N@N

The GDL Fund Declares Second Quarter Distribution of $0.32 Per Share

^{Published on 2011-05-26 13:55:54 - Market Wire}
 

RYE, N.Y.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--The Board of Trustees of The GDL Fund (NYSE:GDL) (the aFunda) declared a $0.32 per share cash distribution payable on June 23, 2011 to common shareholders of record on June 16, 2011.

Each quarter, the Board of Trustees reviews the amount of any potential distribution and the income, capital gain, or capital available. The Board of Trustees will continue to monitor the Funda™s distribution level, taking into consideration the Funda™s net asset value and the financial market environment. The distribution rate should not be considered the dividend yield or total return on an investment in the Fund.

The Fund currently intends to make quarterly cash distributions of all or a portion of its investment company taxable income (which includes ordinary income and realized net short-term capital gains) to common shareholders. The Fund also intends to make annual distributions of its realized net long-term capital gains, if any. A portion of the distribution may be a return of capital. Various factors will affect the level of the Funda™s income, such as its asset mix and use of merger arbitrage strategies. To permit the Fund to maintain more stable distributions, the Fund may from time to time distribute more or less than the entire amount of income earned in a particular period. Because the Funda™s current quarterly distributions are subject to modification by the Board of Trustees at any time and the Funda™s income will fluctuate, there can be no assurance that the Fund will pay distributions at a particular rate or frequency.

If the Fund does not generate sufficient earnings (dividends and interest income and realized net capital gain) equal to or in excess of the aggregate distributions paid by the Fund in a given year, then the amount distributed in excess of the Funda™s earnings would be deemed a return of capital. Since this would be considered a return of a portion of a shareholdera™s original investment, it is generally not taxable and is treated as a reduction in the shareholdera™s cost basis. Under federal tax regulations, some or all of the return of capital distributed by the Fund may be taxable as ordinary income in certain circumstances. This may occur when the Fund has a capital loss carry forward, net capital gains are realized in a fiscal year and distributions are made in excess of investment company taxable income.

Short-term capital gains, qualified dividend income, ordinary income, and paid-in capital, if any, will be allocated on a pro-rata basis to all distributions to common shareholders for the year. Based on the accounting records of the Fund as of May 16, 2011, each of the distributions paid in 2011 would include approximately 3% from net investment income, 28% from net capital gains and 69% from paid-in capital. The estimated components of each distribution are updated and provided to shareholders of record in a notice accompanying the distribution and are available on our website ([ www.gabelli.com ]). The final determination of the sources of all distributions in 2011 will be made after year end and can vary from the quarterly estimates. All shareholders with taxable accounts will receive written notification regarding the components and tax treatment for all 2011 distributions in early 2012 via Form 1099-DIV.

The GDL Fund is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company with $555 million in total net assets whose investment objective is to achieve absolute returns in various market conditions without excessive risk of capital. The Fund is managed by Gabelli Funds, LLC, a subsidiary of GAMCO Investors, Inc. (NYSE:GBL), which is a publicly traded NYSE listed company.