Vornado’s Roth resigns from J.C. Penney board

Vornado Realty Trust’s CEO Steven Roth has resigned from J.C. Penney’s board of directors, a move that has been long anticipated as the real estate investment trust looks to get rid of its stake in the struggling retailer. Vornado sold off about 40 percent of its 9.9 percent interest in J.C. Penney at a loss earlier this year, leaving it with a 6.1 percent stake.

Joseph Macnow, chief administrative officer of Vornado, said at a recent conference that the REIT expected to exit J.C. Penny altogether “in the not-too-distant future,” the company noted in a statement today.

Recently, activist investor Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital was forced out of the J.C. Penney board and then sold his entire 18 percent stake in the company, incurring heavy losses of about $470 million.

The losses Vornado incurred due to its J.C. Penney investment were thought to have contributed to then-CEO Michael Fascitelli’s departure earlier this year, as The Real Deal reported. — Hiten Samtani