Saturday, December 30, 2006

National RV Holdings Enters New Sale Leaseback of CA Property

National RV Holdings Web Site - December 28, 2006

National R.V. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NVH), the owner of leading RV manufacturers National RV, Inc. and Country Coach, Inc., today announced that it has entered into a new agreement to sell and leaseback its Perris, California property to First Industrial Acquisitions, Inc. First Industrial is an affiliate of First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc., a national provider of diversified industrial real estate. The previous agreement entered into on November 22nd with Warrior Holdings, Inc. was terminated on December 20th due to Warrior's inability to obtain a timely financing commitment from its lender.

Under the terms of this new agreement, which contains no third-party financing contingencies, the sales price is $31.75 million, and calls for the Company to enter into a 10-year, triple-net lease with approximately $2.7 million in annual lease payments, which increase 3% per year. The lease will include two 5-year renewal options. The agreement provides for customary closing conditions, including a due diligence period by the buyer through February 9, 2007 with closing scheduled to occur on February 15, 2007. Sphere: Related Content

MTS Allstream Closes $51 Million Sale Leaseback of Winnipeg Offices

MTS Allstream Web Site - December 28, 2006

MTS Allstream Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. (“MTS”) (stock symbol: MBT), today announced the closing of a transaction regarding the sale of the Company’s downtown office buildings located at 333 Main Street and 191 Pioneer Avenue in Winnipeg with Crown Realty Investments Ltd. for a price of $51.1 million. As part of this transaction, MTS Allstream has signed a 15 year lease to leaseback the office space it currently occupies, which will continue to be the Company’s head office.

"We are pleased to complete this transaction involving properties which we identified as non-core during our business review process," said MTS Allstream Chief Financial Officer Wayne Demkey. "This transaction represents good value for these assets, and will help us deliver significant value to our shareholders." Sphere: Related Content

Friday, December 29, 2006

Alcatel-Lucent Completes EUR 124.5 Million Sale Leaseback of Business Park

Interactive Investor Web Site - December 27, 2006

Alpha Pyrenees has acquired, with IPGL Limited ("IPGL"), a 77,000 square metre business park comprising in total 20 office, warehouse and research and development buildings from SIVN (Societe Immobiliere Villarceaux Nozay). The deal is a sale and leaseback with Alcatel-Lucent with a 12 year lease with a minimum term of 9 years. The lease benefits from annual inflation-linked rent indexation.

The total consideration for the acquisition of the Business Park is Euro 124.5 million. The purchase consideration will be satisfied by the Company's and IPGL's existing cash resources and a new Alpha Pyrenees group debt facility. The total costs including acquisition costs are approximately Euro 130.9 million. The total rent from the Business Park will be approximately Euro 9.6 million per annum giving an annual rental yield of approximately 7.3 per cent including costs. Sphere: Related Content

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

House of Fraser Completes £60 Million Sale Leaseback of London HQ

Times Online - December 27, 2006

Highland Acquisitions, the Baugur-fronted consortium, has completed a sale and leaseback of House of Fraser’s headquarters for an estimated £60 million a month after completing its £351 million buyout, The Times has learnt. The sale of the building in Howick Place in Victoria, Central London, to Terrace Hill, an AIM-listed developer, has delivered funds well in excess of a £35 million bridging loan taken out with HBOS. Sphere: Related Content

Homever Agrees to $663 Million Sale Leaseback of 10 Hypermarkets in Korea

Namnews - December 22, 2006

E-Land Ltd., which bought Carrefour's local outlets earlier this year, has said it will sell 10 of the stores and lease them back, raising $663m. E-Land will sell the 10 stores next week to real estate firm Koramco Reits Management and Trust Co. Ltd., and the funds raised will be used to repay debt and upgrade its shops, it said. E-Land will lease the shops back and continue to operate them under its Homever brand.

Carrefour sold its 32 Korean outlets to E-Land for $1.85bn. Carrefour has invested about $1.1bn since it entered South Korea in 1996, but left the $22bn local discount store market after underperforming. Sphere: Related Content

Hafslund Completes $58 Million Sale Leaseback of 15 Properties in Oslo

Hafslund Web Site - December 22, 2006

Hafslund has sold 100 percent of the shares in the company Hatros I AS to RBS Nordisk Renting for NOK 362 million ($58 million). The company is a single purpose company with 15 properties in Oslo. The properties mainly consist of transformer stations with surrounding areas.

Hafslund will lease back part of the properties for a period of 15 years with an option for extension, and will be responsible for the technical and building related maintenance of the properties during the period. The sale gives an accounting profit before tax of about NOK 290 million. Sphere: Related Content

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Brantano Group Completes EUR 36.8 Million Sale Leaseback of 19 Stores in Belgium

Brantano Group Web Site - December 22, 2006

The Brantano Group has concluded an agreement with the Belgian closedend property investment company Retail Estates concerning the sale of the shares of the real estate subsidiary Brimmo, owner of 19 stores located in Belgium and the distribution centre in Belgium.

As at 30 June 2006, the Brantano Group owned 21 stores located in Belgium as well as the distribution centre in Belgium, with Brimmo NV, the Group’s property arm, owning 19 stores, all run as Brantano stores, and the distribution centre.

The Brantano Group is staying on as tenant of the premises and has ensured its commercial interests by entering into 27 year long leases based on market terms. The operation took place with a return for Retail Estates of 6.62%.

The market value of the premises used to fix the value of the shares is € 42.5 million, as a result of which the Brantano Group realises a capital gain after tax of € 22.0 million. The future rent for the premises, including the distribution centre, will be € 2.8 million a year. Sphere: Related Content

Principal Hotels Completes £290 Million Sale Leaseback of Six UK Hotels

The Times - December 24, 2006

Alternative Asset Investment Management (AAIM) is understood to have struck a deal with Permira, the private-equity firm, to buy six four-star hotels in the Principal chain for £290m. The hotels have been acquired as part of a 25-year sale-and-leaseback deal with Permira, which snapped up the chain in September from Royal Bank of Scotland. The portfolio comprises the Russell in London, the George in Edinburgh, the Royal York in York, the Met in Leeds, the Palace in Manchester, and Selsdon Park in Croydon.

Principal, which competes in the upper mid-market of the hotel sector, has a total of 1,310 bedrooms and a strong focus on conferences, with 80 meeting rooms that can accommodate more than 7,000 delegates. The hotel purchase is being carried out using the Symmetry fund joint venture that AAIM set up with Bank of Scotland in October to spend £2 billion on European property. In October AAIM teamed up with Robert Tchenguiz, the property tycoon, to buy Menzies, the regional hotel chain, for £190m.

The hotel spending spree forms part of a plan by AAIM to act as a consolidator in Britain’s provincial four-star market. The transaction with Permira is just one of a flurry of pre-Christmas deals for AAIM. It has also refinanced its investment in the British headquarters of the electronics firm JVC at Staples Corner, north London, with HSH Nordbank, the German bank.

The refinancing has created a bonanza for its investors, earning them three times their original money in three years while retaining their original investment in the building. Since AAIM was launched in January 2003, it claims to have generated an average return of more than 80%, amid soaring commercial- property values that have squeezed rental yields to record lows. Sphere: Related Content

Casey's General Stores Ripe for Sale Leaseback of Store Portfolio?

BusinessWeek - December 14, 2006

Shares of Casey's General Stores rose on Thursday after an analyst upgraded the convenience store operator. Analyst Karen Short of Friedman Billings Ramsey Group Inc. said Casey's prepared food business is "healthy and growing" and the stock is stable and trading less on gas margin sentiment.

Short also looked at Casey's real estate portfolio and said if the company were to perform a sale-leaseback, which is when real estate is sold to an outside business, and then leased back to the seller, the company could get $755 million in cash proceeds. The value of the real estate should be reflected in the stock, Short said. Finally, Short said Casey's could be attractive to a buyer.

"We would argue Casey's could be an extremely attractive target given the portfolio of owned real estate, extremely low leverage, and steady cash flow from the prepared foods business," wrote Short in a note on Thursday. She upgraded the stock to "Outperform" or "Buy," from "Market Perform," or "Hold." Shares were up 67 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $24.32 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq, after earlier trading as high as $24.65. Sphere: Related Content

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Signs Build-to-Suit For New HQ in Tarrytown, NY

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Web Site - December 21, 2006

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: REGN) today signed a 15-year lease with BioMed Realty Trust, Inc. for a new corporate headquarters and research and development complex to be constructed adjacent to its current facility at the Landmark at Eastview in the Town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. Regeneron also has the option to extend the lease for three additional 5-year periods.

The state-of-the-art complex will consolidate Regeneron’s 440 Tarrytown-based employees, currently scattered among six buildings, into a three-building, interconnected campus. The new facilities will include approximately 194,000 square feet of laboratory and office space in two buildings to be constructed by BioMed Realty Trust over the next two years. The Company will also retain its 27,000 square foot specialized VelociGene® research facility in an existing building at the Landmark at Eastview. The new buildings will incorporate energy efficient technologies along with an open and flexible design that will enhance workplace interactions. Sphere: Related Content

Old National Bancorp Closes $69 Million Sale Leaseback on HQ Campus in IN

SEC Edgar Database - December 22, 2006

Old National Bancorp (the 'Company') and its subsidiaries, Old National Bank and Old National Realty Company, Inc. has entered into a sale leaseback of three office buildings located in Evansville, Indiana. SunTrust Equity Funding, LLC is the sole member of each Buyer. The purchase price is $69,366,525 for the property located at One Main Street, Evansville Indiana (which serves as the Company's headquarters), $2,817,397 for the property located at 123 Main Street, Evansville, Indiana, and $6,797,600 for the property located at 101-105 NW 4th Street, Evansville, Indiana.

The closing of the sale of the Property occurred on December 21, 2006. Under each of the Lease Agreements, Old National Bank has the right at its option to extend the term of the lease for four additional successive terms of five years each, upon specified terms and conditions.

