I'll admit, it took courage for me to buy shares in Gramercy Property Trust (NYSE:GPT) in September 2013. First off, the company was somewhat of a mess, having transitioned from a toxic mortgage REIT called Gramercy Capital Corporation (formerly GKK) into a much more defensive net lease REIT with new management.
When the predecessor (Gramercy Capital) was founded it invested in loans and preferred equity and then it merged with American Financial Realty to become a multi-facet financial entity (similar to a bank). However, that marriage became a disaster when the company began to load up on leverage. In 2009 the company axed the dividend and investors took a tumble [SL Green (NYSE:SLG), was the largest shareholder, followed by Citigroup and Goldman Sachs)] and soon Gramercy became a penny stock (since the toxic paper originated by the CDOs was virtually worthless).
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