RE: REIT The prospectus is preliminary and there aren't any hard number to go with yet, but the number given so far is ~$86 million will be raised in the IPO. A portion of this (likely majority) goes to Melcor's bank account in exchange for 27 of their investment properties.
Over half the mortgage debt goes to the REIT, with under half remaining on Melcor's books. They receive distributions from the REIT to cover these mortgages. This is being done to avoid a big tax payout.
The remaining investment properties and anything in the pipeline will likely be sold to the REIT over the next few years. The REIT also has a right of first refusal over any properties developed.
Melcor has a asset and property management agreeent with the REIT. As far as I can tell the REIT won't have any (or many) employees, everything will still be handled by Melcor (including CEO/CFO) and they will be paid for it. Not sure how profitable this arrangement is.
Basically Melcor gets a pile of cash in the bank right now and retains a significant ownership of the REIT that they could sell off in the future.