NEW YORK, NY – May 22, 2001 – W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE:WPC), a leading real estate investment banking firm and lessor of net leased corporate properties, announced today that its affiliate Corporate Property Associates 12 Incorporated (CPA®:12), a privately held real estate investment trust (REIT), sold its facility leased to BAE SYSTEMS Mission Solutions in San Diego, California, for approximately $30.5 million after fees and expenses. The 210,500 square foot facility, located in the center of the Rancho Bernardo Industrial Park in northeast San Diego, California, consists of primary office and research and development space on 11.4 acres.
CPA®:12 originally purchased the facility in 1997 for $12.8 million and in 1999 CPA®:12 invested $8.6 million to expand the facility. As a result of this transaction CPA®:12 will see a net a gain of approximately 43% from its initial investment.
Wm. Polk Carey, Chairman and Chief Executive of W. P. Carey & Co. LLC, said, "While we think BAE SYSTEMS is a terrific company and they have been an excellent tenant, the sale makes sense and is of tremendous benefit to the firm and the investors of CPA®:12. When we first purchased this property in 1997 California's real estate market was in decline, but today, with a booming real estate market we felt the sale of this property was a great opportunity for CPA®:12 and its investors."
Founded in 1993, CPA®:12 invests in high quality corporate real estate and is a member of the $3 billion W. P. Carey Group with total appraised assets of $555 million. At the end of the first quarter 2001, CPA®:12 had a diversified portfolio which includes 91 properties net-leased to 39 corporate tenants throughout the United States. These properties are subject to long-term, triple-net leases in which the tenants bear responsibility for maintaining the premises, insuring the buildings and paying real estate taxes. W. P. Carey & Co. LLC and its affiliate CPA®:12 target middle-market tenants and private companies with an eye towards providing creative financing solutions for their corporate real estate needs. The firm has found that when a company removes real estate from their balance sheet, they are then able to re-deploy this much-needed capital to pay down debt or finance other corporate initiatives.
When CPA®:12 purchased the facility in 1997 it was leased to GDE Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of Tracor, Inc. At the time, GDE Systems, Inc. was a leading Department of Defense contractor, specializing in the production of advanced technology products for imagery information systems, mission planning and automatic ground test equipment. In June 1998, Tracor was merged into GEC-Marconi. Eventually, in November 1999, GEC-Marconi was split into three divisions: One remained as a subsidiary of GEC, plc., a British company; another was spun off as a stand-alone entity; and the last one was acquired by British Aerospace, plc. which later became BAE SYSTEMS. BAE SYSTEMS Mission Solutions, a sector of BAE SYSTEMS, North America is the owner of the facility.
Founded in 1973, W. P. Carey & Co. specializes in corporate real estate financing using the corporate net lease, or sale-leaseback structure. The firm and its affiliates is one of the largest lessors of net leased corporate real estate in the nation. W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC), the largest publicly traded limited liability company in the world, owns and manages over 45 million square feet of property in the USA and Europe. The firm is headquartered in Manhattan and has offices in London and Paris. Additional information about W. P. Carey is available on the company's website www.wpcarey.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal securities laws. A number of factors could cause the company'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 the company, reference is made to the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.