Sale leasebacks

An Introduction to Sale-leasebacks

What is a sale-leaseback?

In a sale-leaseback, a company sells its real estate to an investor like W. P. Carey for cash and simultaneously enters into a long-term lease. In doing so, the company extracts 100% of the property’s value and converts an otherwise illiquid asset into working capital to reinvest in its business or pay down debt, while maintaining operational control.

In a sale-leaseback, a prospective tenant sells their property to a buyer, who then leases the property back to the seller. The seller pays rent and the buyer pays market value for the property.

Benefits of a sale-leaseback

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Immediate Access to Capital to reinvest in your core business operations, including balance sheet recapitalization, new acquisitions and R&D
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Alternative Capital Source when conventional financing is limited
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100% Market Value Realization of otherwise illiquid assets compared to debt alternatives
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Maintain Operational Control of your facility
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Potential Tax Benefits by deducting 100% of rental payments rather than being subject to interest limitations for traditional debt as defined by tax law
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Gain a Long-Term Partner with the capital to fund future expansions, build-to-suits, building renovations, energy retrofits and more

Is a sale-leaseback right for your business?

You must own your real estate in order to sell it.

Sale-leasebacks work best for mission-critical facilities.

Most sale-leasebacks involve long-term leases of 10 or more years. If the property is strategically important to your business, you're likely a strong fit.

We work with public, private, sponsor-backed and sub-investment grade companies alike. You don't need to an investment-grade rating to pursue a sale-leaseback. What matters is having a solid financial track record or strong market position, so investors can evaluate your ability to support rent payments over a long-term lease.

Sale-leasebacks allow companies to unlock capital from otherwise illiquid assets and redeploy into higher-return opportunities.

Recent investments

Stock photo of a clean, blue and chrome empty processing machine in a factory

Novus Foods

W. P. Carey completed the sale-leaseback of a 66,000-square-foot food processing facility in Ohio. The transaction also included a commitment to fund an expansion to the existing facility and a build...
The interior of a food production facility

International Food Production Business

$104 million sale-leaseback of six mission-critical food production facilities located across the U.K., Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The interior of a manufacturing facility

Plastic Container Manufacturer

$67 million sale-leaseback of three manufacturing facilities in North America.
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Explore more resources

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The Ins and Outs of Sale-leasebacks

What Is a Sale-Leaseback? In a sale-leaseback (or sale and leaseback), a company sells its commercial real estate to an investor for cash and simultaneously enters into a long-term lease with the new...
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Is a Sale-leaseback Right for Your Business?

Economic uncertainty and restricted debt markets are leading more corporate occupiers to explore alternative financing options such as sale-leasebacks to secure funds. In a sale-leaseback, a company...
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What to Expect When Selling to W. P. Carey

W. P. Carey is a leading global real estate investment company, specializing in the acquisition of operationally critical, single-tenant properties in Europe and North America. With ...

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