UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): May 14, 2014

NATIONAL RETAIL PROPERTIES, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (407) 265-7348

Not applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

On May 5, 2014, National Retail Properties, Inc. (the “Company”) announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of $350 million aggregate principal amount of 3.90% Notes due 2024 (the “Notes”) pursuant to an underwriting agreement, dated May 5, 2014 (the “Underwriting Agreement”), among the Company and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc., as representatives of the several underwriters named therein. On May 14, 2014, the Company entered into a Thirteenth Supplemental Indenture (the “Supplemental Indenture”) to the Indenture dated as of March 25, 1998, as amended (the “Base Indenture,” and together with the Supplemental Indenture, the “Indenture”), between the Company and U.S. Bank National Association, as trustee, relating to the offering of the Notes pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement.

The Notes are registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, pursuant to the Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-179696), filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 24, 2012.

The Notes are senior unsecured obligations of the Company, will mature on June 15, 2024 and will rank equally with all of the Company’s other existing and future senior unsecured indebtedness. The Notes will bear interest at 3.90% per annum. Interest on the Notes is payable semi-annually on June 15 and December 15 of each year, beginning on December 15, 2014. The net proceeds from the offering were approximately $346.2 million. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to repay outstanding indebtedness under its credit facility, to fund future property acquisitions and for general corporate purposes.

The foregoing descriptions of the Underwriting Agreement, Notes and the Indenture do not purport to be complete and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the full text of the Notes and the Indenture. Copies of the Supplemental Indenture and the form of the Notes are attached to this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibits 4.1 and 4.2, respectively, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. Copies of the Underwriting Agreement and Base Indenture were filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as Exhibit 1.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 9, 2014 and as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on March 20, 1998, respectively.

The exhibits 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 8.1, 23.1 and 23.2 listed in the following index relate to the Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-179696) of the Company and are filed herewith for incorporation by reference into such Registration Statement.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Dated: May 14, 2014