SEC Company Response from AH Realty Trust, Inc. (AHRT, AHRT-PA) (CIK 0001569187) (AHRT) — Apr 23, 2013
AH Realty Trust, Inc. (AHRT, AHRT-PA) (CIK 0001569187)
Date: April 23, 2013 · CIK: 0001569187 · Accession: 0001193125-13-168059
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-184538, 333-187513
Referenced dates: April 12, 2013, April 17, 2013, March 26, 2013
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CORRESP 1 filename1.htm SEC LETTER HUNTON & WILLIAMS LLP RIVERFRONT PLAZA, EAST TOWER 951 EAST BYRD STREET RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23219-4074 TEL 804 • 788 • 8200 FAX 804 • 788 • 8218 April 23, 2013 FILE NO: 79819.2 VIA EDGAR Mr. Michael McTiernan United States Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Corporation Finance 100 F Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20549 RE: Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. Amendment No. 1 to Registration Statement on Form S-11 Filed March 26, 2013 File No. 333-187513 Dear Mr. McTiernan: As counsel to Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc., a Maryland corporation (the “Company”), we are transmitting the Company’s responses to the comments of the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (the “Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) contained in your letter dated April 17, 2013 with drafts of portions of the Pre-Effective Amendment No. 2 (“Amendment No. 2”) to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-11 (File No. 333-184538) (the “Registration Statement”), which are attached to this letter as Exhibit A. For convenience of reference, each Staff comment contained in your April 17, 2013 comment letter is reprinted below in italics, numbered to correspond with the paragraph numbers assigned in your letter, and is followed by the corresponding response of the Company. We have provided to each of you, Ms. Shannon Sobotka, Mr. Robert Telewicz and Ms. Folake Ayoola, a courtesy copy of this letter. The changes reflected in Exhibit A have been made in response to the Staff’s comments. All page references in responses are to pages of the blacklined version of the Registration Statement included in Exhibit A. Capitalized terms used and not otherwise defined in this response letter that are defined in the Registration Statement have the meanings set forth in the Registration Statement. ATLANTA AUSTIN BANGKOK BEIJING BRUSSELS CHARLOTTE DALLAS HOUSTON LONDON LOS ANGELES McLEAN MIAMI NEW YORK NORFOLK RALEIGH RICHMOND SAN FRANCISCO TOKYO WASHINGTON www.hunton.com Mr. Michael McTiernan April 23, 2013 Page 2 Distribution Policy, page 62 1. Please clarify for us, and revise your disclosure to clearly state, whether your estimated general contracting and real estate services segment profit is a forecast or a projection. Similarly, the line items should be labeled as such in your footnote and on the face of your calculation of estimated cash available for distribution. In your response please tell us whether your estimate has been prepared in accordance with the AICPA standards for forecasts and projections. RESPONSE: The Company has revised its disclosure on pages 64, 66 and 67 to clearly state that its cash flows from general contracting and real estate services for the year ending December 31, 2013 is a forecast. The Company’s forecasted operating, investing and financing cash flows from general contracting and real estate services for the year ending December 31, 2013 is a financial forecast as defined in section 3.04 of the AICPA Guide for Prospective Financial Information. The Company’s forecast has been prepared in accordance with the AICPA standards for forecasts. 2. Please explain to us how you have met all of the requirements of Item 10(b)(2) of Regulation S-K related to your projections of general contracting and real estate services profit. To the extent you have determined that certain line items required by Item 10(b)(2) of Regulation S-K are not required or applicable, please provide us with the basis for your conclusions. RESPONSE: The Company has revised its disclosure on pages 64, 66 and 67 to include forecasted general contracting and real estate services revenues and segment profit for the year ending December 31, 2013. The Company has not disclosed forecasted general contracting and real estate services earnings per share for the year ending December 31, 2013 because such disclosure would not be applicable or meaningful in the Company’s calculation of cash available for distribution to stockholders and common unitholders. Mr. Michael McTiernan April 23, 2013 Page 3 3. Clarify how the profit presented is highly correlated to the cash flows anticipated to be received from this segment. In light of the uncertainty surrounding the timing of revenue recognition and given cash flows do not necessarily correspond to revenue recognized under the percentage of completion method, please disclose assumptions made that support how the forecasted profit provided by general contracting and real estate services for the year ended December 31, 2013 will fund your estimated distribution. The supporting evidence should include but not be limited to the items outlined below. • A description of the accounting principles used and a statement indicating whether or not these principles are consistent with those used to prepare your historical financial statements; • The