Nontraded REIT and traded REIT seal deal

Shareholders of nontraded real estate investment trust American Realty Capital Trust III and traded REIT American Realty Capital Partners Inc. on Tuesday announced their approval of their merger, which had been announced in December. Each outstanding shareholder of American Realty Capital III common stock can choose to receive $12 per share in cash or 0.95 shares of American Realty Capital Properties Inc., which trades under the ticker symbol ARCP. Those shares were trading at $14.30 on Tuesday afternoon. Investors who owned about 15.5% of the nontraded REIT's common stock have indicated they will chose cash, the companies said in a statement. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of day on Feb. 28.