RMR GROUP INC. (RMR) FY 2024 MD&A
This page reproduces the company's own Item 7 MD&A text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following information should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
OVERVIEW (dollars in thousands)
RMR Inc. is a holding company and substantially all of its business is conducted by RMR LLC. RMR Inc. has no employees, and the personnel and various services it requires to operate are provided by RMR LLC. RMR LLC manages a diverse portfolio of real estate and real estate related businesses.
Acquisition of MPC Partnership Holdings LLC
On December 19, 2023, we completed our acquisition, or the Acquisition, of MPC (now doing business as RMR Residential), a vertically integrated residential platform. This acquisition further advances our strategic focus on continuing to grow our private capital business, comprising approximately $5.1 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2024 and a number of new institutional relationships. This acquisition also allows us to further diversify our revenue sources, to enter the only major commercial real estate, or CRE, sector in which we did not have a significant presence, and brings infrastructure and digital marketing capabilities that may be leveraged across our platform.
Business Environment and Outlook
The continuation and growth of our business depends upon our ability to operate the Managed Equity REITs, our private capital clients and SEVN so as to maintain, grow and increase the value of their businesses, to assist AlerisLife and Sonesta to grow their businesses and operate profitably, and to successfully expand our business through the execution of new business ventures and additional investments. Our business and the businesses of our clients generally follow the business cycle of the U.S. real estate industry, but with certain property type and regional geographic variations. Typically, as the general U.S. economy expands, commercial real estate occupancies increase and new real estate development occurs; new development frequently leads to increased real estate supply and reduced occupancies; and then the cycle repeats. These general trends can be impacted by property type characteristics or regional factors; for example, demographic factors such as the aging U.S. population, the growth of e-commerce retail sales or net population migration across different geographic regions can slow, accelerate, overwhelm or otherwise impact general cyclical trends. Because of such multiple factors, we believe it is often possible to grow real estate based businesses in selected property types or geographic areas despite general national trends.
Beyond general real estate industry trends, we also take into account general economic factors impacting our clients. Heading in to 2024, certain CRE investors seemed cautiously optimistic that inflation had peaked, that the U.S. economy was likely headed for a “soft-landing” and that the Federal Open Market Committee of the U.S. Federal Reserve, or the FOMC, would be poised to reduce the federal funds rate by 125 to 150 basis points as a result of five or six rate cuts in 2024. With the anticipation of lower interest rates in the future, investors chose to delay sale or refinancing decisions and overall CRE investment and transaction volume remained tepid well into the third quarter of calendar 2024. In September 2024, citing progress toward its 2% inflation target, the FOMC lowered the targeted federal funds rate by 50 basis points, to a range of 4.75% to 5.00%, the first reduction since March 2020. This rate cut provided CRE owners relief from the recent high borrowing costs and uncertainty regarding the timing and magnitude of future rate cuts. With this additional clarity on the intentions of the FOMC and the direction of future interest rates, CRE owners are now better positioned to make sale or refinance decisions and opt between floating or fixed rate financing options.
Although certain CRE investors feel that the risk of a prolonged period of elevated interest rates is largely over, other challenges remain. Special servicing rates for commercial mortgage-backed securities, or CMBS, and CRE collateralized loan obligations continue to increase and lenders have become more willing to foreclose on borrowers unable to support underperforming properties. Furthermore, certain segments of the CRE industry continue to experience headwinds in trying to improve operating fundamentals, whether it be the pandemic shift in work habits and weak demand for office space impacting the office sector or oversupply in certain markets adversely impacting the industrial and residential sectors.
