W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC), the global investment management company specializing in corporate sale and leaseback and build to suit financing, has announced that one of its publicly-held non-traded REIT affiliates, CPA®:17 Global, has completed a 41-million construction financing package for Austrian developer BOP.
The financing will deliver 100% of the funds needed for the construction of three modern big-box retail sites in Croatia. When completed, the three sites will be long-term, triple-net leased to Konzum, who is a member of Agrokor Group, the largest private company in Croatia.
The Agrokor Group is one of the leading regional companies employing more than 35,000 people. The Agrokor Group's core businesses include the production and distribution of food and drinks as well as retail stores.
Total international assets under management by W. P. Carey outside the US now total approximately US $3.5 billion. Year-to-date, W. P. Carey has provided more than US $650 million in alternative long term financing to companies throughout Europe.
Jones Lang Lasalle was an advisor to the transaction.
Jeffrey Lefleur, Managing Director of W. P. Carey, said: "This transaction marks our second construction financing project in Eastern Europe in the last 12 months and our third tranche of long-term investment with Agrokor.
"Our ability to fund 100% of the capital needed to complete the development of these retail sites highlights not only how we can provide alternative financing solutions to developers, but also shows the massive opportunity that we continue to see in Eastern Europe due to the lack of traditional bank construction financing."
Paul Wette, Managing Director of BOP Development, said: "We are satisfied that we picked the correct financing partner to get this deal done. In an otherwise turbulent market, we believe W. P. Carey has a reliable capital base from which we can now fund the development of these facilities.
"Their financing solution allows us to surmount the typical challenges of securing forward-funding sources or short-term bank loans and instead focus on the construction of the new buildings."
Source: Pelham Bell Pottinger