amount of estimated cost overruns. To the extent no cost overruns were assumed, explain how you determined that assumption was reasonable and include cautionary language stating the effect on cash available for distribution if cost overruns do occur • Any contractual billing terms that effect the timing of receipt of general contracting cash flows RESPONSE: The Company has enhanced the disclosure regarding its forecasted cash flows from general contracting and real estate services to include a reconciliation of forecasted net operating income to forecasted operating cash flows from general contracting and real estate services for the year ending December 31, 2013. In accordance with the AICPA standards for forecasts, the Company has also revised its disclosure to include the following: • a summary of significant assumptions including those with respect to cost overruns and billing terms; and • a summary of significant accounting policies including a statement indicating that such policies are consistent with those used to prepare its historical financial statements. Mr. Michael McTiernan April 23, 2013 Page 4 4. Please include adjustments for any investing and financing activities related to this segment. In addition, please provide us with a summary of, and separately disclose, any adjustments related to general contracting and real estate services conducted with related parties. RESPONSE: The Company respectfully advises the Staff that it does not forecast any such cash flows from investing or financing activities for the year ending December 31, 2013. More specifically, the Company does not forecast any equipment purchases or any borrowings or repayments of debt by this segment for the year ending December 31, 2013. The Company has disclosed these assumptions on pages 66 and 67 in its discussion of forecasted investing and financing cash flows from general contracting and real estate services for the year ending December 31, 2013. In response to the Staff’s comment, the Company has revised its disclosure to include a summary of forecasted cash flows from related parties for the year ending December 31, 2013. 5. In your Management’s Discussion and Analysis you disclose that 20 construction projects were in progress as of December 31, 2012, and you expect that seven of these contacts will be on-going upon completion of the offering. Tell us how you considered the cash flow streams of the 11 contracts that were in progress at December 31, 2012 but were expected to be completed prior to the offering in your adjustments to arrive at cash available for distribution for the year ending December 31, 2013. RESPONSE: The Company has included the cash flow streams of all 13 construction contracts that were in progress at December 31, 2012 and are expected to be completed prior to the offering in its forecasted operating cash flows for the year ending December 31, 2013. In its revised disclosure on pages 64, 66 and 67, the Company has included the forecasted revenue, expenses and changes in assets and liabilities of all 13 of these contracts in its reconciliation of forecasted net operating income to forecasted operating cash flows for the year ending December 31, 2013. The Company’s forecasts with respect to these 13 contracts consider actual results as of March 31, 2013. Mr. Michael McTiernan April 23, 2013 Page 5 Unaudited Pro Forma Financial Statements For the Year Ended December 31, 2012 6. We have considered your response to our prior comment 6. Please address the following items as they relate to your analysis. • For each related party group you have identified, please explain to us how each entity meets the definition of a related party in accordance with ASC Topic 850. RESPONSE: As the Company communicated in its letter dated March 26, 2013 in response to prior comment 29 contained in the Staff’s March 11, 2013 comment letter, the Company concluded that Mr. Hoffler controls all but two of the entities that comprise the Predecessor (the “Controlled Entities”). Since Mr. Hoffler controls each of the Controlled Entities of the Predecessor, the Company intends to account for the combination of the Controlled Entities as a reorganization of entities under common control. As communicated in the Company’s response letter dated March 26, 2013 to the Staff, certain of the Controlled Entities were determined to be variable interest entities under the provisions of ASC 810. For those entities, the Company evaluated whether Mr. Hoffler has a controlling financial interest by holding power and benefits, as defined in ASC 810-10-25-38A, and thus is the entity’s primary beneficiary. For those entities in which it was determined that no party alone, including Mr. Hoffler, holds power and benefits, the Company then evaluated whether power and benefits were held by Mr. Hoffler and his related parties as a group. Pursuant to ASC 810-10-25-43, for purposes of the Variable Interest Entities subsection of the codification, the term related parties includes those parties identified in ASC 850. ASC 850-10-20 defines the term “related parties” as follows: Mr. Michael McTiernan April 23, 2013 Page 6 Related parties include: • Affiliates of the entity. • Entities for which investments in their equity securities would be required, absent the election of the fair value option under the Fair Value Option Subsection of Section 