Old National Bank is obligated to pay (on a monthly basis) base rent in the aggregate annual amount of $6,550,469 (8.29% of the purchase price)to the Buyers under the Lease Agreements through December 31, 2029; no rent is payable for the final two years of the initial 25-year term. For financial reporting purposes, the rent will be expensed ratably over the 25-year term at an annual rate of $6,026,431 (7.63% of the purchase price.) Sphere: Related Content

Arbuthnot Banking Group Enters GBP 35 Million Sale Leaseback of London HQ

Hemscott - December 20, 2006

Arbuthnot Banking Group PLC said today that it has exchanged contracts for the sale and lease-back of its London head office. The company said it will sell Arbuthnot House, its London headquarters, on Ropemaker Street for 35 mln stg resulting in a profit of 15 mln stg over the original cost of the building Arbuthnot expects a book profit of about 11 mln stg on the sale of the building, which it acquired in August 2003, after allowing for associated costs. It expects to complete the sale on Dec 20. It will lease back the building on a 15-year term with a rent of 1.7 mln stg annually. Sphere: Related Content

Friday, December 22, 2006

EPA Regional HQ in Denver Sold for $91.3 Million

Government Properties Trust Web Site - December 21, 2006

Government Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE: GPT), a self-managed, self-administered real estate investment trust, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) building at 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colo., for approximately $91.3 million in accordance with the terms of the Purchase and Sales Agreement.

The newly constructed, 280,000 square foot, nine story building is located in the Lower Downtown Historic District in Denver. The General Services Administration on behalf of the EPA has executed a 10-year lease. Approximately 15,000 square feet of the building will be available for street level retail space. The property includes 225 on-site underground parking stalls. The property will serve as the regional headquarters for the EPA.

The anticipated operating expenses for the property are estimated at $6.1 million, which includes $3.3 million for depreciation and amortization and $70,000 for reserves. Annual revenue, after the building is fully leased, is expected to be $9.4 million.

Simultaneous with the property acquisition, a mortgage financing was completed for $68.5 million. The mortgage bears a fixed interest rate of 6.19 percent and is interest only for the first two years. The mortgage is amortized for 30 years with a ten year term. Sphere: Related Content

Auto-Teile-Unger Closes Sale Leaseback of 23 Auto Parts and Service Centers in Germany

Europe Real Estate - December 21, 2006

IXIS Capital Partners has advised its Captiva Capital Partners II fund for the acquisition of a portfolio of 23 automotive retail and repair service outlets located throughout Germany from A.T.U Auto-Teile-Unger (A.T.U) in a sale & leaseback transaction. All properties are located in retail parks or commercial areas and have been constructed in the last 18 months. A.T.U has leased back the properties on a 15-year term.

IXIS Capital Partners have also closed a framework agreement with A.T.U to acquire the company’s retail and repair service outlets planned for development in Germany over the next two years, as part of A.T.U’s expansion strategy for the national market.

Karsten Engel, CEO of A.T.U, commented: “A.T.U is a unique success story in Germany in the independent automotive aftersales market. With its high-quality full service offer at particularly favourable prices, A.T.U meets the needs of today’s car owners in Germany and across Europe. We are now on track with our European expansion strategy.” A.T.U currently operates 3 stores in the Czech Republic, 2 stores in The Netherlands and 19 stores in Austria. Soon, store openings in Italy and Switzerland will follow. Sphere: Related Content

Mete SpA Closes EUR 39 Million Sale Leaseback of Five Furniture Stores in Italy

Europe Real Estate - December 14, 2006

JER Partners (“JER”) has acquired an Italian portfolio of five retail showrooms from Mete SpA (Mete), Italy’s fifth largest household furniture retailer for €39 million in a sale-leaseback transaction for 12 years. The portfolio, which is located throughout Italy, comprises approximately 30,000 m² of mainly retail space. JER has also agreed in principle to acquire further retail assets, including broader retail schemes, currently controlled by Mete.

Vittorio Bozzolini, Managing Director of Mete, said: "Mete's agreement with JER will allow us to continue to exploit our capabilities in the real estate sector together with JER whilst releasing capital to our core furniture retailing business".

Mete typically sources well-located, industrial type assets that are coming out of distressed situations, then applies for a change of zoning use to retail and refurbishes the assets. The properties are available to buy once permission to change the zoning has been granted.

The acquisition was financed by Unicredit Banca d'Impresa. JER was assisted in technical aspects by Abaco Consulting and by Gianni, Origoni, Grippo and Partners as legal counsel. Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, December 21, 2006

University of New South Wales Agrees to $41 Million Sale Leaseback of Campus Building

Australian Property Review - December 18, 2006

The Westpac Office Trust has contracted to acquire a University of New South Wales (UNSW) office and educational building in Kensington, Sydney, for $41 million. The university will lease back the entire building for an initial term of 25 years.

The purchase, the third for the Trust, involves the acquisition of a 99 year ground lease interest in the 10,685 sqm property. The lease back agreement includes two further options of ten years each. The lease provides for fixed 3% per annum rental adjustments and is 'triple net', with UNSW responsible for all capital and operating expenses. The purchase price of $41 million is supported by an independent valuation from CB Richard Ellis at an initial yield of 6%, a ten year discount rate of 8.5% and a terminal capitalisation rate of 6.1%.

The building, located at 221-227 Anzac Parade in Kensington, lies adjacent to the UNSW campus and was completed in May 2005. It was design by Bligh Voller Nield.

"The property will add diversity to the portfolio and meets the investment criteria of the Trust in offering a long term, investment grade equivalent, covenant from UNSW and a new building in a location that will improve significantly in the future," said Keith Grayson, Head of Property Funds Management for Westpac. Sphere: Related Content

KarstadtQuelle May Raise EUR 800 Million for 49% Stake in Store Portfolio Fund

NAMNEWS - December 18, 2006

Retail group KarstadtQuelle has received offers for its stake in a property fund, and could use the proceeds to buy Lufthansa's stake in Thomas Cook, Reuters has quoted sources familiar with the situation as saying. The report said that several prospective buyers have shown interest in KarstadtQuelle's 49% stake in a property fund. A sale could generate E800m for KarstadtQuelle, which could help with restructuring and allow for acquisitions.

The sources said that offers are coming from Anglo-American financial investors keen to buy a large portfolio, given expectations of gains in the German retail property market and declines in the dollar. A sale would enable KarstadtQuelle to buy Lufthansa's half of their jointly owned travel tour operator Thomas Cook without taking on new debt.

In March, KarstadtQuelle sold its property portfolio (in a large sale leaseback transaction) for E4.5bn to a joint venture owned 49% by itself and 51% by Whitehall, a Goldman Sachs property fund. Karstadt had hoped to reduce its stake in the fund over a period of three to five years, generating E800m, but the improving German property market and better-than-expected performance at Karstadt's department stores are making an earlier exit possible. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, December 17, 2006

CVS Completes Largest Retail Sale Leaseback in US History

Mintz Levin Web Site - December 14, 2006

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., a full-service, 450-lawyer AmLaw 100 firm with offices throughout the U.S. and in the U.K., announced that it represented CVS Corporation, the nation's largest pharmacy chain, in an historic $1.3 billion sale leaseback transaction - the largest retail sale leaseback deal in U.S. history. The transaction, which involved 340 owned or ground leased pharmacy properties located in 29 states, was financed through a 144A securities offering underwritten by five investment banks led by Lehman Brothers. Sphere: Related Content

Travis Perkins Completes GBP 31 Million Sale Leaseback of 35 Retail Properties in UK

Forbes/AFX - December 15, 2006

Travis Perkins PLC, the UK based construction products retailer, said it sold 35 freehold properties to an investment vehicle, in which the group retains a 15 pct stake, for 31 mln stg after costs. The properties, which have been leased back by the group on 25-year terms, on a near 6 pct yield, realised a net profit of 11 mln stg in 2006. Travis Perkins plans to re-invest the proceeds in new and existing properties.

"This is our biggest ever property deal and represents an important step in our implementation of the group's policy of maximising value through the development of its property portfolio," said chief executive Geoff Cooper. The group operates from over 1,000 sites of which 377 are freehold or long leasehold. It said that disposals in future years will likely be on a smaller scale. Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Telstra Agrees to AUS $550 Million HQ Build-to-Suit in Brisbane

The Australian - December 12, 2006

Telstra has struck Brisbane's biggest office lease as it moves to consolidate its massive property requirements. The telco will lease a total of 50,000sqm in generating a new purpose-built 30-storey office tower at 275 George Street and sparking the refurbishment of Northbank Plaza in Ann Street next door. The buildings will house its 2500 office workers and 2000 call-centre staff.

Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo said the new leases, to begin in 2008 and 2009 when the new buildings are complete, meant it would consolidate from eight Brisbane locations down to the two new towers. The deal would result in annual lease savings of $11.65 million from 2009, Mr Trujillo said.

Sydney-based property company Charter Hall will develop the $550 million complex through two of its wholesale property funds. Brisbane has been one of the country's hottest office leasing markets with an all-time low vacancy rate of 1.8 per cent and rents surging 23 per cent in the year to September, according to agent Jones Lang LaSalle.

Telstra director of property Vito Chiodo declined to comment on the rent to be paid on the 10-year leasing agreement. Industry sources said the telco's rental bill on the new deal was likely to gross around $500 per square metre, but with significant incentives for such a big deal.

There has been ongoing market speculation that Telstra will also sell part of its $2 billion-plus property holdings. In 2002, Telstra boosted its bottom line with the $570 million sale and lease-back of seven office properties to Investa Property Group. Sphere: Related Content

PA Consulting Group Completes £170 Million Sale Leaseback of London HQ

PA Consulting Group Web Site - December 12, 2006

PA Consulting Group, the leading management, systems and consulting firm, today announced that it had sold its London HQ,123 Buckingham Palace Road, to Westbrook Partners, a US Opportunity Fund, for a sum in excess of £170 million.

PA will continue to occupy the building for a minimum of 12 years under a sale and leaseback arrangement with Westbrook that takes in PA’s requirement for expansion space for further growth. PA bought the 194,000 sq ft building in October 1999 and currently occupies half the space for its global headquarters. The firm decided to sell the building to take advantage of a buoyant property investment market.

Jon Moynihan, Executive Chairman, PA Consulting Group, commented: “This is good news for PA and its employees who are all shareholders in our business and stand to benefit from the significant increase in our share price as a result of the sale. We will be reinvesting the capital freed up into developing new businesses and new markets.” Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, December 10, 2006

PPL Energy HQ in Allentown, PA Sold for $83 Million

The Morning Call - December 8, 2006

A syndicate of domestic and foreign investors led by a New York City-based investment group has purchased the eight-story Plaza at PPL Center from the Malvern, Chester County-based Liberty Property Trust.

Completed in 2003 at a cost of $60 million, the award-winning, environmentally friendly green building at Ninth and Hamilton streets is on the site of the former Hess's Department Store and is still an anchor of the city's commercial district.

Mark DeRiemer, managing director of New York capital markets for Liberty Property Trust's broker, Jones Lang LaSalle, said he could not provide additional information about the investment group at this time. PPL's lease extends to 2018 with two 10-year renewal options.

Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski said he was encouraged by the sale price of the building, which he said demonstrates a $23 million gain in value in three years. The building is in a Keystone Opportunity Zone, exempting the building and its tenants from most state and local taxes until 2011.

DeRiemer, of Jones, Lang, LaSalle, said the Plaza building was attractive as an investment because it has a long-term lease with a high-quality tenant and is one of the premier buildings in the Lehigh Valley. Sphere: Related Content

American Express Offices in Phoenix Sold for $91 Million

The Arizona Republic - December 8, 2006

Two office buildings in northwest Phoenix that house American Express operations have been sold to a Detroit-based pension fund for a combined $90.7 million.

The buildings are at 3151 and 3202 W. Behrend Drive, near the Loop 101 and Interstate 17 interchange. The buyer is the Police and Fire Retirement System of the city of Detroit, according to records filed at the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth.

The sellers, IPC Phoenix Title LLC and TRC-W Phoenix Title LLC, share a Tulsa address. The companies are tied to Oklahoma-based Stan Johnson Co., which brokers single-tenant leased properties.

IPC sold the 300,000-square-foot, three-story class A office building at 3151 for $53.1 million. IPC originally bought the property at 3151 in July 2005 for $48 million, according to county records.

The 3202 building, known as Crosspoint at Beardsley, has more than 213,000 square feet of class A office space leased to American Express. TRC-W bought the building in July 2005 for $34 million then sold it to the Detroit corporation last month for $37.6 million. Sphere: Related Content

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Eircom Agrees to EUR 190 Million Sale Leaseback of Dublin HQ

Eircom.net - December 8, 2006

Quinlan Private has announced it has concluded a deal to buy the new Eircom headquarters and lease it back to the telecommunications company. The investment group said it paid €190 million for the building, which is one of the anchor tenants in the new Heuston South Quarter development. Quinlan Private said the initial net yield is over 4 per cent. Eircom said it will use the funds to reinvest in its 'core business'.

The new Eircom headquarters is a nine-storey building with approximately 20,000 square metres of office space and parking for over 190 cars. It was designed by Anthony Reddy Associates and is in the Heuston Framework Development Area, which is bounded by St John's Road, Military Road and the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

The area is being developed as a new urban gateway centre focused on Heuston Station, with a mix of offices, residential, cultural, retail and other services. Sphere: Related Content

Booth Creek Ski Holdings Agrees to $192 Million Sale leaseback of Four US Ski Resorts

CoStar Group - December 8, 2006

CNL Income Properties Inc. agreed to acquire to acquire four ski resorts from affiliates of Booth Creek Ski Holdings Inc. for $170 million. The four ski properties to be acquired are the Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort in Lake Tahoe, CA; the Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort in South Lake Tahoe, CA; the Summit-at-Snoqualmie Resort in Snoqualmie Pass, WA; and the Loon Mountain Resort in Lincoln, NH.

As part of the ski resort deal, CNL also committed to acquire 46 condominiumized retail and commercial spaces at the Northstar Commercial Village in Lake Tahoe for $22 million and to extend a $12 million loan to Booth Creek Resort Properties.

CNL plans to enter into long-term, triple net leases with Booth Creek Resort Properties LLC to operate the Booth Creek Ski Properties and with Northstar Group Commercial Properties to operate the Northstar Commercial Village. The initial terms of the leases are expected to be for 20 years with three 10-year renewal options. The minimum annual rent for the Booth Creek Ski Properties and the Northstar Commercial Properties is expected to be approximately $18.2 million in the initial year (approx. 9.5% cap rate.) Sphere: Related Content

Marinas International Agrees to $106 Million Sale Leaseback of 9 Marinas

CoStar Group - December 8, 2006

CNL Income Properties Inc. agreed to acquire nine marina properties for $106 million from subsidiaries of Marinas International. As part of that agreement, CNL anticipates making a loan for approximately $40 million, which will be collateralized by five additional marina properties.

The names and locations of the properties to be purchased are as follows.

• Crystal Point Marina, Point Pleasant, NJ
• Manasquan River Club, Point Pleasant, NJ
• Harbors View Marina, Ketchum, OK
• Lake Front Marina, Port Clinton, OH
• Sandusky Harbor Marina, Sandusky, OH
• Beaver Creek Resort, Somerset, KY
• Burnside Marina, Monticello, KY
• Harborage Marina, Saint Petersburg, FL
• Pier 121 Marina and Easthill Park, Lewisville, TX

The loan properties are as follows.

• Emeryville Marina, Emeryville, CA
• Scott's Landing Marina, Grapevine, TX
• Silver Lake Marina and Park, Grapevine, TX
• Twin Coves Marina and Park, Flower Mound, TX
• Paradise Cove, Grapevine, TX

CNL will leaseback all nine purchased properties on a long-term triple-net basis to an affiliate of Marinas International. The leases for all properties are expected to have a 20-year initial term, with four 5-year renewal options. The minimum annual rent for these properties is expected to be approximately $8.6 million in the initial year. Sphere: Related Content

Friday, December 08, 2006

Midwest ISO Enters Build-to-Suit for HQ in Indiana

CoStar Group - December 6, 2006

Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator Inc. signed a long-term deal with Lauth Property Group to build a 135,000-square-foot headquarters on 10 acres within the Carmel Science and Technology Park in Carmel. Lauth Property Group recently closed on the Hamilton County land, with construction scheduled to start this month.

Midwest ISO, one of the largest bulk power transmission system operators in the country, signed a 10-year lease to occupy a new build-to-suit office building at Carmel Science and Technology Park. The park is said to be one of the largest suburban build-to-suit projects in Central Indiana within the last decade. Midwest ISO plans to consolidate employees from four leased office locations into the new facility. Sphere: Related Content

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas Annuonces HQ Build to Suit

Commercial Property News - December 6, 2006

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas has found a new home. The health insurer has signed a lease to occupy a 1 million-square-foot building in the suburban Dallas town of Richardson, Texas. Dallas-based Koll development will build the new office facility, which will allow the insurer to consolidate four sites.

Koll will own the new building and will lease it in its entirety to Blue Cross under a long-term contract. The new campus will feature a 12-story building and a separate four-story structure at the intersection of North Central Expressway and Lookout Dr., just a few miles from the company's current home at 901 South Central Expressway. The Staubach Co.'s Jeff Ellerman and Mike Sessa represented the tenant in the transaction, and orchestrated a commitment from Koll to take on the health insurer's lease at its existing headquarters location. Last year, Blue Cross signed a 16-year lease for 517,000 square feet at the complex. With Koll assuming the lease, Blue Cross will not incur any additional leasing costs.

With the move to the new facility, which will take place upon the property's completion in early 2010, Blue Cross will be able to unite 2,700 employees at one location, and have room for an additional 1,000 workers. Koll plans to begin work on Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas' new headquarters in the third quarter of next year. Sphere: Related Content

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Pendragon Announces £240 Million Sale Leaseback of 81 UK Car Dealerships

Auto Industry News - December 4, 2006

Pendragon plc, the UK’s largest car dealer group, is expected to become acquisitive again after announcing it expects to raise around £240m to reduce gearing and release cash for expansion from a new sale and leaseback scheme involving selling 81 of its properties to PPH1, a joint venture company owned by Pendragon Group and NWPIL – a Royal Bank of Scotland subsidiary.

Consideration for the sale will be £257.8m, realising net cash proceeds of £238.9m. Each property will be leased back to the group for 25 years for an initial aggregate yearly rent of £16.3m (i.e. 6.3% cap rate). Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Denver News Agency HQ Sold for $93.42 Million

CoStar Group - December 1, 2006

American Properties Inc. of New York acquired the 320,000-square-foot Denver News Agency Building from Wachovia Development Co. of Charlotte, NC for $93.42 million, or about $292 per square foot.

The downtown Denver property sits at 101 W. Colfax Ave. and is fully occupied by the Denver Newspaper Agency, which publishes The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News under a joint operating agreement designed to preserve editorial competition. Combined business operations are managed by The Agency, which is equally owned by MediaNews and The E. W. Scripps Co.

Both parties were represented in-house. Sphere: Related Content

Swedish Bank SEB AB Offering Sale Leaseback of 47 Baltic Properties

SEB Web Site - November 29, 2006

Swedish bank SEB AB has decided to sell its property holdings in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. This is in line with SEB's strategy of not owning properties and outsourcing non-core operations.

The property holdings comprise one sale and leaseback portfolio of 47 properties, in which SEB intends to lease premises over a long period of time, and one commercial portfolio of 16 properties. The commercial portfolio consists primarily of larger properties with significant development potential in attractive locations. These properties will mainly be let to other tenants or in which SEB intends to lease only for a limited period of time. The total book value amounts to EUR 104 million.

SEB has retained Catella Corporate Finance, SEB Enskilda and SEB Vilfima as exclusive advisors in the sale process. The bids shall be submitted before 16 January 2007, and the sale is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2007. Sphere: Related Content

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Konecranes Pursuing Sale Leaseback of Property Portfolio in Finland

Konecranes Web Site - November 30, 2006

Konecranes return on capital employed is currently 26.6 percent, but its ambition level is higher. As part of its capital efficiency programme, Konecranes is now also studying the possibility to release capital by selling real estate for the use of its rapidly growing core business.

The facilities in question, located in Hyvinkää and Hämeenlinna, Finland, which are currently mainly in production, warehousing and office use, comprise approximately 73,000 square metres on a total land area of roughly 240,000 square metres.

No decision to sell the real estate has been made. The decision will be made based on the outcome of the study. After the potential transaction, the companies currently operating in the facilities are planned to continue their normal operations under operating lease agreements. The possible agreements could be finalized during the first quarter of 2007.

Advium Corporate Finance, eQ Bank Ltd. is acting as Konecranes’ financial advisor, and will also determine the market value of the properties. Sphere: Related Content

Hannoversche Volksbank Completes Sale Leaseback of 42 Branches in Hanover

IXIS AEW Web Site - November 30, 2006

Curzon / IXIS AEW Europe has completed its tenth acquisition on behalf of the European Property Investors LP (“EPI”), acquiring a forty-two asset portfolio located in and around the city of Hanover, in central northern Germany.

The vendor is the Hannoversche Volksbank eG (HanVB), part of the Volksbanken Group. HanVB, in turn, leased back approximately 85% of the space for a term of over 10 years. The portfolio was acquired at a net yield of approximately 7%.

According to Rob Reiskin, Managing Director and Head of Investments at EPI in London, “the combination of credit strength (The Volksbank group including HanVB has an A+ rating from S&P) and duration of income and make this portfolio particularly interesting. Sphere: Related Content

Friday, December 01, 2006

ING Offices in Amsterdam Sold for EUR 174 Million

ING Real Estate Web Site - November 29, 2006

ING Real Estate Development is pleased to announce the sale of the high-end office complex Acanthus in Amsterdam to Credit Suisse Asset Management. The sales price was approximately EUR 174 million. Credit Suisse Asset Management acquired Acanthus on behalf of its CS Euroreal fund. Acanthus is leased to ING Bank on a long-term lease.

Acanthus is situated in the immediate vicinity of train and metro station Amsterdam Bijlmer and the Arena Boulevard. The office complex was completed in 2003 and has gross lettable floorspace of 42.000 sq m. The office floors are situated on top of a 4 storey parking garage with 610 spaces.

ING Real Estate Development was advised in this transaction by DTZ Zadelhoff and Nauta Dutilh. Credit Suisse AM was advised by Houthoff Buruma and Savills. Sphere: Related Content

CONSOL Energy Enters $50 Million Build-to-Suit for New HQ Near Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Business Times - November 27, 2006

CONSOL Energy Inc. has sold its future headquarters property at Southpointe II to Horizon Properties LLC and will lease back the space in the building. Rod Piatt, principal with Cecil-based Horizon, said on Wednesday that his company had reached an agreement with Upper St. Clair-based CONSOL (NYSE:CNX) to purchase and develop CONSOL's 384,000 square foot corporate campus at Southpointe II. Piatt said CONSOL had signed a 20-year lease for the building.

In the summer of 2008, CONSOL is expected to move its Upper St. Clair corporate campus to the Southpointe II building, which has been under construction for about three months. The roughly 35 acre property, sits on Southpointe Boulevard, just south of the Southpointe I development in Cecil Township.

CONSOL spokesman Tom Hoffman said the decision to sell the property and lease it back was consistent with the company's past practices. "We don't need to own buildings." Piatt said that while the total cost of the project, which will have one 310,000 square foot headquarters building and a 100,000 square foot subsidiary building, has not been disclosed, "it is going to be north of $50 million." Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, November 30, 2006

City of Hamburg Completes EUR 205 Million Sale Leaseback of 52 Properties

Ad-Hoc-News - November 28, 2006

The Frankfurt-based DIC Group (Deutsche Immobilien Chancen) has acquired the real estate portfolio from the City of Hamburg, known as Primo 3. It consists of 52 commercial properties with a total floor space of around 176,000 sqm. The properties are located all over Hamburg. The total investment volume is around 205 million euros. The listed DIC Asset AG has a 20% share of the transaction. The transaction is still subject to the approval of the Senate and the Parliament of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

80 percent of the portfolio consists of office properties. The remaining 20 percent consists of other types of commercial usage, such as retail and storage area. The vast majority of the properties are let long-term to public authorities and the local authorities of the City of Hamburg. In addition, there are several properties that have a development potential where project developments and refurbishments are concerned.

In the coming years, DIC will successively define the development potentials and will present plans for suitable construction projects. Prime properties in the portfolio include, for example, the centrally located buildings in Dammtorstraße/Große Theaterstraße as well as the local courts and revenue offices in the Wandsbek, Harburg and Bergedorf districts. In future, with its new asset and property management company, DIC will also maintain an office in Hamburg. Sphere: Related Content

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Volkswagen Completes Sale Leaseback of Three North American Distribution Centers

First Industrial Realty Trust Web Site - November 28, 2006

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FR), the nation's largest provider of diversified industrial real estate, today announced that it has completed a sale-leaseback transaction with Volkswagen of America and Volkswagen of Canada. In the transaction, First Industrial acquired a 977,686 square-foot portfolio comprised of three distribution centers that have been leased back to Volkswagen for terms of fifteen years.

Two of the facilities totaling 634,437 square feet located in the Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago/Milwaukee markets, respectively, were acquired on behalf of the Company's net lease co-investment program. The company also acquired a 343,249 square-foot distribution center in the Toronto, Canada market for its portfolio. Sphere: Related Content

CitiMortgage Closes $45.5 Million Sale Leasback of Office Building Near DC

GlobeSt.com - November 29, 2006

The CitiMortgage office building here has traded hands for $45.5 million. ING Clarion acquired the class B office building for a separate account institutional investor. Grubb & Ellis represented the seller.

Marc DeLuca, senior vice president at ING Clarion, tells GlobeSt.com that CitiMortgage, a business unit of Citigroup, arranged a sale-leaseback as part of the transaction. The company signed a 10-year lease at $14.50 triple net, DeLuca says. CitiMortgage employees occupy the entire 210,471-sf, two-story building located at 5280 Corporate Dr. in the Westview Corporate Center. The building is a hub that handles mortgage lending and services in the southeast. Sphere: Related Content

Merrill Lynch Mulls $1.17 Billion Sale Leaseback of London HQ

Reuters - November 29, 2006

Merrill Lynch is in talks with a number of potential parties about a possible sale and leaseback of its headquarters in the City of London, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The building at 2 King Edward Street is close to London's St Paul's Cathedral and near to the London Stock Exchange. It was completed in 2001. UK real estate magazine Property Week estimated the sale and leaseback deal could be worth 600 million pounds ($1.17 billion).

Other big companies have carried out sale and lease back transactions, which enable them to make more efficient use of capital. Sphere: Related Content

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Cost Plus Completes $53 Million Sale leaseback of Distribution Center in VA

SEC Edgar Database - November 27, 2006

On October 26, 2006, Cost Plus, Inc. entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement with Inland Real Estate Acquisitions, Inc. Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, the Company will sell the property located at 12300 Dominion Way, Windsor, Virginia, to Inland. The property consists of approximately 84 acres and includes a distribution facility of approximately 1,000,000 square feet. The Company anticipates that the closing date will be on, or around, December 15, 2006. The purchase price for the Property will be $52,275,000.

In connection with Inland’s purchase of the Property, the Company intends to enter into a lease agreement with Inland, as lessor, and the Company, as lessee (the “Lease Agreement”) that will become effective simultaneously with the closing of the Purchase Agreement. Pursuant to the Lease Agreement, the Company will lease the Property described above, including the distribution facility.

(On April 7, 2006, Cost Plus reportedly entered into a 20 year sale leaseback transaction with Inland Real Estate Acquisitions, Inc. involving its 500,000 square foot Stockton, CA distribution center at a cap rate of 7.2%.) Sphere: Related Content

Office Depot Agrees to $210 Million Build-to-Suit of New HQ in Boca Raton FL

CoStar Group - November 27, 2006

Flagler|Codina Development Group broke ground on November 20 on a three-building campus that will become the new global headquarters of Office Depot Inc. (NYSE:ODP). The three buildings will each measure 208,077 square feet, totaling 625,000 square feet, and will be at 660 N. Military Trail in Boca Raton, FL.

The company is currently headquartered in Delray Beach, FL and Flagler|Codina is helping it to stay in Palm Beach County in what is 2006's largest build-to-suit thus far (in the entire United States). The new facility will be in the northern half of Boca Raton's 54-acre Arvida Park of Commerce and is scheduled to complete in 2008.

Office Depot is currently headquartered on a three-building campus a few miles away at 2100-2300 S. Congress Ave. and 2200 Old Germantown Road in Delray Beach. An advantage offered by the new campus is that the buildings will be connected by a glass atrium, whereas the current headquarters consists of three buildings that stand alone.

Office Depot signed a 15-year lease with the landlord, an 80-20 joint venture between pension fund giant TIAA-CREF and Flagler|Codina (TIAA-CREF is the majority partner). It has been reported that Office Depot will receive up to $16.7 million in state and county incentives to stay in Palm Beach County, and that 580 new jobs will be added with the creation of the new facility.

The price tag was estimated in August at $210 million. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Sainsbury Nets £29.8 Million in Forward Sale of B&Q DIY Store in Derby

Porterfield Public Relations - November 24, 2006

Sainsbury’s, advised by Capital Retail, has forward sold the freehold of its retail warehouse development at Osmaston Park Road, Derby to a private syndicate for £29,805,000, reflecting a net initial yield of 4.6%.

The property will comprise a 103,500 sq ft (9,615 sq m) DIY store, which has been pre-let to B&Q plc on a 20-year lease, from practical completion, at an initial rent of £1,450,000 pa. Practical completion of the scheme is scheduled for autumn 2007.

Michael Comley, partner of Capital Retail’s London office which sourced the development site and the tenant (B&Q), comments: “This deal reflects debt driven private syndicate investors’ continued appetite for low risk investments with long lease terms and strong covenants.”

Sainsbury’s purchased the site, which originally housed a Midlands Co-operative Society supermarket and dairy, in 2003. The supermarket was rebranded to a J Sainsbury’s and the balance of the land was held with an option subject to planning. Cushman & Wakefield advised the purchaser. Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Sterling Bank Enters $28.3 Million Sale Leaseback of 16 Bank Branches

CoStar Group - November 21, 2006

Sterling Bank, a Houston-based banking corporation wholly owned by Sterling Bancshares Inc., entered into a definitive agreement to sell 16 properties to First States Group LP, an affiliate of American Financial Realty Trust.

The 16 properties have not been disclosed. Sterling Bank has locations in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. The total purchase price is $28.3 million. Sterling Bank will enter into a separate lease agreement for each of the 16 properties under which it will continue to utilize those properties.

Closing of the transaction is expected to occur by Dec. 15. Newmark Southern Region LLC is brokering the deal for Sterling Bank. Sphere: Related Content

National R.V. Holdings Signs $33.5 Million Sale Leaseback of CA Facility

National RV Holdings Web Site - November 22, 2006

National R.V. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NVH), the owner of leading RV manufacturers National RV, Inc. and Country Coach, Inc., today announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell and leaseback its Perris, California property to Warrior Holdings, Inc., the owner of Weekend Warrior.

