Tesco plc has announced they have completed a €63 million sale-leaseback financing of their Hungarian logistics portfolio with US-based investor W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC). The transaction continues Tesco’s goal to realize £5 billion from the sale of real estate in order to improve shareholder value.

The deal represents the largest sale-leaseback financing in Central Eastern Europe in the last two years. It is also the largest and first significant investment deal in Hungary in 2009.

Jeffrey Lefleur, Director for W. P. Carey noted, “We are very pleased to have proven our capacity as a global sale-leaseback financing provider, particularly as the capital markets remain quite difficult. Given our risk management-driven investment strategy and portfolio diversification criteria, we could not have asked for a more suitable counterparty than a market-leading company like Tesco for our first deal in Hungary.”

Advised by King Sturge, W. P. Carey invested through two of its publicly held non-traded REIT affiliates, CPA®:16 – Global and CPA®:17 – Global. Tesco was represented by Cushman & Wakefield.