2. Related-Party Transactions

Gladstone Management and Gladstone Administration

We are externally managed pursuant to contractual arrangements with our Adviser and our Administrator, which collectively employ all of our personnel and pay their salaries, benefits, and general expenses directly. Both our Adviser and Administrator are affiliates of ours, as their parent company is owned and controlled by Mr. David Gladstone, our chairman and chief executive officer. We have an advisory agreement with our Adviser, and an administration agreement with our Administrator, or the Administration Agreement. The services and fees under the advisory agreement and Administration Agreement are described below. At December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, $1.9 million and $0.9 million, respectively, was collectively due to our Adviser and Administrator.

Base Management Fee

On July 24, 2015, we entered into an amended and restated advisory agreement, or the Amended Advisory Agreement, with the Adviser. Our entrance into the agreement was approved unanimously by our Board of Directors, including separate and unanimous approval by the independent directors on our Board of Directors. Our Board of Directors approves or renews the agreement with our Adviser each July.

Pursuant to the terms of the Amended Advisory Agreement, effective July 1, 2015, the calculation of the annual base management fee equals 1.5% of our adjusted total stockholders’ equity, which is our total stockholders’ equity (before giving effect to the base management fee and incentive fee), adjusted to exclude the effect of any unrealized gains or losses that do not affect realized net income (including impairment charges) and adjusted for any one-time events and certain non-cash items (the later to occur for a given quarter only upon the approval of our Compensation Committee). The fee is calculated and accrued quarterly as 0.375% per quarter of such adjusted total stockholders’ equity figure.

 

Prior to its amendment and restatement on July 24, 2015, our then-existing advisory agreement with the Adviser, or the Former Advisory Agreement, provided for an annual base management fee equal to 2.0% of our common stockholders’ equity, which was our total stockholders’ equity, less the recorded value of any preferred stock and adjusted to exclude the effect of any unrealized gains, losses, or other items that did not affect realized net income (including impairment charges).

For the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, we recorded a base management fee of $3.5 million, $2.8 million, and $2.0 million, respectively. The Adviser’s Board of Directors voted to give us a credit to the base management fee for the year ended December 31, 2014 of $0.2 million. No credits were recorded for either the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2013, respectively.

Incentive Fee

Under the Amended Advisory Agreement, effective July 1, 2015, the calculation of the incentive fee was revised to reward the Adviser in circumstances where our quarterly Core FFO (defined at the end of this paragraph), before giving effect to any incentive fee, or pre-incentive fee Core FFO, exceeds 2.0% quarterly, or 8.0% annualized, of adjusted total stockholders’ equity (after giving effect to the base management fee but before giving effect to the incentive fee). We refer to this as the new hurdle rate. The Adviser will receive 15.0% of the amount of our pre-incentive fee Core FFO that exceeds the new hurdle rate. However, in no event shall the incentive fee for a particular quarter exceed by 15.0% (the cap) the average quarterly incentive fee paid by us for the previous four quarters (excluding quarters for which no incentive fee was paid). Core FFO is defined as GAAP net income (loss) available to common stockholders, excluding the incentive fee, depreciation and amortization, any realized and unrealized gains, losses or other non-cash items recorded in net income (loss) available to common stockholders for the period, and one-time events pursuant to changes in GAAP.

The incentive fee under the Former Advisory Agreement rewarded the Adviser in circumstances where our quarterly FFO, before giving effect to any incentive fee, or pre-incentive fee FFO, exceeded 1.75%, or 7.0% annualized, or the hurdle rate, of common stockholders’ equity. Funds from operations, or FFO, included any realized capital gains and capital losses, less any distributions paid on preferred stock and Senior Common Stock, but FFO did not include any unrealized capital gains or losses (including impairment charges). The Adviser received 100.0% of the amount of the pre-incentive fee FFO that exceeded the hurdle rate, but was less than 2.1875% of our common stockholders’ equity. The Adviser also received an incentive fee of 20.0% of the amount of our pre-incentive fee FFO that exceeded 2.1875% of common stockholders’ equity.

For the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, we recorded an incentive fee of $4.7 million, $4.3 million, and $4.2 million, respectively, offset by credits related to unconditional, voluntary and irrevocable waivers issued by the Adviser of $2.5 million, $3.0 million, and $3.5 million, respectively, resulting in a net incentive fee for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, of $2.2 million, $1.3 million, and $0.7 million, respectively. Our Board of Directors accepted the Adviser’s offer to waive, on a quarterly basis, a portion of the incentive fee for the six months covering January 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015, and for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, in order to support the current level of distributions to our stockholders. The Adviser did not waive any portion of the incentive fee for the six months ended December 31, 2015. Waivers cannot be recouped by the Adviser in the future.

