Finance REITs
W. P. Carey Closes European Sale-Leaseback
July 21, 2008
By: Denise L. Meyer, Contributing Correspondent

W. P. Carey & Co. has reported that CPA(R):16 - Global, its publicly held non-traded REIT affiliate, has provided approximately 19 million euro of sale-leaseback financing to Schoeller Arca Systems through the acquisition of two manufacturing facilities located in Monheim, Germany and Nurieux, France.

SAS designs, develops and manufactures reusable containers, boxes and pallets that are manufactured to endure multiple trips. "The sale-leaseback of our facilities is enabling us to recapitalize our balance sheet," SAS CFO Hubert van Iwaarden said in a statement. Together with its new owners, One Equity Partners, the new financing will enable the company to grow, he advised.

The investment is just one of a number being made in Europe of late. Last week, W. P. Carey also purchased two properties in Soest and Bad Wunnenberg, Germany, from Arques Industries for approximately $58 million. The properties have been leased back to portfolio company Actebis, Europe’s third largest wholesale distributor of IT goods and services, under a triple net long term lease.

Speaking to CPN today, Jeff Lefleur (pictured), executive director for W.P. Carey International, noted, “We’ve been invested in Europe for about seven years, and have $2 billion in lease back properties that has been growing steadily. The slowdown in the U.S. economy has highlighted our presence in Europe, but it is not a shift in emphasis.”

Concurrent with the company’s 35th anniversary and its 10th year of investing in Europe, W. P. Carey also announced plans last week to open a second European office in Amsterdam to establish a European base for the management of its growing property portfolio there. The existing London-based team will continue to focus on the investment side of the firm’s European business.

 
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Maguire Completes Second SoCal Office Sale in a Week
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Maguire Properties Inc. has closed the books on the disposition of City Plaza, a 324,000-square-foot office building in Orange, Calif. An entity owned by Hudson Capital L.L.C. took the property off Maguire's hands.
U.S. Private Equity Firms Seek Bargains in Japanese REIT Market
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Japanese REITs, which have lost more than 50 percent of their value on the Tokyo Stock Exchange since their peak last year, are increasingly attracting the attention of U.S.-based private equity firms like Oaktree Capital Management, which has launched the first tender offer for a REIT in Japan.
 

 

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