Both we and our clients consider industry and general economic factors and attempt to take advantage of opportunities when they arise. For example: (i) since March 2020, ILPT and DHC have completed several joint venture transactions with institutional investors and subsequently grown some of those ventures by acquiring additional properties; (ii) SVC transitioned over 200 hotels from other hotel operators to Sonesta, which on March 17, 2021, completed its acquisition of RLH Corporation, establishing it as one of the largest hotel companies in the U.S. and expanding its franchising capabilities; and (iii) on February 25, 2022, ILPT completed its acquisition of 126 new, Class A, single tenant, net leased, e-commerce focused industrial properties as a result of its acquisition of Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation, or MNR, in an all-cash transaction
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valued at approximately $4.0 billion. More recently, on December 19, 2023, we completed our previously announced agreement to acquire 100% of the equity interest in MPC for total consideration of $99,021, which added residential capabilities to RMR LLC. In addition, we balance our pursuit of growth of our and our clients’ businesses by executing, on behalf of our clients, prudent capital recycling or business arrangement restructurings in an attempt to help our clients prudently manage leverage and increased operating costs. We also look to reposition their portfolios and businesses when circumstances warrant such changes or when other more desirable opportunities are identified.
For a discussion of some of the circumstances that may adversely affect us and our business, see elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including “Warning Concerning Forward-Looking Statements”, Part I, Item 1 “Business” and Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors”.
Managed Equity REITs
The base business management fees we earn from the Managed Equity REITs are calculated monthly in accordance with the applicable business management agreement and are based on a percentage of the lower of (i) the average historical cost of each REIT’s properties and (ii) each REIT’s average market capitalization. The property management fees we earn from the Managed Equity REITs are principally based on a percentage of the gross rents collected at certain managed properties owned by the Managed Equity REITs, excluding rents or other revenues from hotels, travel centers, senior living properties and wellness centers, which are separately managed by AlerisLife, Sonesta or a third party. Also under the terms of the property management agreements, we receive construction supervision fees in connection with certain construction activities undertaken at the properties owned by the Managed Equity REITs based on a percentage of the cost of such construction. For further information regarding the fees we earn, see Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The following table presents for each Managed Equity REIT a summary of its primary strategy and the lesser of the historical cost of its assets under management and its market capitalization as of September 30, 2024 and 2023, as applicable:
| Lesser of Historical Cost of Assets | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under Management or | |||||||||
| Total Market Capitalization as of | |||||||||
| September 30, | |||||||||
| REIT | Primary Strategy | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||
| DHC | Medical office and life science properties, senior living communities and other healthcare related properties | $ | 4,122,133 | $ | 3,280,149 | ||||
| ILPT | Industrial and logistics properties | 4,627,266 | 4,520,662 | ||||||
| OPI | Office properties primarily leased to single tenants and those with high credit quality characteristics | 2,450,756 | 2,789,224 | ||||||
| SVC | Hotels and service-focused retail net lease properties | 6,442,016 | 7,083,845 | ||||||
| $ | 17,642,171 | $ | 17,673,880 |
A Managed Equity REIT’s historical cost of assets under management includes the real estate it owns and its consolidated assets invested directly or indirectly in equity interests in or loans secured by real estate and personal property owned in connection with such real estate (including acquisition related costs which may be allocated to intangibles or are unallocated), all before reserves for depreciation, amortization, impairment charges or bad debts or other similar non-cash reserves. A Managed Equity REIT’s average market capitalization includes the average value of the Managed Equity REIT’s outstanding common equity value during the period, plus the daily weighted average of each of the aggregate liquidation preference of preferred shares and the principal amount of consolidated indebtedness during the period.
The table above presents for each Managed Equity REIT, the lesser of the historical cost of its assets under management and its market capitalization as of the end of each period. The basis on which our base business management fees are calculated for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 may differ from the basis at the end of the periods presented in the table above. As of September 30, 2024, the market capitalization was lower than the historical cost of assets under management for each of the Managed Equity REITs; the historical cost of assets under management for DHC, ILPT, OPI and SVC as of September 30, 2024, were $7,651,487, $5,699,132, $5,806,052 and $11,425,389, respectively.
