NEWPORT, WALES—W. P. Carey Inc., has acquired the newly constructed office of Admiral Group plc in Newport, Wales for approximately $32 million (£20 million). The facility is leased to Admiral Group. The seller was Scarborough Group International, the UK and international real estate investor and developer.

“The transaction with Scarborough Group is consistent with our investment strategy of acquiring critical assets leased on a long-term basis to strong credit tenants and demonstrates our ability to provide liquidity to developers and owners of attractive net-leased assets,” says Jennifer Lucas, executive director of WPC. “Admiral is a well-capitalized business with a long-term commitment to the facility and we are delighted to add the company to our tenant portfolio. Given the UK's status as the second largest European economy with good growth forecasts, we are pleased to add another UK asset to our holdings.” 

Mark Jackson, director of Scarborough Group International, added: “We are pleased to complete this transaction with W. P. Carey.  Their capital resources, experience in the European net-lease investment market and their strategy of acquiring long-term net-leased assets made them an ideal purchaser for this asset.”

The 80,664 square-foot, class A office building was completed in May 2014 and houses more than 500 Admiral employees. The company has a strong presence in the area and has chosen the location as a key long-term operating site. The property is also situated in a city center location in Newport, the facility forms part of a major redevelopment of the surrounding area, which has already attracted $370 million (£230 million) of private investment into the city.

Admiral is a FTSE100 company and one of the UK's largest car insurance providers with a growing international presence. For the financial year 2013, Admiral reported turnover, profit before tax and profit after tax of $3.2 billion (£2 billion), $594 million (£370 million) and $461 million (£287 million), respectively.

“We are delighted to have secured this 20-year lease of our new office building in Newport and look forward to working with W. P. Carey as our landlord and long-term partner,” said Huw Llewellyn, head of property and facilities management for Admiral Group. The triple net-lease, begins June 2014 with a tenant break option at the end of the sixteenth year of the lease.

WPC is a global net-lease REIT specializing in corporate sale-leaseback, build-to-suit financing and the acquisition of single-tenant net-lease properties.