WP Carey, the global sale-and-leaseback specialist, has announced the acquisition of a portfolio of retail facilities in Croatia for a total consideration of EUR 49 mln. The deal was carried out through its non-traded REIT affiliate, CPA:17 - Global.

The transaction is WP Carey's second in Croatia and its second with Agrokor following a EUR 77 mln acquisition of Agrokor’s Zagreb office and logistics facilities in May 2010. The retail facilities comprise a six property portfolio of super-markets and hyper-markets mainly located in Zagreb and surrounding cities. The portfolio is leased on a long term triple-net basis to Konzum, Agrokor's food retailing subsidiary.

Founded in 1976, Agrokor is the largest private company in Croatia and one of the largest companies among its peers in Central Eastern Europe. A vertically-integrated business with nearly 40,000 employees and almost EUR 4 bn in revenues, Agrokor is Croatia's largest food producer, processor, distributor, and retailer.

WP Carey has been investing in Europe for over 10 years and has completed more than EUR 430 mln in European sale leaseback transactions during the past 18 months.

Jeffrey Lefleur, executive director of WP Carey, said: 'This marks our second large scale transaction with Agrokor this year and underlines our commitment to investing in Eastern Europe. Our continued ability to invest in capital-constrained regions has allowed us to transact with large, stable businesses and secure attractive, long-term yields for our investors.'