W. P. Carey Board Approves Merger With CPA:17 In $6 Bln Stock-for-stock Deal

(RTTNews) - W. P. Carey Inc. (WPC) announced its Board has unanimously approved a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Corporate Property Associates 17 - Global Incorporated, or CPA:17, a publicly-held non-traded REIT advised by W. P. Carey, will merge with and into a subsidiary of W. P. Carey in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at approximately $6 billion. CPA:17 stockholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 0.160 shares of W. P. Carey common stock for each share of CPA:17, equivalent to $10.72 per share.

W. P. Carey currently anticipates the announced transaction improves its earnings quality, with approximately 96% of total pro forma AFFO derived from recurring long-term Real Estate revenues and approximately 4% derived from finite-life Investment Management revenues.

said Jason Fox, W. P. Carey's CEO, said: "This transaction simplifies our business and effectively transforms W. P. Carey into a pure-play net lease REIT with earnings derived almost entirely from higher-multiple lease revenues. In addition to creating value by reweighting our earnings mix and enhancing our credit profile, it provides a unique and compelling opportunity to acquire a large portfolio of high-quality assets well-aligned with our existing portfolio at a favorable cap rate."

After the close of the transaction, W. P. Carey is expected to have a pro forma equity market capitalization of approximately $11 billion and an enterprise value of approximately $17 billion.