W. P. Carey Announces Acquisition of H&M Distribution Center in Poland

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Jul 17, 2013, 07:00 ET

NEW YORK, July 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE: WPC), a real estate investment trust ("REIT") specializing in corporate sale leaseback financing, build-to-suit construction financing and the acquisition of single-tenant net-lease properties, announced today that CPA^®:17 - Global, one of its publicly held non-traded REIT affiliates, has acquired a logistics center of H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB ("H&M") in Poznan, Poland from a fund managed by Invesco Real Estate. The total acquisition cost for the 896,911 sq ft (83,325 sq m) facility was approximately $85 million (€64 million).

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The center is subject to a long-term, triple-net lease that is fully guaranteed by H&M. Located in Poznan, the second largest logistics market in Poland outside of Warsaw, the modern center is critical to the supply chain of H&M in Europe. It is H&M's European distribution center for Eastern Europe, as well as its primary e-commerce and online-retail logistics hub for Europe.

H&M is the world's 2^nd largest clothing retailer, with approximately $18.2 billion (€14 billion) in annual revenue. It operates in 48 countries, employing approximately 94,000 people.

Jeffrey Lefleur, Managing Director of W. P. Carey, said, "The acquisition marks our fourth European transaction this year overall, bringing total year-to-date investment in Europe to approximately $217 million (€166 million). We were attracted to the long-term income provided by the lease, the strong guarantee of H&M and the high quality of the property."

"We are pleased with the sale of the H&M Distribution Center," commented Tomas Picha, Director of Transactions in CEE from Invesco Real Estate. "Our closing of this transaction confirms the high level of institutional interest in Polish assets with long term leases to strong tenants."

Invesco Real Estate was represented by Colliers International in the transaction, who was retained to market the property for sale. Property agent Victorios acted on behalf of CPA^®:17 - Global.

W. P. Carey Inc.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, W. P. Carey Inc. is a publicly traded REIT (NYSE: WPC) that provides long-term sale-leaseback and build-to-suit financing for companies worldwide and owns and manages an investment portfolio totaling approximately $15.2 billion. Active in Europe since 1998, European assets comprise approximately $3.6 billion (€2.7 billion) of its global portfolio. The largest owner/manager of net lease assets, WPC's corporate finance-focused credit and real estate underwriting process is a constant that has been successfully leveraged across a wide variety of industries and property types. Its portfolio of long-term leases with creditworthy tenants has an established history of generating stable cash flows that have enabled the WPC to deliver consistent and rising dividend income to investors for nearly four decades. www.wpcarey.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws. The statements of Mr. Lefleur are examples of forward looking statements. A number of factors could cause the CPA^®:17 – Global'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 CPA^®:17 - Global, reference is made to CPA^®:17 – Global's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.