Gaming and Leisure Properties has named Carol ”Lili” Lynton as an independent director of its real estate investment trust board. Lynton is the co-founder and operating partner of the Dinex Group; her appointment helps to fulfill the Wyomissing, Pennsylvania-based REIT’s publicly stated goal to diversify the board in terms of gender, race, ethnicity and age diversity.
Of the seven directors, six are independents. Lynton brings more than 35 years of finance, consumer and real estate experience to the board, according to CDC Gaming Reports.
The gaming industry’s first REIT was formed by Penn National Gaming in 2013, and now has 46 gaming properties in 16 states that are leased to Penn, Eldorado Resorts and Boyd Gaming Corp.
In addition to co-founding Dinex, which operates 17 Daniel Boulud-branded restaurants, Lynton co-founded Telebank, an internet banking pioneer acquired by E*Trade in 1999. She also served as an investment analyst at financial services company Sanford C. Bernstein and a mergers and acquisition analyst at Lehman Brothers.
“Lili brings valuable perspectives to our board, driven by her extensive experience in the finance, real estate and consumer sectors and public company board background,” GLPI Chairman and CEO Peter Carlino said in a statement. “The company believes that board diversity is critical to thoroughly assess risk, anticipate challenges and scrutinize the complex, dynamic issues that affect or may affect GLPI and its shareholders and we look forward to benefiting from Lili’s deep range of experience and perspectives.”
Lynton, a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School, is a director of El Pollo Loco Holdings and serves as a trustee of CIM RACR, an SEC-registered interval fund.
