W.P. Carey Buys Corporate HQ Property in Norway for $114M

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

In its second acquisition in Norway this year, W.P. Carey Inc. has added the 275,600-square-foot headquarters of Total E&P Norge AS, the Norwegian subsidiary of French oil-and-gas giant Total SA., to its portfolio. The U.S.-based investment firm purchased the office property at Finnestadveien 44 in Stavanger, Norway, from Norwegian Property ASA in a $114 million transaction.

Total Norway’s corporate headquarters consists of a 236,800-square-foot facility built in 1975 and a 38,800-square-foot structure that was developed in June of this year. Total Norway has called Finnestadveien 44 home since the first building opened its doors, and the company plans to stay put for the long term; it entered into a 17-year lease extension upon completion of the new building.

The asset fits W.P. Carey’s investment criteria to a “T.” There’s the credit tenancy; the 100 percent, long-term occupancy; and the strategic location, which in this case is Stavanger’s position as one of Europe’s major oil hubs.

Another Norwegian asset ticked all the boxes for the investment firm earlier this year. Through CPA®:18 – Global, one of its sponsored REITs, it picked up the recently completed 166,000-square-foot headquarters of Siemens AS in Oslo for $90 million.

Europe in general is looking pretty good to W.P. Carey right now. “We continue to find attractive risk-adjusted returns in Europe, and given our team on the ground, we are well positioned, comfortable in the environment and anticipate expanding into new countries just as we did into Norway this year,” director Arvi Luoma told Commercial Property Executive. “This approach offers us a broader and deeper pool of opportunities even while the U.S. domestic market remains less opportunistic.”