Business & Finance
Business and Finance
Business and Finance
Wed, January 14, 2009 W. P. Carey & Co. LLC: W. P. Carey Group Completes 2008 With Three Deal Closings
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - January 14, 2009) - Underscoring its continuing ability to act as an alternative source of capital during all market conditions, investment firm W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (
CPA®:17 - Global and CPA®:16 - Global acquired four manufacturing facilities leased to Frontier Spinning Mills, Inc. for approximately $39 million. The facilities are located in Mayodan and Sanford, North Carolina and include Frontier's headquarters.
One of the world's largest producers of spun yarns, Frontier produces an average of approximately 650 million pounds of yarn annually. Combined, the purchased facilities produce approximately eight million pounds of yarn per week. Blue chip companies Fruit of the Loom, Central Textiles, Gildan and Renfro use Frontier's yarn in many different end products including sportswear, undergarments, socks, sweaters, fleece, denim, and home furnishings.
Consistent with its philosophy of assisting existing tenants with expansion financing as well as de novo acquisitions, W. P. Carey completed two follow-on transactions on behalf of CPA®:16 - Global in December. The first was the funding of a $6.8 million expansion of Nordic Cold Storage LLC's Rockmart, Georgia facility, which is expected to be completed this February. The Rockmart facility is one of three Atlanta-area cold storage facilities CPA®:16 - Global acquired from Nordic in 2007.
The second follow-on transaction totaled $8 million and included the funding of an expansion to LifePort, Inc.'s Georgetown, Texas facility -- also owned by CPA®:16 - Global -- along with the purchase and funding of a new property in Woodland, Washington. LifePort designs, manufactures and certifies a wide range of products for most sectors of the aviation industry, including emergency medical patient transport devices and interiors for executive aircrafts.
"Because W. P. Carey builds long-term relationships with its tenants and develops an in-depth knowledge of their businesses and capital structures, when expansions or other financing requirements arise, we go back to them," said Nordic CEO, Don J. Schoenl. "Their knowledge and understanding of our business enabled them to complete the transaction on a timely basis and we are very much looking forward to the completion of our expanded facility this February."
"W. P. Carey has once again proven itself a reliable source of capital to LifePort," said LifePort Chairman Gary Darley. "Back in 2006, W. P. Carey's extensive financing and real estate experience enabled them to close a multi-property deal under severe timing constraints. Despite these challenging times they were able to deliver the financing required for our expansion."
"We were very pleased to close these transactions in the current environment," said Gino Sabatini, Executive Director at W. P. Carey. "The Nordic and LifePort expansions serve as prime examples of W. P. Carey's long-term outlook and ability to meet the ongoing financing needs of existing tenants. The acquisition of the Frontier leased property is an attractive addition to our portfolio and is consistent with our philosophy of acquiring assets that are critical to a tenant's core operations. We look forward to working with Nordic, LifePort and Frontier in the future."
W. P. Carey & Co. LLC
W. P. Carey & Co. LLC is an investment management company that provides long-term sale-leaseback and build-to-suit financing for companies worldwide and manages a global investment portfolio worth more than $10 billion. Publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (WPC), W. P. Carey and its CPA® series of income-generating, non-traded REITs help companies and private equity firms unlock capital tied up in real estate assets. The W. P. Carey Group's investments are highly diversified, comprising contractual agreements with approximately 300 long-term corporate obligors spanning 28 industries and 14 countries. [ www.wpcarey.com ]
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws. A number of factors could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievement to differ materially from those anticipated. Among those risks, trends and uncertainties are the general economic climate; the supply of and demand for office and industrial properties; interest rate levels; the availability of financing; and other risks associated with the acquisition and ownership of properties, including risks that the tenants will not pay rent, or that costs may be greater than anticipated. For further information on factors that could impact the Company, reference is made to the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
