Saturday, June 30, 2007

Mitsubishi Fuso Completes $1.2 Billion Sale Leaseback of 180 Sales & Repair Shops in Japan

Bloomberg - June 28, 2007

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. sold the real estate of 180 of its sales and repair sites in Japan for about 150 billion yen ($1.22 billion) to Secured Capital Japan Co., taking advantage of the country's rising property prices.

Mitsubishi Fuso sold the majority of its real estate to a Secured Capital fund for about 150 billion yen, Nikkei English News reported today, without citing anyone. Takeshi Sugai, chief financial officer of Secured Capital Japan, said the amount reported by Nikkei was "about right."

Land prices in Japan rose for the first time in 16 years in 2006 amid the nation's longest economic expansion since World War II. Closely held Mitsubishi Fuso will pay rent to Secured Capital to continue to use the facilities, the report said.

Christopher Brandt, a Mitsubishi Fuso spokesman, confirmed the company sold the real estate of 180 units but wouldn't name the amount or buyer. Mitsubishi Fuso, controlled by DaimlerChrysler AG, owned slightly less than 200 sites across Japan before the sale, Nikkei said, without citing anyone.

Secured Capital Japan shares rose 3.7 percent to 279,000 yen at the 11 a.m. trading break in Tokyo. DaimlerChrysler shares haven't started trading today in Germany. They fell 1.4 percent to 66.01 euros yesterday. Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Univeg Announces EUR $100 Million Sale Leaseback of Eight Warehouses in Belgium and the Netherlands

Warehouses De Pauw Web Site - June 26, 2007

Closed-end real-estate investment company Warehouses De Pauw reached an agreement for the takeover of the real estate portfolio of the Belgian fruit- and vegetable concern Univeg, also known as De Weide Blik. With this takeover, WDP acquires eight sites with temperature controlled warehouses in Belgium and the Netherlands of which 90% is to be permanently leased for 20 years and 10% is to be permanently leased for 15 years to businesses within the Univeg Group. The initial investment comes to 100 million euros. The economic transfer of the portfolio will take place on 1 July 2007.

The portfolio contains eight sites with a total of 120,000 m² of temperature controlled warehouses. Six sites are in Belgium with a total surface of 60,000 m² and two in the Netherlands also with a total surface of 60,000 m². In addition, there are a total of four new construction projects pre-leased to businesses within the Group that will be developed by WDP in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The total investment for these projects is today estimated at 50 million euros.

The rental income on the portfolio currently amounts to 6.35 million euros per year, triple net. An initial indexation is also provided after six months, at the end of 2007. WDP will also accept 50 million euros worth of debts at 4% (fixed for 15 years) within the Royvelden companies. Sphere: Related Content

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Karstadtquelle Seeking €5.5 Billion For Retail Property Portfolio

The Sunday Times - June 24, 2007

The German retail and leisure group that owns a majority stake in Thomas Cook, Karstadtquelle, has appointed bankers to sell off its €5.5 billion (£3.7 billion) property portfolio, in one of Europe’s biggest retail property disposals.

The company has hired NM Rothschild and Goldman Sachs to sell off its real-estate assets, ahead of a possible London listing next year. It is expected the sale will generate strong interest from property companies and investment groups in Britain seeking to buy into the recovering German retail market.

The portfolio includes a string of flagship department stores in Germany including the giant KaDeWe shop in Berlin.

The property portfolio was injected into a joint venture with Whitehall, a division of Goldman Sachs, in March 2006. That deal netted Karstadtquelle €3.7 billion, which was used to pay down group debt. The Germans own 49% of the joint venture and Whitehall owns 51%.

Karstadtquelle’s decision to appoint bankers to sell off the portfolio comes after reports from Germany earlier this year that it has received unsolicited approaches for the assets.

Earlier this week Thomas Mid-delhoff, Karstadtquelle’s chief executive, said the company was considering listing its shares in London because UK investors understood the business better than those in Frankfurt. Sphere: Related Content

Monday, June 25, 2007

SEGi Planning $42 Million Sale Leaseback of College Campus in Malasia

The Star - June 22, 2007

SEG International Bhd (SEGi) plans to sell by year's end the new SEGi College campus in Kota Damansara to AmanahRaya Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) and lease it back for 15 years.