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The fee revenues we earned from the Managed Equity REITs for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 are set forth in the following table:
| Fiscal Year Ended September 30, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Base | Base | Base | Base | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Business | Property | Construction | Business | Property | Construction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Management | Management | Supervision | Management | Management | Supervision | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| REIT | Revenues | Revenues | Revenues | Total | Revenues | Revenues | Revenues | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DHC | $ | 16,498 | $ | 5,659 | $ | 2,359 | $ | 24,516 | $ | 14,388 | $ | 5,921 | $ | 3,366 | $ | 23,675 | |||||||||||||||||||
| ILPT | 23,590 | 12,683 | 431 | 36,704 | 23,428 | 12,690 | 716 | 36,834 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| OPI | 12,484 | 13,339 | 4,080 | 29,903 | 14,133 | 13,909 | 10,121 | 38,163 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SVC | 31,610 | 5,397 | 6,752 | 43,759 | 33,654 | 3,794 | 3,095 | 40,543 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 84,182 | $ | 37,078 | $ | 13,622 | $ | 134,882 | $ | 85,603 | $ | 36,314 | $ | 17,298 | $ | 139,215 |
Other Clients
We provide business management services to AlerisLife, Sonesta and until May 15, 2023, TA. AlerisLife operates senior living communities throughout the United States, many of which are owned by and managed for DHC. Sonesta manages and franchises hotels, resorts and cruise ships in the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East; many of the U.S. hotels that Sonesta operates are owned by SVC. TA operates, leases and franchises travel centers along the U.S. interstate highway system, many of which are owned by SVC, and standalone truck service facilities. Generally, our fees earned from business management services to AlerisLife, Sonesta and until May 15, 2023, TA, are based on a percentage of certain revenues. In connection with BP’s acquisition of TA on May 15, 2023, TA terminated its business management agreement with us and in accordance with its terms paid us the applicable termination fee of $45,282.
In addition, we also provide management services to certain other Private Capital clients, including high-quality institutional investors relationships we assumed as part of our MPC acquisition, and earn fees based on a percentage of average invested capital, as defined in the applicable agreements, property management fees based on a percentage of rents collected from managed properties and construction supervision fees based on a percentage of the cost of construction activities. RMR Residential also provides us the potential to generate promote fees on any new co-investments in the future.
Our management fee revenues from services to these clients for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, are set forth in the following table and exclude termination fee revenue earned from TA of $45,282 for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023:
| Fiscal Year Ended September 30, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Base | Base | Base | Base | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Business | Property | Construction | Business | Property | Construction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Management | Management | Supervision | Management | Management | Supervision | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenues | Revenues | Revenues | Total | Revenues | Revenues | Revenues | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AlerisLife | $ | 5,632 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 5,632 | $ | 5,414 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 5,414 | |||||||||||||||
| Sonesta | 9,362 | — | — | 9,362 | 9,456 | — | 15 | 9,471 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| RMR Residential | 482 | 15,014 | 1,440 | 16,936 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other private entities | 12,099 | 8,664 | 579 | 21,342 | 12,013 | 8,388 | 1,130 | 21,531 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| SEVN | — | 47 | — | 47 | — | 8 | — | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| TA | — | — | — | — | 9,932 | — | — | 9,932 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 27,575 | $ | 23,725 | $ | 2,019 | $ | 53,319 | $ | 36,815 | $ | 8,396 | $ | 1,145 | $ | 46,356 |
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Advisory Business
Tremont provides advisory services to SEVN, a publicly traded mortgage REIT that focuses on originating and investing in first mortgage loans secured by middle market and transitional commercial real estate. Tremont is primarily compensated pursuant to its management agreement with SEVN based on a percentage of equity, as defined in the applicable agreement.
For the fiscal years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, Tremont earned advisory services revenue of $4,506 and $4,520, respectively, and incentive fees of $1,213 and $660, respectively.
Real Estate Lending Venture
As part of our strategic initiative to expand our private capital business, our plan is to amass a small portfolio of loans, financed, in part, through a bank repurchase facility, in a Tremont managed vehicle and bring in third parties to invest in the vehicle. The vehicle would then continue growing by making additional loans.
