WYOMISSING, Pa., Sept. 12, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) today announced the closing of its previously-announced transaction to acquire The Meadows Racetrack and Casino located in Washington, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from Cannery Casino Resorts, LLC  for $440 million, inclusive of $10 million previously paid, plus other transaction related fees and expenses. The Company concurrently closed on the sale of the entities holding the gaming licenses and operating assets to Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PNK)  for $138 million and entered into a 29 year triple net lease agreement, with initial annual rent of $25.4 million. The Company funded the transaction, net of proceeds received from the sale of the operating assets to Pinnacle, through a combination of cash on hand, proceeds from the Company’s at-the-market (“ATM”) equity program and borrowings from the Company’s revolving credit facility. The transaction, which is expected to be immediately accretive, was approved by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on September 7, 2016 and the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission in August 2016.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties
GLPI is primarily engaged in the business of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements, pursuant to which the tenant is responsible for all facility maintenance, insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties, taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties and all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties. GLPI elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust ("REIT") for United States federal income tax purposes commencing with the 2014 taxable year and is the first publicly traded triple-net lease REIT focused on gaming.