term leases, approximately 6% represents mortgage loan and financing receivables on commercial real estate properties and a nominal amount represents loans receivable secured by our customers’ other assets.

Year Ended December 31, 2022 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2021

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Revenues

The increase in revenues year over year was driven primarily by the growth in the size of our real estate investment portfolio, which generated additional rental revenues and interest income. Our real estate investment portfolio grew from approximately $10.7 billion in gross investment amount representing 2,866 properties at the end of 2021 to approximately $12.0 billion in gross investment amount representing 3,084 properties at December 31, 2022. The weighted average real estate investment amounts outstanding during the years were approximately $11.3 billion in 2022 and $10.0 billion in 2021. Our real estate investments were made throughout the years presented and were not all outstanding for the entire period; accordingly, a portion of the increase in revenues between years is related to recognizing a full year of revenue in 2022 on acquisitions that were made during 2021. Similarly, the full revenue impact of acquisitions made during 2022 will not be seen until 2023. A smaller component of the increase in revenues between years is related to rent escalations recognized on our lease contracts; over time, these rent increases can provide a strong source of revenue growth. Additionally, during 2022, we collected $5.1 million in lease termination fee income, $4.2 million of which were associated with the sale of a property. Lease termination fee income is included in other income. Similarly, other income in 2021 includes $1.8 million of lease termination fee income associated with property sales.

The majority of our investments are made through sale-leaseback transactions in which we acquire the real estate from the owner-operators and then simultaneously lease the real estate back to them through long-term leases based on the tenant’s business needs. The initial rental or capitalization rates we achieve on sale-leaseback transactions, calculated as the initial annualized base rent divided by the purchase price of the properties, vary from transaction to transaction based on many factors, such as the terms of the lease, the property type including the property’s real estate fundamentals and the

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market rents in the area on the various types of properties we target across the United States. There are also online commercial real estate auction marketplaces for real estate transactions; properties acquired through these online marketplaces are often subject to existing leases and offered by third party sellers. In general, because we provide tailored customer lease solutions in sale-leaseback transactions, our lease rates historically have been higher and subject to less short-term market influences than what we have seen in the auction marketplace as a whole. In addition, since our real estate lease contracts are a substitute for both borrowings and equity that our customers would otherwise have to commit to their real estate locations, we believe there is a relationship between lease rates and market interest rates and that lease rates are also influenced by overall capital availability.

Interest Expense

We fund the growth in our real estate investment portfolio with excess cash flow from our operations after dividends and principal payments on debt, net proceeds from periodic sales of real estate, proceeds from issuances of long-term fixed-rate debt and net proceeds from equity issuances. We typically use our unsecured revolving credit facility to temporarily finance the properties we acquire.

The following table summarizes our interest expense.

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The increase in average debt outstanding was the primary driver for the increase in interest expense on secured and unsecured debt. Secured and unsecured debt added during 2022 included $600.0 million of unsecured floating-rate bank term loans issued in April 2022; the term loans have been effectively converted to a weighted average fixed-rate of 3.68% through the use of interest rate swaps. Long-term debt repaid in full, without penalties, during 2022 included $134.5 million of STORE Master Funding Series 2014-1, Class A-2 notes, which bore an interest rate of 5.0% and were scheduled to mature in 2024 and repayment of $75.0 million of unsecured privately placed notes in November 2022 at maturity. As of December 31, 2022, we had $4.7 billion of secured and unsecured debt outstanding with a weighted average interest rate of 3.9%.

We typically use our revolving credit facility on a short-term, temporary basis to acquire real estate properties until those borrowings are sufficiently large to warrant the economic issuance of long-term fixed-rate debt, the proceeds of which we generally use to pay down the amounts outstanding under our revolving credit facility. Interest expense associated with our revolving credit facility increased from 2021 as a result of the increased interest rate and increased level of borrowings outstanding on the revolver during 2022. As of December 31, 2022, we had $555.0 million of borrowings outstanding under our revolving credit facility.

