NEW YORK CITY-American Realty Capital PropertiesInc. said Monday that it would acquire AmericanRealty Capital Trust III, one of five nontraded REITs itsponsors, in a merger that will create a combined company with $3billion of enterprise value. The deal is expected to close by March31, 2013.

In a conference call Monday morning to discuss the merger,Nicholas Schorsch, ARCP's chairman and CEO, calledit “a very transformative transaction” for his company. “It willchange dramatically our size, our scale and, most importantly, ourgrowth potential,” he said.

For ARCP, the merger with ARCT III will mean dramatic increasesin square footage, number of properties and annualized rentalrevenue as well as enterprise value. The merger will bump itsportfolio from 148 properties to 806, its square footage from 2.4million to 18.9 million and its rental revenue from $25.6 millionto $179.8 million per year, according to an investor presentationissued as the merger was announced. The combined company will alsoenjoy longer average remaining lease terms than ARCP currently doeson its own: 12.4 years, compared to 6.9 years for ARCP, which hasspecialized in mid-duration net leases.