Penn National Secures Four Additional Regulatory Approvals For REIT Spin-off

(RTTNews) - Penn National Gaming, Inc. (PENN) said Wednesday that it has secured approvals from four additional regulatory agencies of the steps necessary to implement the previously announced planned separation of its operating assets and real property assets.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and Missouri Gaming Commission have approved the steps necessary to implement the planned separation. Additionally, the Ohio Casino Control Commission has approved the transactional aspects of the planned separation, and the Company expects the OCCC to consider the suitability of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc., or GLPI, at its next scheduled meeting in September. On August 16, the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission approved the steps necessary to implement the planned separation.

On November 15, 2012, the company announced its intent to pursue a plan to separate its operating assets and real property assets into two publicly traded companies - an operating entity, Penn National Gaming, and a newly formed entity that intends to become a publicly traded real estate investment trust, GLPI - and that it had received a private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service related to the tax treatment of the separation and the qualification of GLPI as a REIT.

Based on Penn National Gaming's current real estate portfolio, GLPI is expected to initially own the real estate associated with 19 casino facilities, which have a total of over 2,900 acres of land and 6.6 million square feet of building space. GLPI would lease back to Penn National Gaming 17 of those casino facilities and own and operate two gaming facilities in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Perryville, Maryland.