Real estate investment trust WP Carey has bought a portfolio of four automotive retail and service sites in the Netherlands for around €29m.

The NYSE-listed REIT said the acquired 18,700sqm portfolio is triple-net leased to a Dutch automotive retail and leasing services providers, for a term of 17 years.

The tenant will invest around €3.5m of the transaction proceeds into the facilities, highlighting both the criticality of the portfolio and the tenant’s long-term commitment to it, WP Carey said.

The portfolio is located in locations along key thoroughfares near major urban centres in the Randstad region of the Netherlands.

Christopher Mertlitz, a director at WP Carey, said: “Our 16-year history of investing in the Netherlands and knowledge of the auto dealership industry positioned us well to secure the portfolio in an off-market transaction.�

Since 2002,  WP Carey has acquired around €700m of assets across a range of sectors and asset classes.

“We believe the acquisition complements the strength of our existing automotive portfolio and will generate strong risk-adjusted returns from a leading automotive company with steady cash flows from multiple revenue sources, including new and used car sales, leasing services, aftersales and repairs, Mertlitz said.

�Consistent with our established investment criteria, the transaction demonstrates WP Carey’s continued appetite to build on our portfolio in the region.