Capital Gain Fee

Under the Amended Advisory Agreement, effective July 1, 2015, we will pay to the Adviser a capital gains-based incentive fee that will be calculated and payable in arrears as of the end of each fiscal year (or upon termination of the agreement). In determining the capital gain fee, we will calculate aggregate realized capital gains and aggregate realized capital losses for the applicable time period. For this purpose, aggregate realized capital gains and losses, if any, equals the realized gain or loss calculated by the difference between the sales price of the property, less any costs to sell the property and the current gross value of the property (which is calculated as the original acquisition price plus any subsequent non-reimbursed capital improvements). At the end of the fiscal year, if this number is positive, then the capital gain fee payable for such time period shall equal 15.0% of such amount. We did not incur a capital gain fee for the year ended December 31, 2015.

 

Termination Fee

The Amended Advisory Agreement includes a termination fee whereby, in the event of our termination of the agreement without cause (with 120 days’ prior written notice and the vote of at least two-thirds of our independent directors), a termination fee would be payable to the Adviser equal to two times the sum of the average annual base management fee and incentive fee earned by the Adviser during the 24-month period prior to such termination. A termination fee is also payable if the Adviser terminates the agreement after the Company has defaulted and applicable cure periods have expired. The agreement may also be terminated for cause by us (with 30 days’ prior written notice and the vote of at least two-thirds of our independent directors), with no termination fee payable. Cause is defined in the agreement to include if the Adviser breaches any material provisions of the agreement, the bankruptcy or insolvency of the Adviser, dissolution of the Adviser and fraud or misappropriation of funds.

Administration Agreement

Pursuant to the Administration Agreement, we pay for our allocable portion of the Administrator’s expenses in performing services to us, including, but not limited to, rent and the salaries and benefits of its personnel, including our chief financial officer, treasurer, chief compliance officer, general counsel and secretary (who also serves as our Administrator’s president), and their respective staffs. Prior to July 1, 2014, our allocable portion was generally derived by multiplying that portion of the Administrator’s expenses allocable to all funds managed by the Adviser by the percentage of our total assets at the beginning of each quarter in comparison to the total assets of all funds managed by the Adviser. As approved by our Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2014, our allocable portion of the Administrator’s expenses is derived by multiplying our Administrator’s total expenses by the approximate percentage of time the Administrator’s employees perform services for us in relation to their time spent performing services for all companies serviced by our Administrator under contractual agreements. For the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, we recorded an administration fee of $1.4 million, $1.5 million, and $1.5 million, respectively. Our Board of Directors approves or renews the agreement with our Administrator each July.

Gladstone Securities

Gladstone Securities, LLC, or Gladstone Securities, is a privately held broker dealer registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and insured by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Gladstone Securities is an affiliate of ours, as its parent company is controlled by Mr. David Gladstone, our chairman and chief executive officer. Mr. Gladstone also serves on the board of managers of Gladstone Securities.

Dealer Manager Agreement

In connection with the offering of our Senior Common Stock (see footnote 10, “Stockholders’ Equity,” for further details) we entered into a Dealer Manager Agreement, dated March 25, 2011, or the Dealer Manager Agreement, with Gladstone Securities pursuant to which Gladstone Securities agreed to act as our exclusive dealer manager in connection with the offering. The Dealer Manager Agreement terminated according to its terms on March 28, 2015, requiring us to write-off $0.1 million of deferred offering costs to general and administrative expense. Pursuant to the terms of the Dealer Manager Agreement, Gladstone Securities was entitled to receive a sales commission in the amount of 7.0% of the gross proceeds of the shares of Senior Common Stock sold, plus a dealer manager fee in the amount of 3.0% of the gross proceeds of the shares of Senior Common Stock sold. In addition, we agreed to indemnify Gladstone Securities against various liabilities, including certain liabilities arising under the federal securities laws. We made approximately $0.3 million, $0.6 million and $0.3 million of payments during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively, to Gladstone Securities pursuant to this agreement. All such payments are reflected as a component of Senior Common Stock costs as reflected in footnote 10.

 

Mortgage Financing Arrangement Agreement

We also entered into an agreement with Gladstone Securities, effective June 18, 2013, for it to act as our non-exclusive agent to assist us with arranging mortgage financing for properties we own. In connection with this engagement, Gladstone Securities may from time to time solicit the interest of various commercial real estate lenders or recommend to us third party lenders offering credit products or packages that are responsive to our needs. We pay Gladstone Securities a financing fee in connection with the services it provides to us for securing mortgage financing on any of our properties. The amount of these financing fees, which are payable upon closing of the financing, are based on a percentage of the amount of the mortgage, generally ranging from 0.15% to a maximum of 1.0% of the mortgage obtained. The amount of the financing fees may be reduced or eliminated, as determined by us and Gladstone Securities, after taking into consideration various factors, including, but not limited to, the involvement of any third party brokers and market conditions. We paid financing fees to Gladstone Securities of $0.2 million, $0.1 million, and $0.1 million during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively, which are reflected as deferred financing costs in the consolidated balance sheets, or 0.3%, 0.3%, and 0.2% of total mortgages secured. Our Board of Directors will determine whether to renew for an additional year at its July 2016 meeting.