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.”