In July 2024, we originated a floating rate first mortgage loan that is secured by a hotel property in Revere, MA for a total commitment of $40,000, which has been fully funded as of September 30, 2024. This loan requires the borrower to pay interest at a rate of the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, plus a premium of 395 basis points per annum and has an initial term of two years with three one year extensions. Also in July 2024, we originated a floating rate first mortgage loan that is secured by an industrial property in Wayne, PA for a total commitment of $27,000, of which $17,180 has been funded as of September 30, 2024. This loan requires the borrower to pay interest at a rate of SOFR plus a premium of 425 basis points per annum and has an initial term of three years with two one year extensions.
In September 2024, we entered into a master repurchase agreement with UBS AG, or UBS, or our UBS Master Repurchase Agreement, for a facility with an aggregate maximum capacity of $200,000, or our UBS Master Repurchase Facility, pursuant to which we may sell to UBS, and later repurchase, commercial mortgage loans, which are referred to as purchased assets. Pursuant to the UBS Master Repurchase Agreement, we will pay UBS a non-refundable upfront fee that is equal to 0.60% of the applicable tranche amount on each purchase date.
RMR Residential Acquisition
In July 2024, we acquired a 240 unit, garden style apartment community located in Denver, CO, or the Denver Property, for a purchase price of $70,000, excluding acquisition costs. We financed this purchase with cash on hand and proceeds from a $46,500 mortgage loan with a 5.34% fixed interest rate. This mortgage loan requires monthly payments of interest only until maturity in July 2029.
We plan either to syndicate this acquisition or use it to seed a small portfolio of multifamily assets we would subsequently syndicate to third party investors.
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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (dollars in thousands)
The following table presents the changes in our operating results for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 compared to the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023:
| Fiscal Year Ended September 30, | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | $ Change | % Change | |||||||||||
| Revenues: | ||||||||||||||
| Management services | $ | 188,201 | $ | 185,702 | $ | 2,499 | 1.3% | |||||||
| Termination and incentive fees | 1,213 | 45,942 | (44,729) | (97.4)% | ||||||||||
| Advisory services | 4,506 | 4,520 | (14) | (0.3)% | ||||||||||
| Total management, termination, incentive and advisory services revenues | 193,920 | 236,164 | (42,244) | (17.9)% | ||||||||||
| Loan investment interest income | 1,400 | — | 1,400 | n/m | ||||||||||
| Loan investment interest expense | (87) | — | (87) | n/m | ||||||||||
| Income from loan investments, net | 1,313 | — | 1,313 | n/m | ||||||||||
| Rental property revenues | 1,604 | — | 1,604 | n/m | ||||||||||
| Reimbursable compensation and benefits | 84,169 | 59,925 | 24,244 | 40.5% | ||||||||||
| Reimbursable equity based compensation | 7,919 | 9,826 | (1,907) | (19.4)% | ||||||||||
| Other reimbursable expenses | 608,688 | 656,401 | (47,713) | (7.3)% | ||||||||||
| Total reimbursable costs | 700,776 | 726,152 | (25,376) | (3.5)% | ||||||||||
| Total revenues | 897,613 | 962,316 | (64,703) | (6.7)% | ||||||||||
| Expenses: | ||||||||||||||
| Compensation and benefits | 170,357 | 136,355 | 34,002 | 24.9% | ||||||||||
| Equity based compensation | 10,624 | 12,488 | (1,864) | (14.9)% | ||||||||||
| Separation costs | 6,297 | 2,002 | 4,295 | n/m | ||||||||||
| Total compensation and benefits expense | 187,278 | 150,845 | 36,433 | 24.2% | ||||||||||
| General and administrative | 43,743 | 36,019 | 7,724 | 21.4% | ||||||||||
| Other reimbursable expenses | 608,688 | 656,401 | (47,713) | (7.3)% | ||||||||||
| Rental property expenses | 462 | — | 462 | n/m | ||||||||||
| Transaction and acquisition related costs | 7,750 | 4,221 | 3,529 | 83.6% | ||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 4,713 | 1,102 | 3,611 | n/m | ||||||||||
| Total expenses | 852,634 | 848,588 | 4,046 | 0.5% | ||||||||||
| Operating income | 44,979 | 113,728 | (68,749) | (60.5)% | ||||||||||
| Change in fair value of Earnout liability | 2,589 | — | 2,589 | n/m | ||||||||||
| Interest income | 10,403 | 10,574 | (171) | (1.6)% | ||||||||||
| Interest expense | (783) | — | (783) | n/m | ||||||||||
