Buyer Demand Remains High for Corporate Sale-Leaseback Deals
June 13, 2022 – SLB Capital Advisors Managing Partner Scott Merkle shared perspectives with WMRE on the current sale leaseback environment
- The $8.4 billion in sales logged in first quarter is on par with fourth quarter 2021 activity and nearly triple the $2.9 billion in transactions recorded in the first quarter of 2021, according to a market analysis by SLB Capital Advisors. “That is the biggest first quarter that we’ve seen. The dollar volume was driven largely by two casino deals, but the 186 is the highest count that we’ve seen over the last few years by a good 20 to 30,” says Scott Merkle, managing director of SLB Capital Advisors.
- Rising interest rates could cool what has been a white-hot seller’s market for sale-leasebacks over the past year. However, industry participants are still optimistic about the near-term outlook. “While cap rates have risen, real estate is still at incredibly attractive levels for owner-operators to monetize their real estate in a sale-leaseback,” says Merkle.
- “There has been a huge wall of capital looking to be deployed into sale-leasebacks. We’ve seen even more buyers step up to the plate over the last 12 months or so,” says Merkle. Some buyers are moving more cautiously, but there is still a lot of capital available for sale-leasebacks, he adds.
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