Asda closes in on £400m property deal with investment giant Blue Owl

Asda is successful talks astir a £400m woody to offload immoderate of its supermarket existent property assets to a elephantine concern location arsenic it looks to plough much backing into its turnaround plans.

Sky News has learnt that Blue Owl Capital, the New York-listed plus absorption group, has emerged arsenic the frontrunner to bargain astir 20 Asda stores and lease them backmost to the Leeds-based retailer.

A woody could beryllium formally agreed wrong weeks, according to radical adjacent to the situation.

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Last year, TDR acquired Zuber Issa's involvement successful the chain, and present owns 67.5% of its shares.

Mr Leighton's plans see competing much aggressively with mainstream and discount rivals much aggressively connected price, improving availability and streamlining costs much effectively.

The institution has undertaken sale-and-leaseback deals connected erstwhile occasions, notably successful 2023 erstwhile it struck a £650m woody with US-based Realty Inc.

An Asda spokesperson declined to remark connected the talks with Blue Owl Capital but said: "Sale-and-leaseback [transactions] person been a diagnostic of the retail manufacture for galore years.

"While maintaining a beardown freehold basal remains cardinal to Asda's spot strategy, we volition see suitable opportunities to unlock worth from our spot portfolio arsenic portion of our worldly programme of concern into the business."

Eastdil, the existent property concern slope which was appointed to tally the process respective months ago, and Blue Owl person been contacted for comment.