Penn National Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN) completed on Monday the spin-off of its real-estate holdings into a new REIT, Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. (G&LP) (NASDAQ: GLPI). The spin-off was first announced a year ago. Shares in GLPI are trading at around $46.51 after opening at $45.76 this morning.
As a result of the transaction, which was tax-free to Penn National shareholders, each Penn National shareholder received 1.35 shares in G&LP plus a special cash dividend of $3.33 per share of Penn National stock.
Penn’s shares are trading down more than 77% at around $13.50 after the spin-off. But the good news is that the combined share price of Penn and G&LP is around $60 a share, about $1 a share higher than Penn closed on Friday. The better news is that the combined value of the two companies’ shares could be north of $70 a share after adding in the special dividend.
The REIT is expected to spend as much as $500 million in acquisitions in 2014, according to Barron’s, and some potential acquisition targets include Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. (NASDAQ: ISLE) which has a market cap of around $323 million or Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: DDE) with a market cap of around $47 million.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks