British supermarket group Sainsbury's is in talks to sell 18 stores in southern England to property investor LXi REIT for about £500 million (€571.5 million).
Both companies said on Wednesday they were discussing a sale and leaseback deal.
LXi REIT said it would seek to fund the deal through a mix of new equity and debt. It said it would discuss with potential investors the possibility of an equity raising.
The Deal
Sainsbury's, Britain's second largest grocer after Tesco, also said it had reached an agreement on the price it will pay to buy 21 stores from the Highbury and Dragon investment vehicles.
It did not disclose the price, but said the deal would complete in the first half of its fiscal year to March 2024.
If the LXi REIT transaction goes ahead, the cash from that would part-fund the Highbury and Dragon deal, Sainsbury's said.
Both deals would result in a broadly unchanged proportion of leasehold and freehold Sainsbury's supermarkets, but with ownership and lease structures better reflecting current market conditions and the group's priorities, it said.
Shares in Sainsbury's were up 1.8% at 09:22 GMT, while shares in LXi REIT were up 2.6%.
Elsewhere, the UK retailer announced plans to invest a minimum of £5 million (€6 million) over the next four years in start-up businesses commercialising innovative, sustainable technologies aimed at reducing operational carbon emissions and water consumption.
It has teamed up with Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) to scout and invest in early-stage companies, across a range of sectors and not limited to the Sainsbury’s supply chain.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. For more retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
