McMillan Advises W.P. Carey on its USD$468 Million Sale-leaseback of Pharmaceutical Campuses

On April 4, 2023, W. P. Carey completed its USD$468 million sale-leaseback of an industrial portfolio of four pharmaceutical research and development (“R&D”) and advanced manufacturing campuses in the Greater Toronto Area.

The campuses operated by Apotex Pharmaceutical Holdings Inc. (“Apotex”), a Canadian-based global pharmaceutical company and the largest generic drug manufacturer in Canada. The sale-leaseback closed concurrently with private equity firm SK Capital’s majority buyout of Apotex, financing a portion of the buyout.

W. P. Carey is a US-based major net lease REIT specializing in corporate sale-leasebacks, build-to-suits and the acquisition of single-tenant net lease properties.

McMillan’s team, led by Brett Stewart and David Dudkiewicz, acted as counsel to W. P. Carey, providing support to W. P. Carey’s in-house team on corporate, commercial real estate and tax expertise on the acquisition and lease-back to achieve a successful outcome for our client.

As a national business law firm with exceptional capabilities to lead businesses through cross-border transactions and investments into Canada and within multifaceted regulatory regimes, McMillan provides real-time business solutions to our clients. Our legal teams are skilled at structuring and closing complex deals of all shapes and sizes in Canada, the US and internationally and in providing innovative transactional advice and solutions. Our understanding of business imperatives and our relationships with the regulators helps our clients stay ahead.