At closing, the transaction will infuse $33.5 million of capital into the Company enabling it to, among other actions, substantially reduce the outstanding balance on its working capital line of credit. The company encountered financial challenges earlier this year when National RV received defective fiberglass that it used to construct sidewalls on at least 72 motorhomes.

Under the terms of the agreement the sales price is $33.5 million, and calls for the Company to enter into a 10-year, triple-net lease with approximately $2.7 million in annual lease payments, which increase 3% per year. The lease will include two 5-year renewal options. The agreement provides for customary closing conditions, including a due diligence period by the buyer through December 18, 2006 with closing scheduled to occur on or about December 21, 2006. Sphere: Related Content

Retailer C&A Completes $93 Million Sale Leaseback of Brazillian Store Portfolio

Valor Economico reports that Department store chain C&A, controlled by the private equity firm Cofra, has completed the sale leaseback of 30 stores in Brazil to Comercial Progressivo II, a real estate fund structured by Brazilian Mortgages and managed by Ourinvest. Investors in the fund include Canadian fund PSP Investments. The sale leaseback is reported to be R$200 million ($93 million) and is said to be part of Cofra`s strategy to pull out from the Brazilian real estate market. Sphere: Related Content

Sterling Bank Agrees to $28.3 Million Sale Leaseback 16 Branches in TX

CoStar Group - November 21, 2006

Sterling Bank, a Houston-based banking corporation wholly owned by Sterling Bancshares Inc., entered into a definitive agreement to sell 16 properties to First States Group LP, an affiliate of American Financial Realty Trust. The 16 properties have not been disclosed. Sterling Bank has locations in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. The total purchase price is $28.3 million.

Sterling Bank will enter into a separate lease agreement for each of the 16 properties under which it will continue to utilize those properties. Closing of the transaction is expected to occur by Dec. 15. Newmark Southern Region LLC is brokering the deal for Sterling Bank. Sphere: Related Content

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

BAE Systems Completes £94 Million Sale Leaseback of R&D Campus in Edinburgh

Scotsman.com November 21, 2006

BAE Systems has sold its former industrial and laboratory complex in north Edinburgh for £94 million to a syndicate of private investors in a sale-and-leaseback deal.

The two buildings, Crewe Toll West and East, cover more than 439,000sq ft of office, laboratory and industrial space. The sale reflected a net initial yield of just over 5 per cent. The current rent for both properties is about £5m a year. BAE Systems Electronics will let the buildings until November 2024, with rent increases capped at 3 per cent above the retail price index.

LaSalle Investment Management, which sold the property on behalf of BAE Systems Pension Fund Trustees Ltd, said the funds would immediately be reinvested into industrial assets, as well as alternative sectors, such as car parks.

Earlier this year BAE Systems transferred property worth £242m to its pension fund including the Crewe Toll buildings, along with £110m cash, to help plug a deficit of more than £4 billion. Sphere: Related Content

Random House HQ in Manhattan sold for $509 Million

CoStar Group - November 21, 2006

The Witkoff Group will be adding another New York City office to its holdings. The buzz is that the New York real estate investment firm has just landed the 675,000-square-foot office at 1745 Broadway that serves as the world headquarters for publishing giant Random House for $509 million, or roughly $754 per square foot.

The leasehold office condo at Broadway and 56th Street was put on the market by Jamestown recently. Douglas Harmon of Eastdil Secured marketed the property for sale. He also handled the $1.52 billion sale of 1211 Avenue of the Americas and the $1.25 billion sale of 1290 Avenue of the Americas for Jamestown earlier this year.

The 50-story property is a mixed-use building with 25 floors of residential space and 90,000 square feet of retail space. The sale only included the office component, floors two through 25, which Bertelsmann AG leases on behalf of Random House on a triple-net lease that runs until 2018.

The Related Cos. developed the property in 2001. Jamestown acquired the office portion in 2003 for $297 million or $458.33 per square foot in a sale-leaseback with Bertelsmann. The German media giant has the option to extend the lease by another 20 years.

The sale is part of Jamestown's new strategy to monetize some of its core holdings and pursue more opportunistic investments, targeting markets in the Southeast. Sphere: Related Content

German State of Hesse Completes EUR 770 Million Sale Leaseback

CA Immo Web Site - November 20, 2006

CA Immo has acquired an extensive portfolio from the German state of Hesse. Most of the properties are located within the booming Rhine/Main region.

CA Immo has invested around Euro 770 million in the German portfolio, consisting of 36 properties with 170 buildings and encompassing a total floor space of 450,000 m2 and 6,200 car parking spaces. The properties are designated for a combination of purposes, mostly as office, administration and government buildings. The state of Hesse will remain as the primary tenant. The annual rental earnings amount to around Euro 42 million and the minimum lease lengths range from 2 to 30, the majority being long-term contracts. Sphere: Related Content

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Capio Nears £730 Million Sale Leaseback of 21 UK Hospitals

The Sunday Times - November 19, 2006


APAX Partners and Nordic Capital are understood to be in detailed talks to sell 21 of Britain’s best-known private hospitals to an investment club for an estimated £730m. The club’s investors comprise Sir Tom Hunter, the Scottish retail tycoon, Nick Leslau, the property entrepreneur, HBOS, the bank, and Baugur, the Icelandic group that counts House of Fraser and Hamleys among its investments.

The properties represent the bulk of the UK freehold and long-leasehold properties owned by Capio, the Swedish healthcare company the two private-equity firms agreed to buy for £1.2 billion last month. The transaction would represent one of the biggest sale-and-leaseback deals executed in the UK.

The portfolio includes the Capio Nightingale Hospital on Lisson Grove, northwest London, best known for treating the drug and alcohol addictions of the rich and famous. If the deal goes ahead, the purchasers are considering injecting the portfolio into a £2.5 billion tax-efficient real- estate investment trust (Reit), which could be launched in the first half of next year.

The investor club is understood to have hired Morgan Stanley to advise on the creation of the Reit. It is considering injecting portfolios of property worth £120m from Southern Cross nursing homes, £600m from Punch Taverns, and £500m from Travelodge hotels into the Reit. It is likely to be registered in Luxembourg, but listed in the UK. The assets would benefit from having secure 30-year property leases in place, with fixed rental rises.

Apax and Nordic Capital, which are advised by NM Rothschild and Deutsche Bank, and the investment club declined to comment. Sphere: Related Content

Monday, November 20, 2006

B&Q Seeking £71 Million Sale Leaseback of UK Distribution Center

Property Week reports that UK based DIY chain B&Q has appointed Savills to market its 650,000 square foot warehouse distribution center in Worksop. B&Q is reportedly seeking £71 million for the warehouse subject to a 20 year leaseback agreement. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Sydney Water Awards $100 Million Build-to-Suit of HQ Offices in Sydney

Multiplex Group Web Site - November 17, 2006

Multiplex Group today announced that it has been selected as the preferred bidder for the Sydney Water corporate headquarters in Parramatta, western Sydney. The project is valued in excess of $100 million and is subject to finalising negotiations with Sydney Water. Multiplex will develop, design, construct and manage the building.

The project will comprise 23,000 sqm of ‘A’ Grade office accommodation across 15 storeys. It will also include 340 sqm of retail space, along with 254 on-site car parking spaces and a further 100 off-site spaces. Sydney Water will fully occupy the building, which will be designed to provide environmental performance in excess of its 5 GreenStar rating. Multiplex will manage the completed asset for a 15 year period and retain ownership through one of its managed funds.

Designed to achieve a high standard in design, workplace efficiency and environmental sustainability, the building will incorporate a range of innovative features, including an on-site water recycling plant, chilled beam cooling and optimal floor plate sizes of 1,600 sqm. Construction is expected to begin in March, 2007, with completion in early 2009. Sphere: Related Content

Schwarz Gruppe Completes EUR 1 Billion Sale Leaseback of 250 Lidl Stores

NAMNEWS - November 17, 2006

German retail group Schwarz Gruppe, the holding company for Lidl and Kaufland, is reportedly selling E300m worth of properties in order to reduce its debts (estimated at E15bn). The report in the Financial Times Deutschland said the group is selling eight Kaufland across Germany for around E150m. It has recently sold around 250 Lidl properties in Switzerland and Germany for E1bn to Australian financial investment company Babcock & Brown and leased back the same.

Schwarz has been growing rapidly for years, but foreign expansion is slowing, and it is believed that Lidl has stopped expansion plans for Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Russia and the Baltic states. Its non-food-related business has also experienced difficulties, with items such as irons no longer selling, resulting in left over stock worth several hundred million euros' worth has had to be written off. Sphere: Related Content

Capio Considering £730 Million Sale Leaseback of 21 UK Hospitals & Clinics

Sunday Times - November 19, 2006

APAX Partners and Nordic Capital are understood to be in detailed talks to sell 21 of Britain’s best-known private hospitals to an investment club for an estimated £730m. The transaction would represent one of the biggest sale-and-leaseback deals executed in the UK.

The club’s investors comprise Sir Tom Hunter, the Scottish retail tycoon, Nick Leslau, the property entrepreneur, HBOS, the bank, and Baugur, the Icelandic group that counts House of Fraser and Hamleys among its investments.

The properties represent the bulk of the UK freehold and long-leasehold properties owned by Capio, the Swedish healthcare company the two private-equity firms agreed to buy for £1.2 billion last month. The portfolio includes the Capio Nightingale Hospital on Lisson Grove, northwest London, best known for treating the drug and alcohol addictions of the rich and famous.

If the deal goes ahead, the purchasers are considering injecting the portfolio into a £2.5 billion tax-efficient real- estate investment trust (Reit), which could be launched in the first half of next year. The investor club is understood to have hired Morgan Stanley to advise on the creation of the Reit. It is considering injecting portfolios of property worth £120m from Southern Cross nursing homes, £600m from Punch Taverns, and £500m from Travelodge hotels into the Reit.

It is likely to be registered in Luxembourg, but listed in the UK. The assets would benefit from having secure 30-year property leases in place, with fixed rental rises. Sphere: Related Content

Saturday, November 18, 2006

National Grid Pursuing £61 Million Sale Leaseback of UK HQ

Property Week reports that National Grid is pursuing the sale and leaseback of its UK headquarters in Warwick Technology Park as part of an ongoing property review. National Grid has reportedly listed the property with GVA Grimley's Birmingham office. The property is expected to sell for £61.5m reflecting a yield of 5.4%. The sale leaseback agreement will include a 20-year lease with a break after 15 years and a fixed annual rent increases of 2.5%.

