Asda eyes £400m sale of 20 supermarkets

Asda is looking to sell around 20 stores for £400m to help fund its turnaround plan.

The supermarket chain is planning to offload the shops located across the UK and lease them back for the next 20 years.

Asda has appointed property advisor Eastdil Secured to manage the sale, Green Street News reported.

Sale-and-leaseback deals are popular among supermarkets as a means of raising capital to boost their balance sheet.

John Lewis Partnership sold and leased back a dozen of its Waitrose supermarkets for £150m in 2023, while Sainsbury’s sold and leased back some of its supermarkets for £500m in 2022.

Asda’s potential sale follows the return of former chief executive Allan Leighton in November, who is tasked with reviving the supermarkets ailing fortunes.

Leighton warned that the grocer’s profits will suffer a “material hit” this year as the business ramps up spending on price cuts, improving the availability of products and refreshing its store estate.

An Asda spokesman said: “Sale-and-leasebacks have been a feature of the retail industry for many years.

“While maintaining a strong freehold base remains central to Asda’s property strategy, we will consider suitable opportunities to unlock value from our property portfolio as part of our material programme of investment into the business.”

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