Asda is in talks about a £400m deal to offload some of its supermarket real estate assets to a giant investment house as it looks to plough more funding into its turnaround plans.
Sky News has learnt that Blue Owl Capital, the New York-listed asset management group, has emerged as the frontrunner to buy roughly 20 Asda stores and lease them back to the Leeds-based retailer.
A deal could be formally agreed within weeks, according to people close to the situation.
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Last year, TDR acquired Zuber Issa’s stake in the chain, and now owns 67.5% of its shares.
Allan Leighton’s plans include competing more aggressively with mainstream and discount rivals on price, improving availability and streamlining costs more effectively.
The company has undertaken sale-and-leaseback deals on previous occasions, notably in 2023 when it struck a £650m deal with US-based Realty Inc.
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An Asda spokesman declined to comment on the talks with Blue Owl Capital but said: “Sale-and-leaseback [transactions] have been a feature of the retail industry for many years.
“While maintaining a strong freehold base remains central to Asda’s property strategy, we will consider suitable opportunities to unlock value from our property portfolio as part of our material programme of investment into the business.”
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Eastdil, the real estate investment bank which was appointed to run the process several months ago, and Blue Owl have been contacted for comment.
