No Verruca Of A Deal

It was just a year ago when the $10 billion Inland American REIT announced it was selling $2.3 billion of properties to various American Realty Capital REITs.  Inland American didn't distribute any sale proceeds to investors from that sale.  Inland American announced earlier this week it was forming a separate, publicly traded company for all its lodging assets.  This time, Inland American investors will receive shares in the new company, while retaining shares in Inland American.

The new lodging company is called Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc., with a symbol XHR.  The spin-off is expected to be completed in four to eight months and include nearly fifty properties.  Key details, like whether investors are going to have their shares locked up for a certain period, or what the estimated value of the lodging transaction is to an Inland American investor, have not been finalized and were not in Inland American's filing or this InvestmentNews article.  Inland American is focusing on three main property types: lodging, multi-tenant retail and student housing. 

I am glad Inland American picked such an easy name for its new company.  Here is the definition of xenia:

xenia |ˈzēnēə, -nyə|
noun Botany
the influence or effect of pollen on the endosperm or embryo, resulting in hybrid characteristics in form, color, etc., of the derived seed.

After reading that crazy definition of a xenia, I am reminded of the goof name Veruca Salt from Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.