Government Properties Income Trust to merge with Select Income REIT.

Government Properties Income Trust, a REIT focused on owning, operating and leasing buildings primarily leased to single tenants, to merge with Select Income REIT, a real estate company formed to primarily own and invest in net leased, single tenant properties. Financial terms were not disclosed. “This transaction addresses a number of the challenges that GOV has been facing, including a high dividend payout ratio, a concentration of near term lease expirations and a high tenant concentration. We believe GOV shareholders will benefit from this transaction by having a well covered dividend set to a long term sustainable level, extending and better laddering the lease expiration schedule, increasing scale and enhancing diversification. OPI also plans to sell assets post closing to further strengthen its credit metrics,” Mark Kleifges, Government Properties Income Trust Managing Trustee and CFO.