W. P. Carey Funds Largest Financing in Company History
NEW YORK – May 2, 2007 – Investment firm W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE:WPC) announced today that it has arranged to provide approximately $445 million to German Do-It-Yourself retailer Hellweg Die Profi-Baumärkte GmbH & Co. KG (“Hellweg”) and its affiliates - the largest financing in the 30-plus year history of W. P. Carey.
Long-term financing was provided by W. P. Carey’s CPA® REIT series of managed funds through a partial purchase of Hellweg’s real estate subsidiary, Hellweg Vermögensverwaltung KG, and a loan collateralized by 37 operating sites. The sites total approximately 3.2 million square feet and are located throughout Germany.
These transactions are a follow on to the $154 million sale-leaseback transaction the two companies closed in March of 2005 - at the time, W. P. Carey’s largest single European investment completed on behalf of its managed CPA® series of REITs.
Hellweg, originally founded in 1905 as a lumber retailer, has been operating in the Do-It-Yourself industry for the last 35 years and is presently owned by Mr. Reinhold Semer. The company operates 72 locations in Germany and seven in Austria and holds a top market position in the North Rhine-Westphalia region and in greater Berlin.
“We were pleased to be able to work with Hellweg again,” said Jan F. Kärst, Chief Operating Officer of W. P. Carey International. “One of our key goals at W. P. Carey is to build strategic ongoing relationships with our clients. Since the completion of the first transaction, Hellweg recognized the value of our long-term investment philosophy and was interested in working with us again. This is truly a testament to W. P. Carey’s partnership approach to client relationships.”
“W. P. Carey was extremely accommodating to our needs from the start so we knew they would work with us to develop and provide the kind of highly complex financing structures we required for our follow-on deals. The capital generated from the two distinct transactions – a share sale in our property company and a loan – has helped create a solid balance sheet for Hellweg’s foreseeable future. We are very pleased with the result and are looking forward to working with W. P. Carey in the years to come,” said Mr. Semer.
“We hope to be able to replicate the success we’ve had with Hellweg with companies throughout Europe, Asia, and around the globe,” added President of W. P. Carey International, Edward V. LaPuma. “And, in a market where companies are forced to be more creative, our ability to close ‘outside the box’ transactions as well as more traditional structures benefits our clients and sets us apart from our competition.”
W. P. Carey & Co. LLC
Founded in 1973, W. P. Carey & Co. LLC is a leading global real estate investment firm. The Company provides asset management services to its CPA® series of income generating real estate funds. With over $5 billion in equity capital, the W. P. Carey Group is one of the largest providers of net lease financing for corporations worldwide. The Group owns more than 800 commercial and industrial properties in 14 countries, representing over 98 million square feet, valued at approximately $8.8 billion. www.wpcarey.com
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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.