Phil Edwards, National Grid's property strategic sites manager, is said to be managing the transaction on behalf of National Grid. The transaction was prompted by the attractive property investment market in the UK. National Grid intends to reinvest the proceeds in its core infrastructure business. National Grid owns more than 600 sites across the UK. Sphere: Related Content

Moody's Assigns Provisional Ratings to $1.279 Billion of CVS Lease-Backed Notes

Moody's Investors Service - November 17, 2006

Based on information received through November 15, Moody's Investors Service assigns a provisional (P) Baa2 rating to approximately $1.279 billion of CVS Lease-Backed Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2006, to be issued by a trust that will acquire 340 first-priority lien commercial mortgage, credit-tenant lease loans. The loans will be secured by newly constructed and existing drug stores and related realty that will be triple-net leased to subsidiaries of CVS Corporation. Each of the leases will be bondable and guaranteed by CVS Corporation, and bankruptcy-remote, special purpose borrowers will own each of the fee or ground-leased properties. The loans mature in December 2028. Fixed net rent under the leases, plus a pre-funded interest reserve, will be sufficient to pay in full all interest and principal of the loans. The 340 drugstores are located in 28 states and the District of Columbia.

Moody's determined that, among other factors, the dark value of the collateral is sufficient, assuming a bankruptcy of CVS and rejection of the leases, to support the expected loss consistent with the Certificates' rating. The rating of the Certificates is primarily based on the senior unsecured debt rating of CVS Corporation, which is currently Baa2, on review for possible upgrade; therefore, the Certificates' rating will change as the senior unsecured debt rating of CVS Corporation may change. The rating of the Certificates was also based on the overall structure and legal integrity of the transaction. Sphere: Related Content

K&N Kenanga Agrees to $45 Million Sale Leaseback of HQ in Kuala Lumpur

Business Times - November 18 2006

K&N Kenanga Holdings Bhd has proposed to sell and leaseback Kenanga International, the group's commercial building in Kuala Lumpur, to Injaz Asiaequity Property Bhd (IAPB) for RM165 million cash ($45 million.) The Kenanga group bought the 22-storey building at Jalan Sultan Ismail for RM107.5 million in 1998. As at December 31 2005, the audited net book value of the property is about RM129 million.

KMS will enter into a lease with IAPB for the 4th to 20th floors for 10 years for RM10.75 million per year, with an option to renew for a further five years. K&N Kenanga said the gross proceeds from the exercise will be used to reduce KMS' borrowings of up to RM30 million, increase the capital base of the company to attain investment banking status, partially finance its overseas ventures, and for working capital.

K&N Kenanga plans to form joint ventures, particularly in Saudi Arabia, to carry out securities and investment banking-related activities as part of its initiative to expand its investment banking and stockbroking business to reduce its dependency on the domestic market.

The sale and leaseback agreement is expected to be finalised by December 31 this year. Sphere: Related Content

Friday, November 17, 2006

Northrop Grumman Signs $32 Million Build-to-Suit for Virginia Office Building

Commercial Property News - November 16, 2006


Corporate Office Properties Trust said today it is constructing at $32 million, one-story building for Northrop Grumman Corp. in Lebanon, Va., and has signed the defense contractor to a long-term, triple net lease for the 102,842-square-foot facility.

It is the second building and long-term lease that COPT, a Columbia, Md.,-based REIT that specializes in office parks in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, has secured for Northrop Grumman in support of its contract with the Virginia Information Technology Agency (VITA). The first, a $54 million, 193,000-square-foot building is under construction at the Meadowville Technology Park in Chesterfield County, Va., just south of Richmond, Va., a company spokesperson told CPN today. The one- and two-story building in the 1,300-acre corporate park should be ready for an estimated 600 Northrop Grumman and VITA workers by May, the spokesperson said.

The new building will be constructed in the Russell Regional Business Technology Park in Russell County, about 20 miles from Interstate 81. The building, which will also house Northrop Grumman and VITA workers, should be completed by November 2007, the spokesperson said. It will be used as a data center to back up the Richmond operations and also as a call center. Sphere: Related Content

Ernst & Young HQ in Manhattan to Sell for $1.3 Billion

CoStar Group - November 15, 2006

AVR Realty Co., a mid-sized firm based in Yonkers, NY, with a diverse portfolio of neighborhood shopping centers, mid-scale hotels, flex buildings and small office properties, is said to be close to landing the contract to buy the Big Kahuna in Manhattan -- the 1.1 million-square-foot tower at 5 Times Square.

A few months ago, Boston Properties announced plans to sell the trophy tower and tapped Eastdil Secured to formally market the property for sale. A number of high-profile buyers were linked to the property at one point or another, but the Yonkers firm headed by Allan V. Rose was not one of them. The somewhat surprising buyer, whose largest office property totals 350,000 square feet, is believed to be paying about $1.3 billion for the 37-story tower, as first reported in The New York Post.

A previous deal to sell the office tower fell through earlier this year with Dubai firm Istithmar. Boston Properties planned to sell the leasehold interest in the building in a package deal with 280 Park Ave. But, Istithmar walked away from the Times Square property citing a conflict of interest -- its auditor, Ernst & Young, is also the primary tenant at the tower. The financial firm leases about 976,000 square feet on a lease that runs through April 2022. The lease is valued at more than $1.2 billion, according to CoStar information.

There have also been rumblings that Istithmar didn't care for the tax incentives on the tower. The buzz back in April was that the rental income after taxes and the leasehold situation on the property killed the deal for the Dubai investor. The land beneath the tower is believed to be owned by New York State's development arm.

Presumably, AVR would still have to bring in a partner to take down the Times Square tower. Sphere: Related Content

Owens-Brockway Leases 607,200 SF Warehouse in CA

CoStar Group - November 15, 2006

They need a lot of wine bottles in Sonoma and Napa counties, and one of the biggest suppliers of glass bottles just leased 607,208 square feet at 5195 Fermi Drive in Fairfield, CA. Toledo-based Owens-Brockway Glass Container Inc. signed a 10-year lease commencing next February. Owens-Brockway is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Owens Illinois Inc.

At a market rate of 35 cents per square foot/month, the deal is valued at approximately $25.5 million. Saint-Gobain formerly occupied the space, which comprises the entire facility. The warehouse was built in 1996 and is situated on 28.1 acres. Features include ESFR sprinklers, 56 loading docks, eight grade-level doors, cross-docks and a 30-foot clear-height. Owens-Brockway will use the warehouse to store wine bottles until they are delivered to winery clients in Napa and Sonoma counties.

Tony Kepano, Peter Stewart and Brian Gleason of Trammell Crow Co., which represents Owens-Brockway on a national basis, negotiated the lease on behalf of the tenant. Brooks Pedder and Phil Garrett of Colliers International in Fairfield represented the landlord, Property California LS Corp. Sphere: Related Content

Monday, November 13, 2006

Luminar Nearing Sale Leaseback of UK Nightclub Portfolio

Hemscott - November 15, 2006

Nightclub operator Luminar is in the advanced stages of a deal to dispose of its Chicago Rock Café and Jumpin’ Jaks businesses after months of uncertainty. Luminar intends to create a new operating company for its entertainment division, which it will maintain a minority interest in.

As part of the process the company will then complete a sale and leaseback programme of the freehold properties within the division, retuning surplus cash to shareholders.

In May the company announced officially that it would be ditching the entertainment division, which includes Chicago Rock and Jumpin’ Jaks, as it no longer formed part of its future growth strategy, which is based on branded nightclub development. Luminar had sought to sell the entertainment division in 2005 but failed to attract high enough bids.

The company owns nightclub brands Ignite, Liquid and Oceana. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Kwik Fit Seeking EUR 203 Million Sale Leaseback of 311 Service Centers Across Europe

Savills Web Site - November 10, 2006

Savills has been instructed by Kwik Fit Holdings Limited to dispose of a pan-European portfolio of roadside properties, by way of a sale and leaseback, for an asking price in excess of €203.5million.

The portfolio comprises 311 properties based in UK, Holland and France with an overall rent roll of €13.368million per annum, rising to €17,933million in year 10. The portfolio offers development opportunities on a number of the units. In the United Kingdom there are 148 properties with a rent roll of €8.662 million per annum. The properties will be let on a 25-year lease with five year upward only rent reviews to Kwik Fit GB Limited, and a guarantee from Kwik Fit Holdings Limited. The rental increase for the first 10 years will be a minimum of 3% per annum payable every fifth year.

In France there are 149 properties with a net rent roll of €4.061 million per annum. The properties will be let to Speedy France SAS with a guarantee from Kwik-Fit Europe BV for a term of 10 years with annual increases linked to INSEE. In Holland there are 14 properties with a rent roll of €0.643 million per annum. The properties will be let to Kwik Fit Nederland BV with a guarantee from Kwik-Fit Europe BV for a term of 15 years with ROZ/IPD increases applied annually.

Simon Hope, Savills' head of investment, says: "This is the culmination of a corporate review we have undertaken for Kwik Fit over the summer. In eight weeks we have inspected, measured and priced 370 properties across four countries through our European network." Sphere: Related Content

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Antalis Signs EUR 103 Million Sale Leaseback of European Logistics Portfolio

Slough Estates Web Site - November 9, 2006

Slough Estates International ("SEI") and Antalis have concluded an agreement under which SEI will acquire a portfolio of logistics and light industrial properties, in a sale and leaseback arrangement. Antalis is the largest European distributor of communications support products (including packaging, paper, print & office materials)

The portfolio is concentrated around major cities in eight European countries including France (Lyon, Isle de France in Paris), Belgium (Brussels), Italy (Bologna, Parma) Spain (Madrid, Valencia), Germany (Berlin, Leipzig) and also in Switzerland, Portugal and Finland - amounting to 177,120m2 and 41.4 hectares of land. SEI is paying €103.2m for the properties. The transaction represents a post acquisition costs yield of 7.23 per cent.

Forty five percent of the portfolio is in Italy and Spain, which are major new strategic territories for SEI in Continental Europe. Almost forty per cent of the portfolio is in Belgium, Germany and France, where SEI is already well established.

The core properties are in Slough's strategic growth markets. The buildings are a mixture of old and new properties in good locations, providing excellent future development potential underpinned by an income stream. Antalis is committed to the properties it occupies for an average of approximately 7.5 years.

