NEW YORK, NY – January 25, 2001 – W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC), a leader in the ownership and net leasing of corporate properties, today announced that it has closed on the acquisition of a to-be-built manufacturing facility to be operated by Meridian Automotive Systems, Inc. The facility, located in Salisbury, North Carolina, was purchased on behalf of Corporate Property Associates 14 Incorporated (CPA®:14). CPA®:14, a public non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT), is a member of the $2.5 billion W. P. Carey Group.
The to-be-built 260,000 square foot facility will be used to manufacture various heavy truck components to be sold to many of the leading commercial truck OEMs. The Facility is being completed by Corvus International, a leading design-build contractor based in Detroit, Michigan. The Facility is expected to be completed by May, 2001. The facility is leased to Meridian under a long-term net lease. The total cost of the facility was approximately $7.7 million.
Meridian Automotive Systems, Inc. is a leading tier 1 supplier of highly engineered sub-assemblies to automotive and commercial truck OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) in North America and Europe. The Company has significant supplier relationships with many of the leading automobile and commercial truck OEMs including Ford, GM, Daimler/Chrysler, Freightliner, Volvo/Mack and PACCAR. The facility will allow Meridian to consolidate operations into a new Facility located in close proximity to its customer base, thereby increasing efficiency and decreasing transportation costs.
Commenting on the transaction, Gordon F. DuGan, President and Chief Acquisitions Officer of W. P. Carey, stated, "W. P. Carey has enjoyed a banner year, providing financing for companies in a wide range of industries. Difficult credit markets are forcing companies to seek-out alternative sources of capital for growth or acquisitions. A sale-leaseback offers an attractive source of long term capital with the added benefit of being off-balance sheet. We are working with many leading private equity and mezzanine debt investors to structure financings for new acquisitions as well as for portfolio companies."
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 42 million square feet of property in the USA and Europe. Additional information about W. P. Carey is available on the company's Web site: 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.