W. P. Carey – WPC – Announces $66 Million Acquisition of Automotive Dealership Portfolio

Investment firm W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC) announced that CPA®:17 – Global, one of its publicly held non-traded REIT affiliates, has acquired a portfolio of nine automotive dealerships totaling approximately 380,000 square feet. Three properties are located in Alabama, two in Missouri, and one each in Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana. The portfolio dealerships sell and service market leading brands such as Mercedes Benz, Nissan, Chevrolet, Toyota, Scion, Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep.

The total purchase price was approximately $66 million. The facilities will be leased back to RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings LLC on a triple net basis for a term of 16 years. The acquisition is the first investment completed through a strategic partnership with CapRocq Automotive, LLC (“CapRocq”), formed for the purpose of executing a series of real estate sale-leaseback transactions in the automotive dealership industry.

CapRocq is led by founders Franklin McLarty and Beau Blair, both of whom have extensive experience in the automotive and commercial real estate industries. CapRocq’s Advisory Board includes Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty III, president of McLarty Associates and chairman of McLarty Companies, a fourth-generation family transportation business, who served as President Clinton’s White House Chief of Staff. Jim Press, CEO of Yanjun Auto and a senior automotive industry executive with over 40 years of experience, also sits on the CapRocq Advisory Board.

Commenting on the strategic partnership with CapRocq, W. P. Carey Managing Director and Co-Head of Global Investments, Jason Fox noted, “The formation of our relationship with CapRocq provides us with the opportunity to acquire commercial real property owned by operators of multi-site, multi-franchised automotive dealerships located in attractive markets throughout the United States and to simultaneously enter into long-term triple net leases with these selling dealers. CapRocq’s principals and advisory board provide a wealth of industry knowledge and experience that will be a critical resource in the origination and underwriting process. In addition, they will provide asset management oversight on an on-going basis for acquired assets. Their operational expertise and industry relationships will be a crucial component in executing this strategy.”

W. P. Carey & Co. LLC – WPC

W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (WPC) is an investment company that provides long term sale leaseback and build to suit financing for companies worldwide and manages a global investment portfolio of approximately $12.7 billion. Publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (WPC), W. P. Carey and its CPA® series of non-traded REITs help companies and private equity firms unlock capital tied up in real estate assets. The W. P. Carey Group’s investments are highly diversified, with approximately 284 long term corporate tenants spanning 28 industries and 18 countries.

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Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.