WYOMISSING, Pa., March 28, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (the “Company” or “GLPI”) (NASDAQ:GLPI), the first publicly traded gaming-focused REIT in North America, today announced that it has commenced an offering to sell 19,000,000 shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering.The Company intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,850,000 shares of its common stock.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to partially fund its previously announced acquisition (the “Acquisition”) of substantially all of the real estate assets of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. (“Pinnacle”)(PNK), including for the repayment, redemption and/or discharge of a portion of certain debt associated with Pinnacle and the payment of transaction-related fees and expenses.  The offering is not conditioned upon the successful completion of the Acquisition or any other potential source of financing. Pending such uses, the Company intends to use the net proceeds of this offering to invest in interest-bearing accounts and short-term, interest-bearing securities.

BofA Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo Securities, Fifth Third Securities, UBS Investment Bank, Credit Agricole CIB, Nomura, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Barclays and Oppenheimer & Co. are serving as joint book-running managers for the offering. The offering will be made under the Company’s effective shelf registration statement previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). When available, a copy of the preliminary prospectus supplement, final prospectus supplement and prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from BofA Merrill Lynch, 222 Broadway, New York, NY 10038, Attention: Prospectus Department, email: [email protected], J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717 or by calling 1-866-803-9204 or Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Attention: Equity Syndicate Department, 375 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10152 or by telephone at (800) 326-5897 or email a request to [email protected] or by visiting the EDGAR database on the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov.