Sale-leaseback of three mission-critical food production facilities

W. P. Carey partners with U.S. leader in organic vegetarian consumer packaged goods to unlock capital and support long-term growth

Seller Description: Founded in 1987, Amy's Kitchen has maintained a dominant position as the top provider of organic vegetarian meal solutions. The company has experienced substantial growth during its more than 30-year history, benefiting from longstanding relationships with premier supermarkets and wholesalers in the U.S. 
Total Investment: $144 million
Transaction Type: Sale-leaseback*
Location: California, Idaho and Oregon
Square Footage: 936,500 square feet
Facility Type: 3 food production sites  

In 2021, W. P. Carey completed the $144 million sale-leaseback of three mission-critical food production facilities located across the U.S. The facilities are master leased to Amy’s Kitchen, a leading U.S. producer of organic vegetarian consumer packaged goods, for a term of 30 years with fixed annual rent escalations. The facilities represent the entirety of Amy’s Kitchen’s owned manufacturing footprint, as well as serving as R&D sites for new product and equipment creation, quality control testing and commodity storage. Combined, the facilities produced over 21 million cases of food in 2020. This investment was also an opportunity for W. P. Carey to work with a sustainability-focused tenant as Amy’s Kitchen is a certified B Corporation, which is awarded to companies that meet the highest stands of social and environmental performance.

W. P. Carey was an excellent partner to work with. Right away they understood our business and were able to execute the transaction in a timeframe that met our need.

Mike Resch, Chief People Officer & General Council, Amy's Kitchen

*In a sale-leaseback, a company sells its real estate to an investor like W. P. Carey for cash and simultaneously enters into a long-term lease. In doing so, the company extracts 100% of the property’s value and converts an otherwise illiquid asset into working capital to reinvest in its business or pay down debt, while maintaining operational control.