Dentons and Kirkland & Ellis advise Blue Owl Capital on Asda Sale and Leaseback Transaction

London—Dentons, together with Kirkland & Ellis, have advised US alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital on a sale and leaseback transaction involving twenty Asda stores and one Asda distribution.

Eleven assets have been sold to funds managed by Blue Owl Capital and the other ten to a joint venture (JV) between Blue Owl Capital and Supermarket Income REIT PLC (SUPR).

The Blue Owl transactions were valued at over £450 million.

All properties are subject to long terms leases.  Asda will continue to occupy and operate all the assets.

This transaction is the latest in a series of UK and European deals for Blue Owl Capital on which Dentons and/or Kirkland advised.

In April this year, the firms acted for Blue Owl on the formation of its JV with SUPR, and  with the acquisition of an initial portfolio of eight supermarket properties with a combined value of £403 million. This was followed in July by a £215 million secured term loan agreement through a bank syndicate comprising Barclays, HSBC, ING and SMBC Group for the JV.

Evan Z. Lazar, Co-Chair of Global Real Estate at Dentons, commented: “We value our longstanding relationship with Blue Owl and are delighted to advise them on another major transaction in the United Kingdom. These deals demonstrate Blue Owl’s sustained momentum and confidence in the opportunities across the real estate sector.”

Rob Thompson, Head of Real Estate in the UK, added: “This deal showcases our team’s capability to execute sophisticated sale and leaseback structures across a large and diverse portfolio. We are delighted to have guided Blue Owl through the process to support its strategic investment objectives.”

The Dentons team advising Blue Owl on the Asda transactions was led by Rob Thompson and the team included partners Alex Coulter and Tom Taylor with lead associates Caroline Stead, Chloe Halliday and Fosia Solomou.