Overview
- Blue Owl Capital is buying ten stores and the Lutterworth, Leicestershire depot, a Blue Owl–Supermarket Income REIT joint venture is taking another ten stores, and DTZ Investors is acquiring four.
- Asda says all locations will keep trading as normal with no changes for employees, and each property carries an initial 25-year lease with a 10-year extension option.
- FT-cited reports say the cash will be used to repay a debt owed to former owner Walmart that accrues payment-in-kind interest, rather than to reduce broader borrowings or fund investment.
- Union GMB condemned the move as asset stripping, and analysts warned that higher lease liabilities could weigh on credit quality as Asda works through a heavy debt load.
- Asda, which reported £3.8bn net debt at end-2024, will give a third-quarter trading update next week, and identified DTZ’s four sites as Small Heath, Colindale, Coventry Abbey Park and Killingbeck.