SEI and Antalis have also signed a partnership agreement, covering both the extension of existing properties and the potential development of new properties. This partnership agreement will also provide potential synergies in markets other than those covered by the deal being announced today - it covers the UK as well as Continental Europe. Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Club Med Completes EUR 100 Million Sale Leaseback of 3 Ski Villages

Euronext - November 7, 2006

Club Méditerranée has carried out two sale and leaseback transactions, one with Vectrane on Les Deux Alpes Village and the other with non-trading property companies and real estate investment funds concerning the Chamonix and Avoriaz villages.

The transactions amount to a total of more than €100 million, including €14 million in renovation work. The facilities will be leased back under 12-year leases, renewable at Club Méditerranée's option. The leases carry rates of 6.50 to 6.80% depending on the type of assets, for an average rate of 6.70%.

The transactions, which are in line with Club Méditerranée's property management strategy, enable the Group to refinance three villages on attractive terms and to accelerate their move upmarket. As part of this process, the investors will finance €9 million in renovation work at Les Deux Alpes Village, which will be upgraded from two to three tridents, and €5 million in work at the Avoriaz Village.

The transactions will help to improve Club Méditerranée's balance sheet by reducing debt by €64 million and will generate an after-tax capital gain of around €20 million. The difference between the lease payments and the previous depreciation and finance costs will add around €1.5 million a year to net income. Sphere: Related Content

Interfruct Enters EUR 82.5 Million Sale Leaseback of 23 Cash & Carry Stores in Hungary

Hemscott - November 7, 2006

Dawnay Day Carpathian PLC has acquired a portfolio of 23 Interfruct properties in a sale leaseback deal from SCD International Ltd, for a purchase price of Euro82.5m representing an initial yield of 7.80%, net of acquisition costs.

The 23 cash and carry stores are located in Budapest and major regional cities throughout Hungary, and have a total gross lettable space of 105,000 metre sq. The stores are let on new 15 year leases to Interfruct kft, Hungary's largest cash and carry retailer, at an average rent of Euro5.00 per metre sq per month. The properties are situated on land plots totalling 345,000 metre sq, several of which offer development potential in the longer term.

The portfolio is being purchased in 2 phases, with the first phase of the purchase comprising 17 properties, financed by equity of Euro49.5m, having already completed. The additional properties will be transferred to the portfolio on or before 30 March 2007 once the vendor has fulfilled a number of conditions. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, November 05, 2006

State Street Financial Center in Boston to Sell For Over $880 Million

Commercial Property News - November 3, 2006

American Financial Realty Trust said today it has entered into a definitive contract to sell State Street Financial Center, a 36-story, Class A office building in Boston, for more than $880 million to an unnamed Northeast-based private real estate investment group. The price will be before defeasance and other settlement costs.

American Financial, a Jenkintown, Penn.-based REIT that acquires and leases properties to financial institutions, owns a 70 percent interest in the 1.1 million-square-foot-building at 1 Lincoln St. through a joint venture with an affiliate of IPC US Income REIT. IPC has a right of refusal but American Financial officials said in a release they expect the transaction closing to be later this year or in the first quarter of 2007. AFR had purchased the tower for $705 million in February 2004 from a joint venture that included The Gale Co. Later that year, it sold the 30 percent stake to the IPC US Income REIT affiliate. At the time of the joint venture agreement, the building was reportedly valued at $763.5 million.

The building is fully leased with State Street Corp. taking most of the space under a 20-year triple-net lease. The property also has a 900-space garage. Eastdil Secured represented AFR in the transaction. Sphere: Related Content

Logan’s Roadhouse Agrees to $210 Million Sale Leaseback of 64 Restaurants

SEC Edgar Database - November 3, 2006

CBRL Group, Inc. has entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement with LRI Holdings, Inc. for the sale of it's wholly-owned subsidiary, Logan’s Roadhouse, Inc. LRI is owned by a consortium of private investment funds affiliated with Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. Inc. and of Canyon Capital Advisors LLC.

Total consideration in the transaction is $486 million, subject to customary post-closing adjustments, for working capital, indebtedness and capital expenditures. This amount includes the anticipated gross proceeds from a real estate sale-leaseback transaction to be undertaken by Logan’s and closed simultaneously with the sale of Logan’s to LRI.

Terms of the Purchase and Sale Agreement and Lease indicate that Logan’s has agreed to a sale leaseback of 64 Logan’s locations for a total of $210 million with Wachovia Development Corporation, Trustreet Properties, Inc. and National Retail Properties, Inc. Terms of the leaseback included lease terms of 20 years at a cap rate of 7.8% plus annual CPI increases of from 0.35% to 1.75% and five 5-year renewal options. Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Trustreet Properties Agrees to $3 Billion Acquisition by GE

Trustreet - October 30, 2006

Trustreet Properties, Inc. (NYSE:TSY), a leading restaurant real estate investment trust (REIT), announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by GE Capital Solutions, Franchise Finance, a leading lender for the franchise finance market in the United States and Canada. The transaction is valued at approximately $3 billion, including the payment of $17.05 per outstanding share of Trustreet’s common stock, in the form of cash, and the assumption or refinancing of Trustreet’s outstanding debt.

GE Capital Solutions will add Trustreet’s preeminent restaurant 1031 trading platform to its own Franchise Finance business, and will also establish an East Coast office at Trustreet’s headquarters in Orlando, Fla., where all sale-leaseback financing and related asset management will be handled for GE Capital Solutions’ Franchise Finance business.

The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2007 and is subject to the approval of Trustreet’s common shareholders and other customary closing conditions. Sphere: Related Content

GE Capital to Acquire Restaurant REIT Trustreet Properties for $3 Billion

Commercial Property News - October 30, 2006

GE Capital Solutions has agreed to buy Trustreet Properties Inc., the largest publicly traded restaurant REIT in the U.S., for $3 billion. GE Capital will pay $17.05 per outstanding share of Trustreet's common stock and assume or refinance Trustreet's outstanding debt.

The strategy behind the GE Capital Solutions acquisition is to add to the company's sale and leaseback capabilities. "Right now we have about one-half billion dollars in our sale-leaseback portfolio," John Oliver, a GE Capital Solutions spokesperson told CPN today. "When the acquisition closes, we will add about $3 billion to that."

As the business-to-business leasing, financing, and asset management unit of GE, GE Capital Solutions lends in the franchise finance market through direct sales and portfolio acquisitions in the U.S. and Canada. With more than $11 billion in assets, the GE unit has financed more than 20,000 properties, primarily in the restaurant, hospitality, branded beverage, storage, and automotive industries.

Trustreet provides sale-leaseback financing for operators of national and regional restaurant chains including Applebee's, Arby's, Bennigan's (pictured), Burger King, Golden Corral, IHOP, Jack in the Box, KFC, Pizza, Hut, TGI Friday's and Wendy's. The company's portfolio contains more than 2,000 full-service, family, and quick service restaurants operated by more than 500 tenants in 49 states. Sphere: Related Content

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Philips Completes Sale Leaseback of HQ in Poland

Jones Lang Lasalle Web Site - October 30, 2006

Guardian Asset Managers has made its first investment in Warsaw, Poland. In a sale-and-lease-back transaction the company has acquired the Philips HQ building with long term lease for 100% of the premises. Jones Lang LaSalle represented the seller Philips while King Sturge represented the buyer - Guardian Asset Managers.

Philips HQ is an A class office development, located on Aleje Jerozolimskie 195B in Warsaw, right in the middle of well established business district. The Property offers a high quality design and good functionality of office space, located over four floors (including ground floor) and comprising 5,751 sq m of rentable office space. It provides 170 car parking spaces located on covered car parking adjacent to the Property.

The Property is conveniently accessible both by private and public transport, as it is serviced by numerous bus lines and the WKD (local commuter train service). A station for this train service is located within 400 metres of the Property. Sphere: Related Content

Friday, October 27, 2006

DaimlerChrysler Completes € 240 Million Sale Leaseback of Former Group HQ

Paddock Talk - October 27, 2006

DaimlerChrysler (stock-exchange abbreviation DCX) has sold the Group’s former headquarters in Stuttgart-Möhringen to IXIS Capital Partners Ltd.. DaimlerChrysler will lease back the property for a period of 15 years with the option of reducing the volume of leased floor space starting in year 11. The Group will continue to use the Stuttgart-Möhringen campus over the long term, but plans to gradually move out of other rented office space in the Stuttgart region. The persons working in those properties will then be moved to Stuttgart-Möhringen following the relocation of the Board of Management and some administrative departments from there to the new Group headquarters in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim.

The real estate in Stuttgart-Möhringen comprises land of 120,000 square meters with 13 buildings and approximately 107,000 square meters of rentable floor space. At present, around 2,700 people work in these buildings.

The cash inflow will amount to approximately €240 million. The operating profit generated by the sale will be reported distributed over the years of the leaseback, in accordance with US GAAP. It will be an eight-digit figure (in euros) for each year, and will amount to €18 million in the year 2006. The transfer of ownership will take place in the fourth quarter of this year, subject to the approval of the antitrust authorities, and the cash flow will also be booked in this period.

As a result of a review of its real-estate portfolio, DaimlerChrysler assessed the real estate in Stuttgart-Möhringen as being not required for operating purposes. The review is a part of the current activities for improving efficiency and optimizing the portfolio with the goal of increasing the Group’s return on net assets. Sphere: Related Content

EDFUND Signs Build-to-Suit Agreement for New 170,000 SF HQ in CA

CoStar Group - October 27, 2006

EDFUND, the nation's second largest provider of student loan guarantee services, preleased 170,000 square feet at two proposed Class A office buildings in the Mather Commerce Center in Rancho Cordova. Construction should begin early next year.

The project, which is scheduled for delivery in June 2008, will be developed by a joint venture of McCuen Properties and Fulcrum Property Co. EDFUND will relocate from 3300 Zinfandel Drive and 10834 International Drive, also in Rancho Cordova.

The relocation of EDFUND's headquarters within Rancho Cordova enables the company to meet its long-term space and technology requirements, and is estimated to save approximately $3.5 million in occupancy costs over the term of the lease, according to Studley, the commercial tenant advisory firm that represented EDFUND.

Senior Managing Director Eric Danielson of Studley in San Francisco and Executive Vice President Andrew Lechter in Studley's Atlanta office represented EDFUND. McCuen Properties and Fulcrum Property Co. were represented in-house. Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Agrees to $47.6 Million Sale Leaseback of HQ in CA

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Web Site - October 26, 2006

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its corporate headquarters building/land and two adjacent undeveloped parcels of land in Torrey Pines Science Center to Slough Estates USA Inc. for an aggregate consideration of $47.6 million and to lease the building back from Slough.