| Gain on equity method investments | 7,260 | 25,237 | (17,977) | (71.2)% | ||||||||||
| Income before income tax expense | 64,448 | 149,539 | (85,091) | (56.9)% | ||||||||||
| Income tax expense | (11,319) | (21,768) | 10,449 | 48.0% | ||||||||||
| Net income | 53,129 | 127,771 | (74,642) | (58.4)% | ||||||||||
| Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest in The RMR Group LLC | (30,039) | (70,624) | 40,585 | 57.5% | ||||||||||
| Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest in consolidated entity | 40 | — | 40 | n/m | ||||||||||
| Net income attributable to The RMR Group Inc. | $ | 23,130 | $ | 57,147 | $ | (34,017) | (59.5)% |
n/m - not meaningful
References to changes in the income and expense categories below relate to the comparison of consolidated results for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024, compared to the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023. For a comparison of consolidated results for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023 compared to the fiscal year ended September 30, 2022, see Part II, Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2023.
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Management services revenue. Management services revenue increased $2,499 primarily due to growth in management services revenue of $16,936 related to our acquisition of MPC, partially offset by decreases in management fees earned from TA of $9,932 as a result of the termination of its business management agreement with us on May 15, 2023 and decreases in construction supervision fees earned, primarily from the Managed Equity REITs, of $4,242.
Termination and incentive fees. Termination and incentive fees decreased $44,729 primarily due to the $45,282 termination fee received from TA during the 2023 period. For further information about these fees, see Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, and Note 8, Related Person Transactions, to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Income from loan investments, net. Income from loan investments, net includes loan investment interest income of $1,400 for loans originated as part of the Real Estate Lending Venture that was launched this fiscal year.
Rental property revenues. Rental property revenues includes base rental income and non-cash straight line rent adjustments for our two owned properties, each of which was acquired in the current fiscal year.
Reimbursable compensation and benefits. Reimbursable compensation and benefits include reimbursements, at cost, that arise primarily from services our employees provide pursuant to our property management agreements at the properties of our clients. A significant portion of these compensation and benefits are charged or passed through to and paid by tenants of our clients. Reimbursable compensation and benefits increased $24,244 primarily due to the impact of our acquisition of MPC and annual merit increases effective October 1, 2023.
Reimbursable equity based compensation. Reimbursable equity based compensation includes awards of common shares by our clients directly to certain of our officers and employees in connection with the provision of management services to those clients. We record an equal offsetting amount as equity based compensation expense for the value of these awards. Reimbursable equity based compensation revenue decreased $1,907 primarily as a result of decreases in certain of our clients’ respective share prices.
Other reimbursable expenses. For further information about these reimbursements, see Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Compensation and benefits. Compensation and benefits consist of employee salaries and other employment related costs, including health insurance expenses and contributions related to our employee retirement plan. Compensation and benefits expense increased $34,002 primarily due to the impact of our acquisition of MPC and annual merit and benefit increases, which was partially offset by cost containment measures that reduced headcount.
Equity based compensation. Equity based compensation consists of the value of vested shares awarded to certain of our employees under our and our clients’ equity compensation plans. We record an equal offsetting amount as reimbursable equity based compensation revenue for the value of awards under our clients’ equity compensation plans to certain of our employees. Equity based compensation decreased $1,864 primarily as a result of decreases in certain of our clients’ respective share prices.
