W.P. Carey drives home financing for auto maker.

Investment firm, W. R Carey & Co. LLC announced that its publicly held, non-traded REIT affiliate, CPA[R]:16--Global, provided $31 million in financing to German automotive manufacturer, The Volt Group.

CPA[R]: 16--Global purchased Voit's headquarters and manufacturing facility in St. Ingbert, Germany and is leasing it back to Voit on a long-term basis. Voit manufactures complex, precise, sheet metal parts and ready-to-install machined aluminum die-east components for automobiles. Producing nearly 200 million parts annually, Voit is active all along the value chain, providing customers like Bosch, ZF, Behr and Siemens with initial design and tool making, manufacturing, final assembly and logistics.

"The automotive industry is facing many challenges. As a family-owned automotive manufacturer, it is imperative that we remain market savvy, growth-oriented and competitive in an increasingly global market," said Martin Voit, president and CEO of Voit. "W. P. Carey's team provided us with a custom-made source of financing that allowed us to recapitalize our balance sheet and pursue essential growth initiatives."

"Voit is exactly the type of German mittel-stand company we like to work with," said Edward V. LaPuma, president of W. P. Carey International. "It represents a new generation of European companies that are beginning to use creative financing structures, such as the sale-leaseback, to focus on and enhance their core competencies. Working with these types of companies, we have enabled them to monetize their real estate assets to fund expansion and ongoing operations while allowing them to maintain a consistent level of operating control and management over their facilities."