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Sale-and-leaseback transactions are re-emerging as a strategic financing tool for European companies facing liquidity constraints - a trend that may be visible at Expo REAL in Munich next week. The US REIT W. P. Carey, one of the most active net lease REITs in Europe with an enterprise value of approximately €22 billion, has completed three significant European acquisitions in recent months that illustrate why demand is growing.
In August 2025, the company acquired 35 electricity grid service and maintenance centres across Italy for €71 million, leased to Enel S.p.A., the country's largest electricity supplier. The facilities are operationally critical to monitoring and maintaining Italy's electricity infrastructure, with a 12.4-year lease and rent increases linked to the consumer price index.
In July, W. P. Carey purchased two Morrisons supermarkets and petrol stations in Loughborough and Ilkeston for £51 million, expanding an existing relationship that now includes four properties since January 2024. Both are triple-net leased with built-in rent growth.
The company also completed a €280 million cross-border sale-and- leaseback of 16 industrial assets totalling 414,000 square metres leased to Fedrigoni Group, a global speciality paper manufacturer. The portfolio spans Italy, Spain and Germany, with 20-year master leases and CPI-linked rent growth.
What connects these transactions is that they involve properties integral to tenant operations—electricity infrastructure, food retail with strict planning restrictions, or manufacturing facilities with unique production capabilities and environmental permits difficult to replicate.
Christopher Mertlitz, Head of European Investments at W. P. Carey, argues that market conditions are driving increased interest in the model. "With many companies finding it difficult to obtain traditional financing, sale-leaseback transactions remain a strategic alternative—not only to release liquidity, but also to future-proof operations in a volatile environment,” he said ahead of Expo REAL.
Liquidity constraints persist across Germany's industrial base, particularly in automotive, chemical and construction sectors. Trade tensions are accelerating supply chain discussions. Medium-sized family businesses and private equity investors need flexible, non-dilutive capital. ESG requirements are also creating demand, as companies use sale-leaseback proceeds to fund building retrofits and energy efficiency measures.
W. P. Carey's current pipeline includes logistics, food production, light manufacturing and retail. Looking to the back end of 2025, Mertlitz expects transaction activity to accelerate as demand for flexible capital grows and the cross-border appeal of sale-and-leaseback structures expands. The company's 1,600 net-lease properties across approximately 16.5 million square metres demonstrate how consistent investment criteria - mission-critical real estate with long-term, inflation- linked leases - can be applied across varied European sectors.