Separation costs. Separation costs consist of employment termination costs. For further information about these costs, see Note 8, Related Person Transactions, to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
General and administrative. General and administrative expenses consist of office related expenses, information technology related expenses, employee training, travel, professional services expenses, director compensation and other administrative expenses. General and administrative costs increased $7,724 primarily due to the impact of our acquisition of MPC and increases in third party costs related to our expanded role in construction oversight.
Rental property expenses. Rental property expenses includes property operating expenses, such as real estate taxes, repairs and maintenance and utility costs incurred at our two owned properties.
Transaction and acquisition related costs. Transaction and acquisition related costs in the 2024 period primarily represent costs associated with our acquisition of MPC and related integration expenses.
Depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization increased $3,611 primarily due to the amortization of MPC acquisition related intangible assets and the acquisition of our two owned properties in the 2024 period.
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Change in fair value of Earnout liability. For further information about the Earnout liability, see Note 4, Acquisitions and Note 7, Fair Value of Financial Instruments to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Interest income. Interest income decreased $171 due to a lower amount of investable cash during the 2024 period, partially offset by higher average interest rates as compared to the 2023 period.
Gain on equity method investments. Gain on equity method investments represents the unrealized and realized gains or losses on our investments in SEVN and TA common shares. For further information, see Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Income tax expense. The decrease in income tax expense of $10,449 is primarily attributable to lower taxable income during the 2024 period as compared to the 2023 period.
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LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES (dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)
Our current assets have historically been comprised predominantly of cash, cash equivalents and receivables for business management, property management and advisory services fees. As of September 30, 2024 and 2023, we had cash and cash equivalents of $141,599 and $267,989, respectively, of which $23,189 and $26,802, respectively, was held by RMR Inc., with the remainder being held at RMR LLC and its subsidiaries. Cash and cash equivalents include all short term, highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash and have original maturities of three months or less from the date of purchase. As of September 30, 2024 and 2023, $92,326 and $265,800, respectively, of our cash and cash equivalents were invested in money market bank accounts.
We believe that our cash and cash equivalents leave us well positioned to pursue a range of capital allocation strategies, with a focus on the growth of our private capital business, to fund our operations and cash distributions and enhance our technology infrastructure, in the next twelve months. Our experienced platform and existing relationships with institutional investors has provided us with significant opportunities to continue expanding our private capital business. We intend to diversify and further grow our private capital revenues by sponsoring and managing new real estate related investment funds that may invest in the equity of real estate or provide commercial mortgage loans secured by middle market and transitional real estate in the U.S. We anticipate that using our capital for possible formation costs and co-investment in these funds will diversify our revenues and generate management fees, incentive fees and potential promote income.
On December 19, 2023, we completed our acquisition of MPC for total cash consideration of $84,474. We are also obligated to pay the Earnout, if earned, which we currently estimate at $11,958 and which will be payable over the next three years, based on our current expectations for the deployment of capital remaining in investment funds managed by MPC prior to the end of such fund’s investment period. In addition to the Earnout, we agreed to pay retention payments to certain employees of MPC in an aggregate amount of $4,200 for their continued employment through December 31, 2025.
Our liquidity is highly dependent upon our receipt of fees from the businesses we manage. Historically, we have funded our working capital needs with cash generated from our operating activities. We expect that our future working capital needs will relate largely to our operating expenses, primarily consisting of employee compensation and benefits costs, our obligation to make quarterly tax distributions to the members of RMR LLC, our plan to make quarterly distributions on our Class A Common Shares and Class B-1 Common Shares and our plan to pay quarterly distributions to the members of RMR LLC in connection with the quarterly dividends to RMR Inc. shareholders.
