NEW YORK, NY – July 15, 2002 – Investment banking firm W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC) announced today that it has acquired and leased-backed the corporate headquarters and two additional facilities from Mesquite, TX-based IntegraColor, Ltd., for approximately $12.3 million. IntegraColor provides specialized print-based solutions to a broad range of commercial clients, including those in the Fortune 500 and horticultural industry.
Under the terms of the sale-leaseback transaction, the three properties, which total approximately 360,000 square feet of space, will be leased under a 20-year bond-type net lease. The facilities, which include IntegraColor’s corporate headquarters and primary manufacturing facilities, are located in Mesquite, TX, 12 miles east of downtown Dallas. 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 $3.5 billion W. P. Carey Group.
IntegraColor is the latest paper/printing company to join W. P. Carey’s diversified portfolio of tenant-clients. Other tenant-clients in this industry that have completed sale-leaseback transactions with W. P. Carey include: Xerox Corporation, Unisource Worldwide, Inc., Jen-Coat, Inc., Perry Graphic Communications, United Stationers Supply Co., Masterprint and ADR Bookprint, Inc.
"This transaction will provide IntegraColor with new capital for various corporate initiatives," said Anne R. Coolidge, Executive Director at W. P. Carey. "In today’s tightening credit markets, companies are realizing the benefits of the sale-leaseback which enables them to convert their bricks and mortar into working capital from an otherwise depreciating asset."
"We were seeking a financing option that would assist us in facilitating our growth, and leadership position within the printing industry," said Larry King, president of IntegraColor. "We determined that the sale-leaseback approach, offered by industry leader W. P. Carey, would help us achieve these key objectives."
Founded in 1957 as a printer to the horticultural industry, IntegraColor today has a customer base of more than 20,000 accounts with expertise in point-of-purchase signage and displays, educational curriculum, catalog production, magazine publishing, direct mail and other specialty printing. The Company specializes in sheet fed and web offset printing, UV offset printing, flexographic printing, screen-printing, digital and various other specialized processes.
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 launched in November 2001, and as of June 30, 2002 had an ownership interest in more than 20 properties net leased to five tenants.
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 comprising 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.
