NEWTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hospitality Properties Trust (Nasdaq: HPT) today announced that it has completed its acquisition of a net lease service retail portfolio from Spirit MTA REIT (NYSE: SMTA) for $2.4 billion in cash, excluding transaction costs. In addition to the $2.4 billion purchase price, HPT paid $82.1 million of prepayment penalties related to SMTA’s extinguishment of the existing mortgage debt on the portfolio. In connection with the completion of the transaction, HPT will change its name to “Service Properties Trust”. HPT’s common shares will continue to be listed for trading on the Nasdaq, but under the new ticker symbol “SVC” beginning as of the opening of trading on September 25, 2019. The company’s new website will be “www.svcreit.com”.

HPT funded the transaction with net proceeds from its recently completed $1.7 billion unsecured senior notes offering and by drawing on its revolving credit facility. HPT terminated its previously announced commitment for a $2.0 billion unsecured term loan facility upon completion of its unsecured senior notes offering.

John Murray, Managing Trustee, President and Chief Executive Officer of HPT, made the following statement about today’s announcement:

“The properties acquired from SMTA are service and necessity-based assets that we are confident can be asset managed efficiently. The tenants and industries represented in the acquired portfolio benefit from demand drivers that are largely resistant to digital disruption, providing us with a steady contractual income stream while limiting capital expenditure requirements due to their net lease structure.”

“The name ‘Service Properties Trust’ captures the essential nature of our tenants’ businesses and represents our broader portfolio composition of hotels and net lease service and necessity-based retail properties. We remain focused on generating value by delivering secure and predictable cash flows. Our acquisition today diversifies our tenant concentration and we believe will improve our overall rent coverage.”

BofA Merrill Lynch acted as exclusive financial advisor to HPT for the SMTA acquisition and Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP served as legal advisor to HPT for the SMTA acquisition.

Hospitality Properties Trust is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, which owns a diverse portfolio of hotels and net lease service and necessity-based retail properties across the United States and in Puerto Rico and Canada with 185 distinct brands across 24 industries. HPT's properties are operated under long term management or lease agreements. HPT is managed by the operating subsidiary of The RMR Group Inc. (Nasdaq: RMR), an alternative asset management company that is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts.