W.P. Carey & Co. LLC, the global investment management company specializing in long term sale leaseback and build to suit financing, has announced that one of its publicly-held non-traded REIT affiliates, CPA®:17 Global, has completed a 155 million (US $213 million) long-term sale leaseback financing transaction with C1000 B.V., a leading Dutch supermarket company.
W.P. Carey has acquired a portfolio of six logistics properties from C1000, located across the Netherlands which will be leased back to the company under a long-term triple net lease. The portfolio represents the complete distribution network of C1000, supplying all of its supermarket stores in the country. With annual consumer sales of 3.7 billion, C1000 and its franchisee network comprise the second largest food retailer in the Netherlands.
This transaction brings the total international assets under management by W.P. Carey outside the US to US $3.1 billion, representing 34% of total assets under management.
Jeffrey Lefleur, Executive Director of W.P. Carey, said: "The transaction marks W.P. Carey's first deal in the Netherlands and our largest European sale leaseback since 2007, capping off a 12-month period where we have provided more than US $600 million in alternative long term financing to companies throughout Europe.
The transaction supports our business model of providing long term financing solutions through the acquisition and leaseback of a company's critical operating assets. C1000's solid market position, together with strong equity sponsorship from CVC Capital Partners, made it an excellent investment opportunity for W.P. Carey and a significant addition to our European portfolio.
We are excited by the opportunity for increased sale leaseback in Europe, our investment strategy is both pan European and opportunistic allowing us to assess individual financing requirements across a wide variety of sectors and geographies."
Tom Heidman, CEO of C1000, said: "W.P. Carey's investment has allowed us to convert illiquid fixed assets into cash. Our ability to reinvest this capital in our retail business supports our growth initiatives, including re-branding to the new 'C1000 Red' store format as well as allowing us to pay down debt and optimize our capital structure."
Source: Pelham Bell Pottinger
