What’s Behind W.P. Carey’s Acquisition Spree?

Gino Sabatini

These are salad days for net lease REITs such as W.P. Carey that are bent on acquisitions. Simply put, there are numerous opportunities available both here and overseas, Gino Sabatini, Head of Investments of W.P. Carey, tells GlobeSt.com. “It’s a very good time to be entering into long-term transactions with tenants out there,” he says. “Our cost of capital is very good right now, especially because of our larger size following our merger with CPA:17. More importantly, the deals we are seeing are good for our investors.”

Deals are not overpriced even now at the end of the cycle, he continues. There were times in W.P. Carey’s history–namely before the Great Recession–when it didn’t make any investments. Eighteen months prior to the crash, Sabatini says, the REIT stopped investing because the deals were so unattractive. “We don’t see that right now, not at all,” he says.