Property Costs

Approximately 99% of our leases are triple net, meaning that our tenants are generally responsible for the property-level operating costs such as taxes, insurance and maintenance. Accordingly, we generally do not expect to incur

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property-level operating costs or capital expenditures, except during any period when one or more of our properties is no longer under lease or when our tenant is unable to meet their lease obligations. Our need to expend capital on our properties is further reduced due to the fact that some of our tenants will periodically refresh the property at their own expense to meet their business needs or in connection with franchisor requirements. As of December 31, 2022, we owned 16 properties that were vacant and not subject to a lease and the lease contracts related to just 20 properties we own are due to expire during 2023. We expect to incur some property costs related to the vacant properties until such time as those properties are either leased or sold. The amount of property costs can vary quarter to quarter based on the timing of property vacancies and the level of underperforming properties.

As of December 31, 2022, we had entered into operating ground leases as part of several real estate investment transactions. The ground lease payments made by our tenants directly to the ground lessors are presented on a gross basis in the condensed consolidated statement of income, both as rental revenues and as property costs. For the few lease contracts where we collect property taxes from our tenants and remit those taxes to governmental authorities, we reflect those payments on a gross basis as both rental revenue and as property costs.

The following is a summary of property costs (in thousands):

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses include compensation and benefits; professional fees such as portfolio servicing, legal, accounting and rating agency fees; and general office expenses such as insurance, office rent and travel costs. General and administrative costs totaled $62.6 million in 2022 as compared to $84.1 million in 2021. Expenses for 2021 included approximately $6.9 million of severance costs related to the departure of our former Executive Chairman and approximately $890,000 of transition costs related to the appointment of our former Chief Financial Officer. Additionally, compensation expense for equity-based payments totaled $12.4 million in 2022 as compared to $32.2 million in 2021. Expenses in 2021 included $10.1 million related to the expense for certain modified performance-based stock based compensation awards granted in 2018 and 2019 and $3.2 million of accelerated amortization of certain stock-based compensation awards associated with executive severance and retirement agreements.

Excluding noncash, stock-based compensation expense and executive severance and transition costs from both periods, general and administrative expenses was 0.44% of average portfolio investment assets in 2022 and 2021. We expect that general and administrative expenses will continue to rise in some measure as our real estate investment portfolio grows. Certain expenses, such as property related insurance costs and the costs of servicing the properties and loans comprising our real estate portfolio, increase in direct proportion to the increase in the size of the portfolio. However, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of the portfolio have decreased over time due to efficiencies and economies of scale.

Merger-related Expenses

Merger-related expenses include legal fees, investment banking fees and other costs incurred as a result of the Merger. Merger-related expenses totaled $12.2 million in 2022.

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Depreciation and Amortization Expense

Depreciation and amortization expense, which increases in proportion to the increase in the size of our real estate portfolio, rose from $265.8 million in 2021 to $308.1 million in 2022.

Provisions for Impairment

During 2022, we recognized provisions for impairment aggregating $16.4 million; of this amount, $16.0 million represented provisions for the impairment of real estate and $0.4 million represented provisions for credit losses related to our loans and financing receivables. During 2021, we recognized an aggregate $25.0 million of provisions for impairment, consisting of $21.8 million of impairments of real estate and $3.2 million of provisions for credit losses.

Net Gain on Dispositions of Real Estate

As part of our ongoing active portfolio management process, we sell properties from time to time in order to enhance the diversity and quality of our real estate portfolio and to take advantage of opportunities to recycle capital. During 2022, we recognized a $19.2 million aggregate net gain on the sale of 60 properties. In comparison, during 2021, we recognized a $46.7 million aggregate net gain on the sale of 103 properties. The net proceeds from the dispositions of real estate during 2022 aggregated $196 million as compared to an aggregate original investment amount of $212 million. For properties sold during 2021, net proceeds aggregated $356 million as compared to an aggregate original investment amount of $369 million. As noted earlier, during 2022 and 2021, we also collected $4.2 million and $1.8 million, respectively, of early lease termination payments in connection with certain property sales.

Net Income

For the year ended December 31, 2022, our net income was $327.9 million reflecting an increase from $268.3 million in 2021. The change in net income is primarily comprised of a net increase resulting from the growth in our real estate investment portfolio, which generated additional rental revenues and interest income, and lower general and administrative expense, impairment and property costs which were partially offset by an increase in depreciation and amortization, a decrease in the net gain on dispositions of real estate, an increase in interest expense and an increase in Merger-related expenses, as noted above.