During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024, we paid cash distributions to the holders of our Class A Common Shares, Class B-1 Common Shares and to the other owner of RMR LLC membership units in the aggregate amount of $47,623. On October 16, 2024, we declared a quarterly dividend on our Class A Common Shares and Class B-1 Common Shares to our shareholders of record as of October 28, 2024 in the amount of $0.45 per Class A Common Share and Class B-1 Common Share, or $7,581. This dividend will be partially funded by a distribution from RMR LLC to holders of its membership units in the amount of $0.32 per unit, or $10,191, of which $5,391 will be distributed to us based on our aggregate ownership of 16,846,025 membership units of RMR LLC and $4,800 will be distributed to ABP Trust based on its ownership of 15,000,000 membership units of RMR LLC. The remainder of this dividend will be funded with cash accumulated at RMR Inc. We expect the total dividend will amount to approximately $12,381 and we expect to pay this dividend on or about November 14, 2024. See Note 9, Shareholders’ Equity, to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more information regarding these distributions.
For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024, pursuant to the RMR LLC operating agreement, RMR LLC made required quarterly tax distributions to its holders of its membership units totaling $27,796, of which $14,799 was distributed to us and $12,997 was distributed to ABP Trust, based on each membership unit holder’s then respective ownership percentage in RMR LLC. The $14,799 distributed to us was eliminated in our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and the $12,997 distributed to ABP Trust was recorded as a reduction of their noncontrolling interest. We used a portion of these funds distributed to us to pay our tax liabilities and amounts due under the tax receivable agreement.
Cash Flows
The $47,840 decrease in net cash flows from operating activities for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 compared to the prior fiscal year reflects a decrease in net income due to termination fee revenue from TA in the prior period. The $259,334 decrease in net cash flows from investing activities for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 compared to the prior fiscal year was due to our acquisition of MPC and the Denver Property, as well as the origination of loans held for investment in the current fiscal year compared to the proceeds received from the sale of TA’s common shares in the prior period. The $101,883 increase in net cash flows from financing activities for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024 compared to the prior fiscal
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year was primarily due to proceeds from our UBS Master Repurchase Facility and mortgage note payable in the current fiscal year, as well as higher tax distributions in the prior period.
As of September 30, 2024, we had no off-balance sheet arrangements that have had or that we expect would be reasonably likely to have a material effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.
Tax Receivable Agreement
We are party to a tax receivable agreement which provides for the payment by RMR Inc. to ABP Trust of 85.0% of the amount of savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax or franchise tax that RMR Inc. realizes as a result of (a) the increases in tax basis attributable to RMR Inc.’s dealings with ABP Trust and (b) tax benefits related to imputed interest deemed to be paid by it as a result of the tax receivable agreement. See Note 8, Related Person Transactions, to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. As of September 30, 2024, our consolidated balance sheet reflects a liability related to the tax receivable agreement of $20,863, of which we expect to pay $2,421 to ABP Trust during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025.
Market Risk and Credit Risk
We have not invested in derivative instruments, borrowed through issuing debt securities or transacted in foreign currencies. Our floating rate debt consists of our purchased assets, which are governed by our UBS Master Repurchase Facility and directly relate to our underlying loans held for investment. We are required to pay interest on our floating rate debt at a rate of SOFR plus a premium and earn interest on our underlying loans held for investment at a rate of SOFR plus a premium that is in excess of the premium paid on our floating rate debt. Changes in market interest rates would not impact the fixed spread that we earn between our purchased assets and our loans held for investment. As a result, we are not subject to significant direct market risk related to interest rate changes, changes to the market standard for determining interest rates, or commodity price changes; however, if any of these risks were to negatively impact our clients’ businesses or market capitalization, our revenues would likely decline. We are subject to the credit risk of our borrowers in connection with our loans held for investment. We seek to mitigate this risk by utilizing a comprehensive underwriting, diligence and investment selection process and by ongoing monitoring of our investments. Nevertheless, unanticipated credit losses could occur that may adversely impact our operating results. To the extent we change our approach on the foregoing activities, or engage in other activities, our market and credit risks could change. See Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the risks to us and our clients.
Risks Related to Cash and Short Term Investments
Our cash and cash equivalents include short term, highly liquid investments readily convertible to known amounts of cash that have original maturities of three months or less from the date of purchase. We invest a substantial amount of our cash in money market bank accounts. The majority of our cash is maintained in U.S. bank accounts. Some U.S. bank account balances exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance limit. We believe our cash and short term investments are not subject to any material interest rate risk, equity price risk, credit risk or other market risk.
