US REIT WP Carey has acquired a hypermarket in the German city of Gelsenkirchen in an all-equity transaction for an undisclosed price.

US REIT WP Carey has acquired a hypermarket in the German city of Gelsenkirchen in an all-equity transaction for an undisclosed price.

The 11,915 m2 'Big Box' facility is located on a 3 -hectare land parcel and includes 440 parking spaces. It is well-positioned along a main connection route between Gelsenkirchen’s city centre and residential areas.

The facility is let to Real, Germany’s largest hypermarket operator and a subsidiary of Metro, the German retail conglomerate on a 14-year triple net-lease. The acquisition was on behalf of one of WP Carey's managed non-traded REITs, CPA 17 – Global.

'This transaction offered the opportunity for CPA®:17 – Global to acquire a stable retail asset with an attractive risk-adjusted yield and subject to a long-term triple net-lease. While we believe retail in the US is in many instances overbuilt, big box retail in Europe — in this case, Germany — with strong credits is a far more attractive opportunity,' commented WP Carey's director Arvi Luoma.