[[{“value”:”
U.S. sale-leaseback activity strengthened in 2025 as corporations increasingly turned to real estate to unlock capital, supported by improving mergers and acquisitions markets. SLB Capital Advisors, which focuses on sale-leasebacks and M&A-related real estate transactions, reported that overall transaction volumes picked up meaningfully in the second half of the year and pointed to growing momentum heading into 2026.
According to SLB Capital Advisors, the U.S. market recorded 714 discrete sale-leaseback transactions in 2025. That total represents a 3% increase from 2024 and marks the first time since 2022 that annual deal count surpassed 700. The advisory firm also reported that aggregate dollar volume rose 18% year-over-year to approximately $14,400,000,000.
Fourth-quarter 2025 performance was a notable contributor to the annual totals. SLB Capital Advisors cited approximately $4,710,000,000 in sale-leaseback volume during the final three months of the year alone, underscoring the acceleration in activity as broader corporate transaction markets improved. Managing Partner Scott Merkle said that activity “meaningfully accelerated” in the second half, indicating a stronger pipeline entering 2026.
Merkle linked the rebound in sale-leaseback transactions to a combination of factors, including the market’s adjustment to tariff-related headlines earlier in the year and a pickup in M&A deal flow after a slower first half. Historically, he noted, corporate M&A activity and sale-leaseback volume tend to move together as companies evaluate their owned real estate footprints in the wake of strategic transactions.
Beyond M&A-related deals, SLB Capital Advisors observed robust interest from corporations that already own their real estate and are using sale-leasebacks as a strategic financing tool. In these situations, companies sell assets to investors and simultaneously lease them back, converting illiquid real estate holdings into capital that can be redeployed elsewhere in the business while maintaining operational control of the properties.
An example highlighted by the firm is the sale-leaseback of Sotheby’s headquarters on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The transaction, which closed in the fourth quarter of 2025, totaled $510,000,000 and illustrates how high-profile corporate real estate assets are being used to raise capital. The Sotheby’s deal sits within a broader wave of activity across property types and corporate users, reflecting renewed appetite for this structure among both occupiers and capital providers.
SLB Capital Advisors’ data indicates that the sale-leaseback market has moved past a period of slower activity and is now entering 2026 with a stronger base of transactions and dollar volume. As companies continue to navigate tariff dynamics, capital allocation decisions and M&A integration, sale-leasebacks remain a flexible option for monetizing owned real estate while preserving continuity of occupancy.
The post U.S. Sale-Leaseback Volume Rebounds in 2025 as Transactions, Dollar Totals Climb appeared first on CRE Market Beat.
“}]]