Chief executive officer Datuk Clement Hii said that AmanahRaya REIT had made a tentative offer of RM145mil but the two parties were still working out the value. The move was aimed at unlocking the value of the land and to fund the construction of the new building, he said after the company's AGM yesterday.

Early this year, SEGi sold its Subang Jaya campus to AmanahRaya REIT for RM48mil. Hii said proceeds from the sale were being used to settle bank borrowings and fund future expansion in overseas markets.

“We want to be present in countries such as Indonesia, China, India, Britain, the United States and in some African nations through twinning programmes or stake acquisitions. The group was confident that the opening of the sixth campus would attract more foreign students, who now comprise 15% to 18% of the total enrolment, he added. Sphere: Related Content

Friday, June 22, 2007

Bank of Ireland Completes €94 Million Sale Leaseback of 29 Bank Branches

Independent - June 20 2007:

The Layden Group has acquired a Bank of Ireland retail property portfolio in a sale and leaseback deal comprising a total of 30 properties around the country.

The 30 properties — which were guiding €89.5m — achieved a price of €94m, reflecting an initial yield of 3.9pc. The portfolio, made up of 29 retail branches and one call centre, was sold through CBRE property consultants.

The price attained underlines the continuing appetite for properties with “blue-chip” covenants in prominent locations. The branches are spread throughout Ireland with eight situated in Dublin, three in Ulster, seven in Munster, four in Connaught and 8 in Leinster (minus Dublin).

Each property contained an option on behalf of the purchaser to elect for either a fixed 15pc uplift at the first review or an open market rent review. The agents were quoting guide prices ranging from €5.42m for a branch in Mallow to €1.22m for one in Edenderry, Co Offaly. The entire portfolio will produce rents of just over €4m.

Commenting on the sale, Robert Murphy of CBRE noted that the demand for the individual branches was high. However, he added that there were a number of single bids for the portfolio “at yields that recognised the potential for strong retail growth and long term development opportunity.”

The Layden Group is a privately owned family business founded by Joe Layden some 30 years ago. It is a highly successful company with substantial property interests in the commercial and retail markets in Dublin, in the provinces and in Germany.

This is the second tranche of sale and leaseback properties recently disposed of on a sale and leaseback basis by BofI. Its initial sale of 36 branches last autumn attracted the interest of institutions and managers of private equity funds as well as prominent investors.

About half of the branches were sold with full 25-year leases as against 15-year leases in the present isntance. These properties realied around €240m in total. Sphere: Related Content

Eircom Seeking €40 Million Sale Leaseback in Dublin

The Irish Times - June 20, 2007

Eircom is to embark on a sale and leaseback of another of its principal buildings in Dublin. The company's network management centre at Citywest is expected to make around €40 million when it is offered for sale shortly by Sean O'Neill of DTZ Sherry FitzGerald.

Last December Quinlan Private bought Eircom's new headquarters near Heuston Station for over €190 million in a similar sale and leaseback deal. Although details of the latest sale have not been confirmed, Eircom is expected to pay a rent of about €2 million for the three-storey block of 6,875sq m (74,000sq ft) fronting onto the N7 Naas Road.

This would show a net yield of 4.5 per cent. Purchasers will be offered the opportunity to make offers based on the inclusion or exclusion of a tenant-operable break option in year 15 of a 25-year lease. There are 280 surface car-parking spaces but a small exchange on the site will be excluded from the sale. Sphere: Related Content

Merrill Lynch Completes £480 Million Sale Leaseback of London HQ Office Campus

Easier Property News - June 20, 2007

Merrill Lynch today announced the sale of its flagship City of London office campus in a transaction worth approximately £480 million.

An affiliate of GIC Real Estate, the property investment arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, has agreed to purchase Chapterhouse Holdings Limited whose primary asset is the Merrill Lynch Financial Centre (MLFC) at 2 King Edward Street. MLFC is leased by Merrill Lynch for a term of 15 years with renewal rights extending significantly beyond the initial term.

The MLFC was recently created by Merrill Lynch to fit the company’s specific needs. The office building has been constructed to a very high standard and features two of the largest trading floors in Europe, a 150-seat auditorium, a dedicated client centre as well as many amenities for the over 4,000 employees who work in MLFC and other nearby Merrill Lynch offices.

