Carlton Advisory Services and W.P. Carey & Co., both of New York, are taking decidedly different approaches when it comes to foreign investors.Carlton, a national real estate and loan sale investment bank, attended MIPIM, the International Property Market, in Cannes, France, the week of March 7 looking for equity funding to support several U.S. transactions. Carey, on the other hand, was there looking for properties to buy and then lease back to their sellers. Carlton, which has completed more than $21 billion in deals over the years, wants money to support residential apartment conversions in Manhattan, the development of a new hotel/condominium on Manhattan's West Side, new condos all over the Big Apple, and the purchase of the Met Life Building, which is exactly the type of trophy property foreigners tend to like. Carey, one of the leading providers of net-lease funding in the world, was hoping to capitalize on what its executives said is "increased interest" among companies that realize "the importance of capital efficiency and the true value of their real estate assets." With sale-leasebacks, companies "in effect outsource their real estate to us in return for capital, freeing them to do what they do best, which is running their businesses," said Edward LaPuma, Carey's chief acquisition officer.
