Northstar Realty Surges 20%, Company To Explore Strategic Alternatives

Land and Buildings, an activist investment firm, delivered a letter to

back in January that called on the company to recombine with

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Shares of Northstar Realty Finance surged higher by more than 20 percent on Thursday after the company

it has formed a special committee and hired advisers to evaluate Land and Buildings' proposal and recombine with NorthStar Asset Management. Northstar Realty also announced a series of strategic initiatives to maximize long-term shareholder value, including sales of all or some of its healthcare, manufacturing housing and other real estate assets, sales and/or accelerate repayments of some of its loans, sales of all or some of its real estate private equity fund interests. Finally, Northstar Realty declared a cash dividend of $0.40 per share which represents an approximate payout ratio of 63 percent of its cash available for distribution in the fourth quarter.