May 1, 2026 – SLB Capital Advisors featured in PERE’s coverage of the net lease sector
SLB Capital Advisors’ Managing Partner Scott Merkle was featured in PERE’s coverage of the net lease sector
The analytical framework hasn’t changed dramatically from recent years, but the current environment demands more careful application of it, says Scott Merkle, managing partner at sale-leaseback specialist SLB Capital Advisors. Tariffs and their impact on margins are a newer variable requiring active scrutiny, while the broader macroeconomic backdrop is less certain than it was
even a year or two ago, he adds.
Investors today have both the luxury and the necessity of being more selective, Merkle says, pointing to the growing role of proprietary analytics and AI in tenant monitoring, which larger platforms are increasingly deploying as a competitive differentiator in underwriting and portfolio surveillance.
For most sale leaseback transactions, often skewed toward mid-market businesses, the metrics that matter most are fixed charge coverage, leverage and liquidity runway, Merkle adds. Fixed charge coverage tends to be the primary lens. It speaks most directly to whether a business can service its obligations, including rent, over the life of a long-term lease.
As tenant risk rises, the underlying real estate serves as the ultimate safeguard in net lease and sale-leaseback deals. Merkle notes that in net lease underwriting, credit and real estate are evaluated together, but their relative weight shifts dramatically depending on the asset.
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