NEW YORK, NY – November 6, 2002 – Investment firm W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC) today announced that it has acquired the corporate headquarters of San Diego-based Overland Storage, Inc. for approximately $30 million. Overland Storage is a leading global supplier of innovative hardware and software storage solutions for mid-range computer networks.
The property, totaling 158,000 square feet, serves as Overland Storage's corporate headquarters and is located in the Kearny Mesa area of San Diego. It is comprised of two buildings housing the company's offices/R&D facility and its manufacturing operations. The facilities were purchased on behalf of Corporate Property Associates 15 Incorporated (CPA®:15), W. P. Carey's newest publicly held non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) and a member of the $4 billion W. P. Carey Group.
This latest acquisition adds to W. P. Carey's growing managed portfolio of properties in San Diego that consists of more than 380,000 square feet of space. These properties, which are owned by affiliates of CPA®:15, include the office and research facilities of Sicor, Inc. and Titan Corporation located at 9360 Towne Centre Drive and 3033 Science Park Road respectively, as well as the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel located at 9650 Scranton Road.
"We are happy to have Overland, a leader in the data storage industry, as our tenant in this premier property located in the new Spectrum Development in the Kearney Mesa area of San Diego," said Gino Sabatini, vice president at W. P. Carey. "We believe data storage and storage management is a technology sector that will continue to experience growth.
Overland is the acknowledged leader in the mid-range tape automation market and we believe it has many growth opportunities ahead of it. This property provides them with room for expansion for a number of years to come."
Overland Storage president and chief executive officer, Christopher Calisi, said, "We are pleased to have an industry leader such as W. P. Carey as our new landlord. We are very proud of our San Diego headquarters facility and feel that it reflects our growth and leadership position in the data storage industry."
Founded in 1980, Overland Storage, Inc. is the mid-range market leader in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing and support of automated tape data storage systems used by businesses for backup and storage of computer data. The company recently launched a new family of mid-range storage software products, has served over 75,000 customers worldwide and has won over 25 awards for product excellence.
CPA®:15 invests in single-tenant commercial properties which are typically purchased under a long-term, triple-net lease in which the tenant is responsible for maintaining the premises, insuring the buildings and paying real estate taxes. CPA®:15 was launched in November 2001 and currently has an ownership interest in 34 properties net leased to 12 tenants in 18 states.
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 affiliates continue to be the leading lessors of net leased corporate real estate in the United States. As the largest publicly traded limited liability company in the world, the company owns and/or manages more than 450 commercial and industrial properties throughout the United States and Europe comprised of more than 60 million square feet of space.
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.
