VICI Grows Canadian Footprint With $144M Sale-Leaseback Deal

VICI Properties Inc. VICI announced a pending acquisition of the real estate assets of Deerfoot Inn & Casino, Great Northern Casino, and two limited-service hotels that are adjacent to the Great Northern Casino (collectively, the “Portfolio”) located in Alberta, Canada, for CAD$200.6 million (USD$144.4 million). This deal ties into Pure Casino Entertainment Limited Partnership’s pending take-private acquisition of Gamehost. Subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in mid-2026.

Upon closing of the acquisition, the Portfolio will be added to the existing triple-net master lease agreement between VICI Properties and PURE (the “PURE Master Lease”), boosting annual rent by CAD$16.1 million (USD$11.6 million) at an 8% acquisition capitalization rate.

The Portfolio rent will escalate 1% on Feb. 1 after a full 12-month period post-closing ( in line with the PURE Master Lease escalation timing). Thereafter, escalations follow the PURE Master Lease at the greater of 1.5% or Canadian CPI change, capped at 2.5%. Additionally, the PURE Master Lease term extends upon closing of the acquisition to provide a full 25-year initial base term, plus four 5-year tenant renewal options. Tenants' obligations under the PURE Master Lease remain guaranteed by Indigenous Gaming Partners, Inc. (“IGP”).

VICI intends to finance the acquisition with a combination of cash on hand and borrowings from its existing multicurrency revolving credit facility. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to VICI Properties upon closing.

Conclusion

VICI Properties has a proven partnership with IGP and PURE as their real estate partner and capital provider. Both have demonstrated the ability to operate and grow a best-in-class gaming platform. The transaction highlights VICI’s value proposition that helps these operators execute on their growth strategies. The deal also expands VICI’s presence in the Canadian gaming market.

In the past three months, shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have declined 3% against the industry's increase of 1.3%.

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Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are Gladstone Land LAND and Piedmont Realty Trust, Inc. PDM, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LAND’s 2026 FFO per share is pinned at 43 cents. This indicates year-over-year growth of 10.3% for 2026.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PDM’s 2026 FFO per share is pegged at $1.49. This implies year-over-year growth of 5.7% for 2026.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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