The building has won a number of significant awards, including the 2002 BCO Best Corporate Workplace Award, the 2002 Stone Award for Interiors and the AIA London Chapter Design Award. MLFC has a net lettable area of approximately 550,000 square feet and is located in the City of London, close to St.Paul’s Cathedral, on land previously occupied by the Post Office covering the north side of Newgate Street from King Edward Street to Giltspur Street.

Merrill Lynch was advised by its Real Estate Investment Banking team and Linklaters LLP, while GIC Real Estate was advised by DTZ and Herbert Smith LLP. Sphere: Related Content

Amcor Completes $57 Million Sale Leaseback of HQ in Australia

Colliers International Web Site - June 19, 2007

Leading Western Australian development company Primewest Management has paid $57 million for Amcor’s Bibra Lake headquarters in one of the biggest industrial property deals ever completed in WA.

The 38.14 hectare site is ideally positioned within the high profile Bibra Lake/Cockburn industrial precinct and has extensive frontage to Phoenix Road. Packaging giant Amcor will lease back its existing factory and offices on a long term basis, while Primewest will develop a high quality industrial estate and possibly an office park on the surplus land.

Primewest is already in discussions with a number of national tenants for design and construct projects on the land and expects work to commence on the site before year end.

Amcor will lease back its 14,000 square metre factory and 730 square metre office complex, but the balance of the land will be redevelopment into industrial lots and possibly an office park.

Primewest Management is one of the most successful wholesale property syndicators and developers in Western Australia and over the last 10 years the company and its directors have built a national portfolio valued in excess of $1 billion. It also owns a number of bulky goods properties and shopping centres throughout WA and NSW. Sphere: Related Content

Monday, June 18, 2007

British Car Auctions Pursuing £317 Million Sale Leaseback of 17 UK Properties

Estates Gazette reports that British Car Auctions, Europe's largest car auctioneer, has brought a £317m sale-and-leaseback portfolio to market through CB Richard Ellis seeking a 5.4% yield.

The firm's 17 freehold auction rooms include a total 170 acres of land with development potential. The company plans to take 30- to 35-year leases on the properties at rents based on current operating profits and subject to fixed, inflation-linked uplifts. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Santander Plans €4 Billion Sale Leaseback of Property Portfolio in Spain

The Guardian - June 14, 2007

The Spanish bank Santander, a member of the Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium bidding for ABN Amro, is preparing to sell property to raise €4bn (£2.7bn) to help fund the record-breaking £48bn takeover attempt of the Dutch bank.

As the Spanish bank lined up its property assets for the market, Barclays was searching for ways to add a cash sweetener to its agreed, but lower, bid for ABN Amro. Barclays, whose offer has the recommendation of the Dutch bank's board, is funding its deal entirely in shares but is expected to have to increase its bid to be able to see off the RBS consortium.

The RBS consortium has structured its hostile offer as 79% cash and the rest in RBS shares. Santander and the Dutch-Belgian financial group Fortis are providing much of the cash. By selling off 44 buildings throughout Spain, 1,200 offices and its new headquarters in Boadilla on the outskirts of Madrid, Santander is beginning the process of raising the €20bn of cash needed to fulfil its part of the deal.

The Spanish bank is thought to have been considering a sale of the property assets before the ABN Amro bid. Spanish property prices have been booming and selling the property would unleash gains for Santander, which intends to lease back the properties it sells. The one property excluded from the deal is the official headquarters in Paseo de Pereda where Santander was founded 150 years ago.

It is not certain that Santander will actually need the cash to fund a bid for ABN Amro as the circumstances surrounding the offer are very complicated. Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, June 14, 2007

deCODE Genetics Completes $25 Million Sale Leaseback of Chicago Facility

deCODE Web Site - June 12, 2007

deCODE genetics (Nasdaq:DCGN) today announced that it has completed a sale and leaseback of its Woodridge, Illinois medicinal chemistry facility. The company sold the facility for $25 million and has entered into a lease with an initial term of 17 years. After costs associated with the outstanding mortgage on the facility, taxes and expenses, deCODE netted $18.4 million, resources the company can now apply to its drug and diagnostic development programs.

