NEW YORK, NEW YORK – August 12, 2003 – Investment firm W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC) announced that it recently completed more than $41 million of sale-leaseback financing transactions with three companies involving nine facilities located in five states.
The transactions, completed on behalf of CPA®:15 a member of the $5 billion W. P. Carey Group of income generating real estate investment trusts (REITs), involved:
- Galyan's Trading Company, Inc.: The company sold three retail facilities, totaling 260,000 square feet, for $21.9 million. The stores, located in Greenwood, Indiana, Freehold, New Jersey and Buffalo, New York, will be leased under separate 20-year triple net leases. Over the past three years, W. P. Carey has acquired and leased back five facilities from Galyan’s totaling more than $50 million. Galyan's is a specialty retailer that offers a broad range of products that appeal to consumers with active lifestyles, from the casual consumer to the serious sports enthusiast. It operates 38 stores in 18 states and offers outdoor and athletic equipment, apparel, footwear and accessories, as well as casual apparel and footwear.
- Grande Communications: The company sold its corporate headquarters and regional headquarters consisting of four office/retail facilities located in San Marcos, Waco, Odessa and Corpus Christi, Texas for $13.8 million. The facilities, which total more than 123,000 square feet, will be leased under a single 20-year triple net lease. Grande delivers high-speed Internet, local and long-distance telephone and cable television services over its own advanced broadband network to communities in Austin, Corpus Christi, Midland, Odessa, San Antonio, San Marcos and Waco, Texas.
- A Kansas City, Missouri-based portfolio company of a New York private investment firm sold its two primary manufacturing centers located in Arkansas for approximately $6 million. The 440,000 square foot facilities serve as the company’s key manufacturing centers and will be leased under a 15-year triple net lease. The company is a leading supplier to the foodservice industry.
“These transactions represent the continued interest among companies from diverse industries that find W. P. Carey is able to provide an efficient, cost effective source of long-term capital to meet their financing needs,” said Gordon F. DuGan, President of W. P. Carey. “With interest rates at historical lows and real estate prices at a cyclical peak, sale-leaseback financing maximizes the funds raised while minimizing long-term financing costs. As we enter the end of the third quarter we expect our acquisitions volume to increase as more companies continue to realize the benefits associated with the sale-leaseback.”
Founded in 1973, W. P. Carey & Co. specializes in corporate real estate financing through the corporate net lease or sale-leaseback structure. The firm and its affiliated income generating, publicly held, non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs) continue to be leading lessors of net-leased corporate real estate. The largest publicly traded limited liability company in the world, W. P. Carey owns and/or manages more than 550 commercial and industrial properties throughout the United States and Europe comprised of more than 75 million square feet.
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 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.
