W.P. Carey Acquires in Austria for $25.2 Million

Sponsor of non-traded real estate investment trusts (REIT) and public REIT itself, W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE: WPC) announced today that it has acquired a property in Austria for $25.2 million.

“We are pleased to announce our first transaction in the Austrian property market, further demonstrating W. P. Carey’s ability to evaluate and enter new markets,” commented Jeffrey Lefleur, Managing Director of W. P. Carey.

Acquired from Richardson Capital, a UK developer, the retail hypermarket and garden center is net leased to Hornbach Baumarkt AG (Hornbach). The property is located about 30 miles south of Vienna right off of the A2 Autobahn, a major highway that connects Vienna to Italian border.

Publicly-traded Hornbach operates 143 stores and garden centers in nine different countries and is considered the fifth-largest do-it-yourself retailer in Europe. It has an equity market capitalization of about $1.1 billion.

Hornbach recently renewed its lease for a 15-year term that includes annual rent escalations.

Lefleur added, “With Hornbach as a quality tenant, the length of the net lease and the annual inflation escalation, the investment is consistent with our investment criteria and furthers our diversification strategy.”