ARC selects Moor Park for sale and leasebacks in Europe

A $1.5 billion non-traded REIT, American Realty Capital (ARC), has allocated up to 40 percent of its US retail investor capital base to Europe, and has selected London-based Moor Park Capital Partners as its exclusive deal finder in the region.

Moor Park revealed the tie-up today, announcing it was the European “service provider” for New York-based sale and leaseback specialist ARC and its new global offering called American Realty Capital Global Trust.

“Moor Park believes that it is an opportune time to invest in Europe due to a number of factors,” said the firm. “These include the widening of yields between primary and secondary real estate without compromising on tenant credit quality, a significant spread between acquisition yields and cost of debt financing, a considerable reduction in the number of real estate investors active in the European market and the increasing requirement from corporates to raise capital.”

The REIT, which announced its first deal last October –  a McDonald`s restaurant in Carlisle, northern England – is building a diversified portfolio sticking with the sale and leaseback theme.

Moor Park’s task is to find primarily single-tenant commercial properties with long-term, triple-net leases across a number of different property sectors and countries within Europe.

Initially, the countries that Moor Park will be focusing on will include the UK, Germany and France and the size of deals it is looking at are between £5 million and £75 million. The global REIT will be leveraged at no more than 45 percent loan-to-value.

It is not restricted by any asset types, although there is likely to be a strong concentration in retail, retail parks, retail warehouse and industrial and logistics, added Moor Park in the announcement. To a lesser extent, Moor Park will also look at other types of assets including leisure, office, student accommodation and hotels that may fit within the REIT`s investment guidelines.