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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Our interest rate risk management objective is to limit the impact of future interest rate changes on our earnings and cash flows. We seek to match the cash inflows from our long-term leases with the expected cash outflows on our long-term debt. To achieve this objective, our consolidated subsidiaries primarily borrow on a fixed-rate basis for longer-term debt issuances. At December 31, 2022, all our long-term debt carried a fixed interest rate or was effectively converted to a fixed rate for the term of the debt and the weighted average long-term debt maturity was approximately 6.0 years. We are exposed to interest rate risk between the time we enter into a sale-leaseback transaction and the time we finance the related real estate with long-term fixed-rate debt. In addition, when that long-term debt matures, we may have to refinance the real estate at a higher interest rate. Market interest rates are sensitive to many factors that are beyond our control.

We address interest rate risk by employing the following strategies to help insulate us from any adverse impact of rising interest rates:

Although our long-term debt generally carries a fixed rate, we often temporarily fund our property acquisitions with a revolving credit facility, which carries a variable rate. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we had average daily outstanding borrowings of $196.6 million on our previous variable-rate revolving credit facility, which bore interest based on one-month LIBOR, plus a credit spread of 0.85% based on our current credit rating. Additionally, in December 2022 we entered into a term loan agreement with an initial commitment of $100.0 million of unsecured, floating-rate, short-term borrowings. As of December 31, 2022 we had borrowings of $90.0 million outstanding on this term loan which bore interest at Daily Simple SOFR plus an adjustment of 0.10% plus the applicable credit spread which was 0.95% based on our current credit rating.

In connection with the completion of the Merger, on February 3, 2023, we repaid in full all indebtedness, liabilities and other obligations outstanding under and terminated, the previous revolving credit facility and the April 2022 and December 2022 term loans. Concurrently, we entered into the following:

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We monitor our potential market interest rate risk exposures using a sensitivity analysis. Our sensitivity analysis estimates the exposure to market risk sensitive instruments noted above assuming a hypothetical adverse change in interest rates. Based on the results of our sensitivity analysis, which assumes a 1% adverse change in interest rates on variable rate debt expected to be outstanding during 2023, the estimated market risk exposure for our variable-rate debt is estimated to be approximately $10 million, or less than 1.5% of net cash provided by operating activities, for the year ended December 31, 2022. In addition, we may use various financial instruments designed to mitigate the impact of interest rate fluctuations on our cash flows and earnings, including hedging strategies, depending on our analysis of the interest rate environment and the costs and risks of such strategies. We do not use derivative instruments for trading or speculative purposes. See Note 2 to our Consolidated Financial Statements for further information on derivatives.

In July 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA (the authority that regulates LIBOR), first announced that it intended to stop compelling banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR. Subsequently, the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, or ARRC, identified the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, as the preferred alternative to LIBOR for use in derivatives and other financial contracts. On March 5, 2021, the FCA announced that U.S. Dollar (USD) LIBOR would no longer be published after June 30, 2023. This latest announcement had several implications, including setting the spread that may be used to automatically convert contracts from USD LIBOR to SOFR. Additionally, banking regulators encouraged banks to discontinue new LIBOR debt issuances by December 31, 2022.

At December 31, 2022, the Company’s $600.0 million unsecured revolving credit facility, which was set to mature in June 2025, was its only contract indexed to LIBOR. In connection with the completion of the Merger on February 3, 2023, we repaid all amounts outstanding under, and terminated, this revolving credit facility agreement and no longer have any LIBOR-based borrowings outstanding.

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Item 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

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To the Members and Board of Directors of STORE Capital LLC

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of STORE Capital Corporation (the Company) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, stockholders' equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes and financial statement schedules listed in the Index at Item 15(a) (collectively referred to as the consolidated financial statements). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission 2013 framework and our report dated March 22, 2023 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

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/s/ Ernst & Young LLP  

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We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2011.

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Phoenix, Arizona

March 22, 2023

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Members and Board of Directors of STORE Capital LLC

Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We have audited STORE Capital Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) (the COSO criteria). In our opinion, STORE Capital Corporation (the Company) maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on the COSO criteria.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes and the financial statement schedules listed in the Index at Item 15(a) and our report dated March 22, 2023 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.

Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

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Phoenix, Arizona

March 22, 2023

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STORE Capital Corporation

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In thousands, except share and per share data)