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W. P. Carey & Co. LLC: W. P. Carey Completes Second Transaction With Eroski of Spain

^{Published on 2010-06-17 05:11:19 - Market Wire}
 

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - June 17, 2010) - [ W. P. Carey & Co. LLC ] (NYSE: [ WPC ]), the global investment management company specializing in the provision of long term corporate [ sale-leaseback ] and build to suit financing for companies, announced today that it has completed a second transaction with [ Eroski Sociedad Cooperativa ] of Spain.

W. P. Carey & Co. LLC and CPA^®:17 - Global, one of its publicly held non-traded REIT affiliates, have acquired two warehouse logistics facilities in Elorrio and Mallorca, Spain, for EUR 43 million ($52 million). This is the W. P. Carey Group's second transaction with Eroski in seven months and brings the combined total financing to Eroski to more than EUR 115 million ($155 million). The properties are leased to Eroski under long term leases.

Established in 1969, Eroski is the third largest food and consumables retailer in Spain. Eroski operates more than 100 hypermarkets and 1200 supermarkets, franchises over 500 Aliprox fast-food outlets, and manages gas stations, drugstores and travel agencies.

The Elorrio asset is Eroski's largest logistics hub; it is located in the Basque region of northern Spain where Eroski was founded. Eroski has a dominant market share (approximately 45%) in the Basque region and the majority of Eroski's co-operative members reside there. The Mallorca asset is the only Eroski logistics facility on Mallorca and is the central distribution hub for all of the Balearic Islands, where Eroski also has dominant market share (approximately 70%) and the availability of land and logistics space is limited. The facility is a Class-A logistics warehouse built in 2009.

The Eroski acquisitions are in addition to W. P. Carey's recent sale-leaseback financings provided to leading European retailers, including [ Agrokor ], [ Tesco ], and [ OBI ].

"The closing of this, the second transaction with Eroski this year, underlines our commitment to remain a reliable and consistent source of alternative financing to our clients," said Jeffrey Lefleur, Executive Director of W. P. Carey. "Our long-term investment perspective allows us to look beyond shorter term economic market fluctuations and evaluate the longer term prospects of companies seeking sale-leaseback financing alternatives. Given that these two assets are critical to Eroski's operations and are located in economically strong regions of Spain, we view this acquisition as an opportune addition to our portfolio."

"Working on this second transaction with W. P. Carey was facilitated by our past experience with them," commented A. Fernández, Eroski Director of Expansion. "Their understanding of our business, our long term strategies and the significance of the two logistics centers to our overall operations enabled us to structure and close the transaction on a timely basis."

Reed Smith & Linklaters were legal advisors to W. P. Carey, while Eroski was represented by DJV Abogados. Cushman & Wakefield were transaction advisors to the parties.

Notes to editors:

In recent months W. P. Carey has completed more than EUR 300 million in sale-leaseback transactions in Europe, including those listed below:

• Agrokor, Croatia
  • 05 May 2010; W. P. Carey acquired two office and logistics facilities in Zagreb, Croatia. The transaction is W. P. Carey's first in Croatia and was for a total consideration of EUR 77 million ($101 million).
• TDG, UK
  • 4 May 2010; W. P. Carey announces £22 Million ($34 million) corporate sale-leaseback with TDG Limited for a portfolio of cold storage facilities.
• Eroski, Spain
  • 17 February 2010; W. P. Carey completes second tranche of a total EUR 74 Million ($104 million) sale-leaseback with Eroski.
  • W. P. Carey completed the first part of this Spanish sale-leaseback transaction in December 2009.
• OBI, Poland
  • 15 October 2009; W. P. Carey entered into a sale-leaseback transaction with the OBI Group totaling approximately EUR 10 million ($15 million).
• National Express, UK
  • 28 September 2009; W. P. Carey entered into a build to suit transaction with UK public transport provider National Express Ltd totaling approximately £16 million ($26 million).
• Tesco, Hungary
  • 27 July 2009; W. P. Carey provided EUR 66 million ($94 million) in alternative long term financing for Tesco plc through the sale and leaseback of Tesco's Hungarian logistics portfolio.

About W. P. Carey & Co. LLC
W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: [ WPC ]) 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 approaching $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 275 long term corporate obligors spanning 28 industries and 16 countries. [ http://www.wpcarey.com ]

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws. A number of factors could cause W. P. Carey'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.