W.P. Carey buys two properties in Germany

Investment firm W. P. Carey & Co. announced on Tuesday that CPA:16 Global and CPA:17 Global, two of its publicly held non-traded REIT affiliates, have purchased two properties in Soest and Bad Wünnenberg, Germany, from Arques Industries for approximately EUR 37mln. The properties have been leased back to portfolio company Actebis under a triple net long term lease. The Soest facility serves as Actebis’ global headquarters and the Bad Wünnenberg property serves as a logistics facility for the company.

Actebis is Europe's third-largest wholesale distributor of IT goods and services. Actebis sells 84,000 different products, predominantly personal computers and computer devices to businesses and corporations throughout Europe. Originally founded in 1986, Actebis now operates in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Actebis was acquired in 2007 by Arques Industries, a listed German investment company.

'The sale-leaseback transaction with W. P. Carey is enabling us to recapitalize our balance sheet and focus on growing the core businesses of our portfolio companies as well as expanding our investment opportunities,' said Michael Schumann, chief executive officer of Arques. 'We look forward to developing an ongoing relationship with them.'



“In the face of very difficult capital markets, we are delighted to have once again proven our ability to execute,” said Jeffrey S. Lefleur, Executive Director of W. P. Carey International. “Unlike our highly-leveraged competitors, we continue to be an active and eager investor in sale-leasebacks throughout Europe and remain committed to providing a stable source of financing throughout all stages of the economic cycle.”