Related Person Transactions
We have relationships and historical and continuing transactions with Adam D. Portnoy, the Chair of our Board and one of our Managing Directors, as well as our clients. For further information about these and other such relationships and related person transactions, see Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Note 8, Related Person Transactions, to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is incorporated herein by reference, the section captioned “Business” above in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our other filings with the SEC and our definitive Proxy Statement for our 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, or the 2025 Proxy Statement, to be filed within 120 days after the close of the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024. In addition, for more information about these transactions and relationships and about the risks that may arise as a result of these and other related person transactions and relationships, see elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including “Warning Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” and Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors.” We may engage in additional transactions with related persons, including businesses to which RMR LLC or its subsidiaries provide management services.
Critical Accounting Estimates
An understanding of our accounting policies is necessary for a complete analysis of our results, financial position, liquidity and trends. The preparation of our consolidated financial statements requires our management to make certain critical accounting estimates and judgments that impact (i) the revenue recognized during the reporting periods (ii) the estimation of
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fair values and (iii) our principles of consolidation. These accounting estimates are based on our management’s judgment. We consider them to be critical because of their significance to our consolidated financial statements and the possibility that future events may cause differences from current judgments or because the use of different assumptions could result in materially different estimates. We review these estimates on a periodic basis to test their reasonableness. Although actual amounts likely differ from such estimated amounts, we believe such differences are not likely to be material.
Revenue Recognition. Our principal sources of revenue are:
•business management fees, including base and incentive business management fees; and
•property management fees, including construction supervision fees and reimbursement for certain compensation and benefits related expenses.
We recognize revenue from business management and property management fees as earned in accordance with our management agreements. We consider the incentive business management fees earned from the REITs that we manage to be contingent performance based fees, which we recognize as revenue when earned at the end of each measurement period. We also recognize as revenue certain compensation and benefits reimbursements in our capacity as property manager, at cost, when we incur the related reimbursable compensation and benefits and other costs on behalf of our clients. See the “Revenue Recognition” section of Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a detailed discussion of our revenue recognition policies and our contractual arrangements.
Fair Value. The estimation of fair value involves a significant level of judgment and estimation uncertainty, and actual results could be materially different and have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations. We accounted for the Acquisition as a business combination. We used estimates and assumptions to assign fair values to assets acquired and liabilities assumed, including intangible assets. Determining the fair value of intangible assets requires us to use estimates and assumptions including, but not limited to, expected future cash inflows and outflows, useful lives, discount rates and income tax rates. Fair values were determined based on estimates and assumptions we believe to be reasonable, but that are unpredictable and inherently uncertain. Unanticipated events and circumstances may occur that could materially affect the accuracy of such estimates, assumptions or actual results.
The fair value of our Earnout liability was determined using a Monte Carlo simulation model and is inherently uncertain. Inputs into the model require estimates and assumptions regarding the timing and deployment of future capital, the historical volatility of similar market transaction, and discount rates and credit ratings for companies similar to ours. The Earnout liability is remeasured on a quarterly basis and changes to our estimates and assumptions are likely to have a significant impact on the fair value estimate of the Earnout liability. In addition, actual payments required under the Earnout may differ significantly from our estimates and could have a material impact to our results of operations and financial condition.
Consolidation. Our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K include only the accounts of the entities we control. We continually assess whether our existing contractual rights give us the ability to direct the activities of the entities we manage that most significantly affect the results of that entity. The activities and factors we consider include, but are not limited to:
•our representation on the entity’s governing body;
•the size of our investment in each entity compared to the size of the entity and the size of other investors’ interests; and
•the ability and rights to participate in significant policy making decisions and to replace our manager of those entities.
Based on our historical assessments, we have not consolidated the entities we manage. We will reassess these conclusions if and when facts and circumstances indicate that there are changes to the elements evidencing control.