(deCODEs 8-K filing of June 12 states that the initial rent under the absolute net lease was $163,083.33 per month (7.83% cap rate) subject to annual rent increases of 2.5%, and two 5 year renewal options with rent at the then prevailing market rate.) Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, June 10, 2007

85 Somerfield Petrol Stations in UK Offered for £200 Million

Rapleys / Financial Times - June 8, 2007

Palmer Capital Partners, the venture capital-style property group run by Ray Palmer, has hired agents to sell 85 petrol stations let to Somerfield, the supermarket group. The portfolio is being marketed through agents CB Richard Ellis and Rapleys at a price of £200m, a yield of about 5.5 per cent. If achieved, it would mark a big profit on the £70m paid for an initial 140 properties two years ago.

In April 2005, PCP joined forces with Somerfield and partner RREEF, the property investment wing of Deutsche Bank, to buy the assets from oil group Chevron. Somerfield agreed to remain on the sites for 20 years under a reverse sale-and-leaseback deal. Since then, property values have soared.

The owners have spent £50m expanding and revamping many of the sites - at an average of £750,000 each. The estate has grown from 65,000 sq ft to about 110,000 sq ft with a target of 143,000 sq ft by the end of the year. Sphere: Related Content

Friday, June 08, 2007

Quick Restaurants Agrees to $428 Million Sale Leaseback of 102 Outlets Across France

Bloomberg - June 6, 2007

Fonciere des Murs SCA, which buys buildings and leases them back to their previous owners, agreed to purchase 102 outlets across France from the Quick Restaurants fast food chain for 316 million euros ($428 million).

Quick Restaurants, acquired earlier this year by France's state-owned Caisse des Depots et Consignations, will lease back the restaurants for 12 years, paying an initial annual rent of 18 million euros, Paris-based Fonciere des Murs said in an e- mailed statement today. Sphere: Related Content

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Pep Boys Ponders $1 Billion Sale Leaseback of Store Portfolio

Automotive Week/The Greensheet - June 1, 2007

Pep Boys management is asking for patience from the financial community as it is working on a long-term strategic plan to grow the business. During a recent conference call to discuss its first-quarter financial results, Jeff Rachor — the new president and CEO of Philadelphia-based Pep Boys — said he is working with the company’s senior leadership team and board of directors to define the company’s purpose and develop a plan.

“One reason our company’s return on invested capital has struggled is the relatively-heavy asset base that we carry,” Rachor said. “Since last year, the company has been developing a program to address this opportunity.”

He said Pep Boys is now in a position to move forward. “In my early assessment of Pep Boys, I always questioned the need to have such a large portfolio of owned properties and even secondary assets, such as our distribution centers, office buildings and company-owned life insurance,” Rachor explained. Pep Boys owns 323 of its 593 stores. According to a Pep Boys appraisal conducted at the close of 2004, those owned properties had a value of around $900 million. Harry Yanowitz, senior vice president and CFO, estimates that the properties are currently worth more than $1 billion. The company has an additional 200 ground-link stores, meaning that Pep Boys owns the building on top of the land and controls the property. Many of these leases were struck 15-20 years ago.

“We are very fortunate that many of these assets have appreciated materially from their original purchase values. There are several options available to the company to monetize these assets, including sale-leaseback transactions, outright sales and taking advantage of below-margin long-term leases,” Rachor said. “We are completing a process — supported by external real estate advisory specialists — to analyze each of our owned and leased locations to determine how to most efficiently evaluate our properties in a manner that will allow us to maximize shareholder value.” Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Sunny Delight Completes $58 Million Sale Leaseback of Three Bottling Facilities

Commercial Property News - May 30, 2007

Angelo, Gordon & Co., acting through its dedicated Net Lease Group, AG Net Lease, has wrapped up the purchase of three industrial properties through a $58 million sale-leaseback transaction with Sunny Delight Beverages Co. The properties, located in three different states, account for an aggregate 732,000 square feet.

The transaction allows Sunny Delight, which was acquired by private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates L.P. three years ago, to continue utilizing the space for its domestic bottling activities while pocketing--after paying down senior debt--a substantial amount of capital to invest in business growth. The assets involved include a 295,000-square-foot facility in Dayton, N.J.; a 265,000-square-foot property in Atlanta, Ga.; and a 172,000-square-foot property in Anaheim, Calif. Calif. (pictured). Constructed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, all three facilities have undergone recent upgrades. Sphere: Related Content

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