The European platform of US-based REIT Gramercy has acquired a portfolio of five car showrooms in the Netherlands for €27.5 mln.
Gramercy Europe purchased the assets for its Gramercy Property Europe fund in a sale-and-leaseback transaction with Van Mossel Automotive, the second-largest automotive retailer in the Netherlands.
The properties, comprising showrooms and office space, have been let to Van Mossel on new 17-year triple net leases. Three of the showrooms are located in the city of Tilburg, the others located in Apeldoorn and Zwolle. All of the properties are located in established car dealership agglomerations, with three of the five having been constructed or entirely refurbished in the last 12 months.
This was Gramercy Property Europe's 15th acquisition in the past 15 months as it seeks to acquire single-tenant assets that offer stable, long-term income, in core European countries. The 15 transactions have built up a 30-asset, 928,000 m2 portfolio, for a total consideration of €623 mln, across Germany, France, the Netherlands, the UK and Poland.
Michael Heal, managing director of Gramercy Europe, commented: 'This transaction demonstrates Gramercy's expertise in sourcing and closing on assets that will generate long-term, stable, inflation-protected income for our investors. It is another example of Gramercy being the preferred investor for sale-leaseback transactions in continental Europe. We have a high-quality counterparty in Van Mossel, and acquired property in densely developed, sought-after locations. Sale-leaseback is a favoured transaction structure for the fund, and we will continue to look for opportunities in this space during the rest of this year.'
Gramercy Property Europe has initial equity commitments of €350 mln and invests predominantly in industrial, office and specialty retail assets in Germany, the Netherlands, the Nordic region, France and other targeted European countries.
