Lexington Trust inks $79m sale-leaseback.

Just a week after it obtained a $200 million unsecured revolving credit facility that CFO Patrick Carroll, said would give it more financial muscle, Lexington Corporate Properties Trust (LXP) has acquired five industrial/manufacturing facilities in a sale/leaseback transaction with Dana Commercial Credit Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dana Corporation.

The an aggregate purchase price was approximately $78.50 million. Each Property is net leased to Dana Corporation through June, 2025.

To finance the acquisition, Lexington has arranged to obtain $67.52 million of non-recourse first mortgage loans from Countrywide Financial, secured by individual first mortgages on each of the Properties. The Loans will bear interest at a fixed rate of 4.96% and mature in ten years. The Loans are subject to final documentation and standard closing conditions.

Last week, LXP obtained a $200 million unsecured revolving credit facility. The new credit facility replaces Lexington's existing $100 million credit facility and matures in June, 2008 with a one-year extension option. The credit facility bears interest at a rate of 120-170 basis points over LIBOR depending on Lexington's overall level of indebtedness. Borrowings on the old facility were at 150-250 basis points over LIBOR depending the number of properties Lexington owned free and clear of mortgage debt.

Carroll said of the arrangement, "Our portfolio growth and balance sheet improvement over the last two years have allowed us to increase our borrowing capacity and lower our financing costs. The new credit facility provides Lexington with added financial flexibility and more attractive short-term borrowing costs."