825–10–15, to be accounted for by the equity method by the investing entity. • Trusts for the benefit of employees, such as pension and profit-sharing trusts that are managed by or under the trusteeship of management. • Principal owners of the entity and members of their immediate families. • Management of the entity and members of their immediate families. • Other parties with which the entity may deal if one party controls or can significantly influence the management or operating policies of the other to an extent that one of the transacting parties might be prevented from fully pursuing its own separate interests. • Other parties that can significantly influence the management or operating policies of the transacting parties or that have an ownership interest in one of the transacting parties and can significantly influence the other to an extent that one or more of the transacting parties might be prevented from fully pursuing its own separate interests. ASC 850-10-20 further defines the term “affiliates” as “a party that, directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with an entity.” In addition to those parties identified in ASC 850, the term related parties in ASC 810-10-25-43 includes other parties that are de facto agents of the variable interest holder. ASC 810-10-25-43 defines de facto agents as: a. A party that cannot finance its operations without subordinated financial support from the reporting entity, for example, another VIE of which the reporting entity is the primary beneficiary. b. A party that received its interests as a contribution or a loan from the reporting entity. c. An officer, employee, or member of the governing board of the reporting entity. d. A party that has an agreement that it cannot sell, transfer, or encumber its interests in the VIE without the prior approval of the reporting entity. The right of prior approval creates a de facto agency relationship only if that right could constrain the other party’s ability to manage the economic risks or realize the economic rewards from its interests in a VIE through the sale, transfer, or encumbrance of those interests. However, a de facto agency relationship does not exist if both the reporting entity and the party have right of prior approval and the rights are based on mutually agreed terms by willing, independent parties. e. A party that has a close business relationship like the relationship between a professional service provider and one of its significant clients. Mr. Michael McTiernan April 23, 2013 Page 7 The persons or entities comprising each related party group that the Company identified in its letter dated April 12, 2013 in response to prior comment 6 contained in the Staff’s April 5, 2013 comment letter, are either related parties of Mr. Hoffler, as defined in ASC 850-10-20, or de facto agents of Mr. Hoffler, as defined in ASC 810-10-25-43, because they are either: • individuals who hold equity interests that cannot be sold, transferred or encumbered without the prior approval of Mr. Hoffler; or • entities that are controlled by Mr. Hoffler and therefore affiliates of Mr. Hoffler. The Company describes its considerations in further detail below regarding the related party group for the Controlled Entities. Corporations A and B The Company respectfully directs the Staff to its response to prior comment 6 regarding Corporations A and B in which the Company noted that the related party group is comprised of each of the shareholders of Corporations A and B. Each of the shareholders of Corporations A and B, including Messrs. Haddad and Kirk who represent two of the three directors of Corporations A and B along with Mr. Hoffler, are party to an agreement with Mr. Hoffler whereby if the shareholder wishes to sell, transfer or encumber such interest it may not be done without the approval of Mr. Hoffler. Such agreements were executed at the time the equity interest was obtained by the shareholders and were not entered into in anticipation of the Company’s initial public offering. Furthermore, the agreement is not reciprocal as Mr. Hoffler is not required to obtain approval of the other shareholders if he wishes to sell, transfer or encumber his interests in Corporations A and B. Mr. Michael McTiernan April 23, 2013 Page 8 As a result, the Company believes that each of the shareholders in Corporations A and B are considered de facto agents and therefore related parties of Mr. Hoffler under the guidance in ASC 810-10-15-43(d). As the Company communicated in its letter dated April 12, 2013 in response to prior comment 6 contained in the Staff’s April 5, 2013 comment letter, Mr. Hoffler controls 50% of the voting rights of both Corporations A and B and was significantly involved in the design of the Corporations. Additionally no other individual shareholder controls more than 20% of such voting rights. As a result, Mr. Hoffler is by far the largest individual shareholder of both entities and, therefore, the activities of Corporations A and B impact Mr. Hoffler to a greater extent than other members of the related party group because of his relative exposure to the variability associated with the anticipated economic performance of Corporations A and B. Based on the foregoing analysis, the Company concluded that Mr. Hoffler was the party within the related party group most closely associated with the entity and therefore its