'We are pleased that our strategic process has produced another transaction that we believe will enhance shareholder value. The sale of our real estate assets will provide additional working capital as we transition to a refocused Ligand built upon our targeted internal research and development effort and broad partnered product pipelines,' said Henry F. Blissenbach, Ligand Chairman and Interim CEO. The asset purchase agreement and related contracts have been approved by the Ligand board of directors. The transaction is subject to payment of an existing mortgage and other customary closing conditions.

Under the terms of the asset purchase agreement, Ligand will receive cash of approximately $35 million, net of fees, expenses, and existing indebtedness. In addition, Ligand has entered into a long term lease arrangement with Slough to lease back the building. Sphere: Related Content

Friday, October 20, 2006

Wells Fargo Awards $370 Million Sale Leaseback of San Francisco Office Tower

Commercial Property News - October 18, 2006

The 655,400-square-foot office tower at 333 Market Street in San Francisco has found a new owner, courtesy of a $370 million sale-leaseback deal. Principal Real Estate Investors took the property off the hands of owner and sole occupant Wells Fargo.

The bank had owned 333 Market St. (pictured) since 2004 when it bought the high-rise for a reported sum of approximately $150 million from a partnership involving the property's developer, Shorenstein Partners. Wells Fargo will continue to occupy the Class A office space in its entirety under a new 20-year, triple net lease.

Located a stone's throw from vital rail transportation smack in the middle of the city's Financial District, the 27-year-old structure at 333 Market Street is a soaring 33-story high-rise that was designed by architect Gin Wong. The property actually consists of the tower, which includes 16,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, and an adjacent five-story annex office building.

According to Mark Hanrahan, managing director for Principal Real Estate Investors, much of the property has already been upgraded. And over the next year, it will have been 100 percent renovated. "Given the great tenant, great location and quality of the building, 333 Market St. is a good fit for us and a long-term hold," Hanrahan told CPN.

Jeff Weber of San Francisco-headquartered Eastdil Secured, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Co., also based in San Francisco, orchestrated the deal. Sphere: Related Content

Bank of Ireland’s Completes 36 Branch Sale Leaseback at 2.6% to 3.7% Cap Rate

Galway Advertiser - October 19, 2006

Bank of Ireland’s Eyre Square, Mainguard Street, and Ballinasloe branches were among 36 branches successfully sold in a deal thought to be one of the country’s largest commercial investment transactions.

The porfolio, which carried a guide price of €237.5m, was placed on the market for sale by tender in one or more lots in September with a tender date of October 4 through agents CB Richard Ellis.

Thirty-six of the bank’s more than 270 branches were involved in the transaction including 13 branches in Dublin plus key provincial centres including Galway, Cork, Limerick, and Waterford.

Officials at the bank and its agents declined to provide a breakdown on individual transactions or to give details on how many investors were involved but confirmed the sale and leaseback of the entire portfolio was successfully agreed on Tuesday.

Bids were made on the entire portfolio, individual properties within it, and on mini-portfolios, according to CBRE, which developed a website http://www.www.cbreboi.com
to cater for the high level of interest in the porfolio.

The bank’s media relations manager Anne Mathews told the Galway Advertiser the sale collectively exceeded the guide price.

“We are not in a position to release details on individual properties but I can confirm that the total sale price exceeded the guide price producing a range of yields on the individual properties from 2.6 per cent to 3.7 per cent with average for Dublin properties at three per cent.”

The entire porfolio produces an annual rent of €8.6m a year and the properties are let under all new 25 year leases with five yearly upward only rent reviews. Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, October 19, 2006

ICON Pursuing EUR 80 Million Sale Leaseback of New Dublin HQ

The Irish Times Article - October 18, 2006

Another Irish company is to embark on a sale and leaseback of its proposed new global headquarters even before construction gets under way. ICON plc, the global contract research organisation, is expected to secure up to €80 million for four new office blocks and its existing headquarters at South County Business Park in Leopardstown, Dublin 18. Michael Clarke of Hamilton Osborne King said yesterday that the selling price would reflect a yield of 4.75 per cent.

ICON's decision to free-up capital for its core business comes a week after Eircom announced that it planned to sell and leaseback its new nine-storey headquarters which is under construction opposite Heuston Station in Dublin 8. That move is expected to release around €180 million for investment in the roll-out of a broadband service. The yield in that case is likely to be around 4.25 per cent.

ICON has already secured planning permission to build four four-storey office blocks linked by a glass atrium to the existing headquarters building. The completed development will extend to 15,868sq m (170,803sq ft). There will also be 338 car-parking spaces on the site which extends to 1.83 hectares. The new buildings are due to be completed on a phased basis from March, 2007. Rents will equate to between €247 and €258 per sq m (€22.94/€23.96 per sq ft) and €1,000 for each of the car-parking spaces.

Leases of 20 years will provide for five yearly upwards-only rent reviews though the tenant will have a break option in year 15 once 12 months notice is given. The proposed rent roll can vary from €3,233,000 to almost €4.3 million, depending on which of three options the successful bidders goes for.

Under option one, the existing building of 3,945sq m (42,464sq ft) can be sold with vacant possession, reducing the overall rent to €3,233,000. Under option two, one of the new blocks with 3,439sq m (37,017sq ft) of floor space would be sold without a lease in place while the third alternative would see ICON occupying all four new blocks, as well as the existing building. In this case the rent roll would be €4,299,600.

ICON was founded in Dublin in 1990 and has grown steadily to become the fourth largest full service contract research organisation in the world. The company employs 4,000 people in 45 offices in 30 countries. Hamilton Osborne King is due to sell the investment once proposals are submitted by November 9th. Sphere: Related Content

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Neste Oil Completes Eur 118 Million Sale Leaseback of 73 Service Stations in Finland

Neste Oil Web Site - October 16, 2006m

Neste Oil has decided to sell 73 traffic station properties in Finland to focus more clearly on refining and sales of cleaner traffic fuels. The transaction is valued at EUR 118 million, and the company expects to book a capital gain of approximately EUR 65 million on the sale in its fourth-quarter result.

Neste Oil has owned these properties through its subsidiary, Best Chain Ltd., and leased them, with the exception of fuel pump areas, to Ruokakesko Oy. Fuel pumps and related equipment, canopies, and fuel tanks are excluded from the sale.

The sale will not impact the operations of the Neste stations in question. Neste Oil will continue fuel sales under long-term rental contracts, and Ruokakesko will also become tenants of the new owner, an international investment company owned by Delek Real Estate Ltd., listed on the Tel Aviv stock exchange. Delek Real Estate owns additional properties in Finland, Sweden, and Germany, among others.

“Real estates are not part of our core business, and the profit we have made on these assets has not met our targets,” says Matti Peitso, Neste Oil’s Executive Vice President, Oil Retail. “We want to concentrate on fuel sales and use the capital freed up by the sale to develop Oil Retail and other Neste Oil's business over the long term.”

Neste Oil had about 890 outlets in Finland as of the end of September, and the sale covers 73 locations owned by the company. The sale will not affect Neste Oil’s unmanned outlets, D-stations serving the needs of commercial drivers, and the sites owned by independent Neste dealers.

Neste Oil expects the sale to be completed before the end of October. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Wendy's Weighing Sale Leaseback of Company Owned Restaurants

New York Sun / Dow Jones Newswires - October 13, 2006

Wendy's International Inc. said Thursday it would conduct a tender offer for as much as $800 million of its shares later this year using a modified Dutch auction. The move disclosed the company's long-anticipated determination of how it planned to spend $1 billion plus it received from the recent spinoff of Tim Hortons Inc. Interim Chief Executive Kerrii Anderson told investors at a briefing in New York that over the next 18 to 24 months Wendy's intends to return $1 billion to shareholders.

Elaborating on plans to improve what one executive termed its "fuzzy" flagship brand's image, Wendy's intends to invest about $60 million a year over the next five years to upgrade and renovate company-operated restaurants. It also plans to allocate $100 million over that period to buy restaurants from franchisees, renovate them and then sell them to what it called "proven operators."

To encourage franchisees to remodel their restaurants, the company said it would pay those who do so $25,000. That program could cost Wendy's $25 million a year near-term, Mrs. Anderson said.

Mrs. Anderson said Wendy's is studying the possibility of expanding its limited presence internationally, another area where rivals such as McDonald's Corp. and Yum Brands Inc. hold significant leads.

Over the next three years Wendy's plans to franchise between 400 and 500 company-owned restaurants, with a goal of reducing the company units to about 1,000.

She said the Dublin, Ohio, fast-food operator also is exploring the saleleaseback of company-owned real estate. About 600 sites are on its books. Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Eircom Seeking €180 Million Sale Leaseback of New HQ in Dublin

The Irish Times - October 11, 2006

Eircom's distinctive new nine-storey headquarters building - currently under construction opposite Heuston Station in Dublin 8 - is to be sold under a sale and leaseback arrangement following similar successful deals earlier this year by AIB and Bank of Ireland.

Jones Lang LaSalle, which is selling the investment on behalf of Osprey Property Ltd, the property development arm of Eircom, is quoting a guide price of €180 million for the investment which will produce an annual rent of €8 million.

At that price, the lease would run for 15 years and the transaction would show a net yield of 4.25 per cent. Those interested will also have the option of bidding higher figures for 20-year and 25-year leases.

Eircom is apparently confident of achieving a sale at a yield of 4.25 per cent, following at least two other investment sales which showed lower returns. Hibernian's recent purchase of the original AIB headquarters building in Ballsbridge for €170 million will show a yield of 3.7 per cent. Irish Life also settled for a similar return when it completed the purchase this week of a new office building at City Quay for around €72 million.

Eircom will be paying an initial rent of €376 per sq m (€35 per sq ft) for the new building which will have a floor area of 19,550sq m (210,436sq ft) and €3,500 for each of the 190 car-parking spaces at basement level.

With revenues of €1.7 billion, Eircom is the country's leading telecommunications supplier with a 74 per cent market share of the fixed line market and, through Meteor, 16 per cent of the mobile market.

Eircom, recently taken over by Babcock & Brown, says that its decision to move ahead with a sale and leaseback deal for its new headquarters is designed to free up capital to re-invest in its "core business". Sphere: Related Content

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