Lexington Buying Wells Portfolio

Lexington Corporate Property Trust, New York, is buying a portfolio of buildings from affiliates and joint venture partners of Atlanta-based Wells Real Estate Investment Trust for $786 million.The portfolio -- which includes 24 office buildings, mostly leased to single tenants in 14 states, and three industrial properties -- totals 5.1 million square feet and is spread out across the country. Lexington, a real estate investment trust, said it believes that this is "especially good timing" for the acquisition considering the "favorable financing environment." To fund the acquisition, Lexington said it is tapping $558.3 million in first-mortgage financing from JPMorgan Chase Bank. The loans will be secured by each of the properties in the portfolio, as well as five unencumbered properties owned by the REIT. The REIT said it expects to tap about $73.6 million in equity commitments of joint venture partners and cash balances of about $154.1 million for the rest of the funding.