Whiting: Yes. Recently, the cost of borrowing for many businesses has increased as the spread on unsecured bonds went from 400bps over Libor in February 2015 to 800bps in early 2016, according to CapIQ.

This increase in borrowing costs is particularly relevant for private equity-backed and sub-investment grade companies, which often use or have more leverage. These are the types of tenants that Angelo, Gordon specializes in.

When traditional financing is not available, private equity firms will often seek alternative forms of financing, such as a sale-leaseback. Sale-leaseback financing continues to remain attractive to companies that want to unlock the capital embedded in their real estate.

GlobeSt.com: Can you offer any recent examples of companies that are doing this and offer some insights into the deals?

Whiting: In November 2014, private equity firm American Infrastructure MLP Funds acquired a cold storage operator in Nashville. As part of the acquisition, instead of contributing additional equity or using incremental debt, American Infrastructure MLP Funds decided to sell and leaseback the real estate. This was a win-win as the private equity firm found a more efficient capital structure for the acquisition and Angelo, Gordon acquired a critical group property under a long-term triple net lease with a solid business.

GlobeSt.com: What are the challenges of executing an SLB and entering a net lease agreement? And how can buyers overcome those obstacles?

Whiting: The challenges can sometimes be in the actual papering of the agreement. While the parties may agree on the financial terms of a deal, at the end of the day, these are very long term contracts with a number of detailed provisions that need to work for all parties. Experienced counsel can really help this process.

ATLANTA—Although sale leasebacks aren't right for every company, activity has been rising since 2010. In fact, SLB activity jumped from more than $4 billion in 2012 to $12 billion the following year, according to Stan Johnson Co.

Transactions dipped to $10 billion in 2014 but the firm estimated sales would hit $12 billion again in 2015. Industry watchers say SLB-to-net lease deals can be challenging but they expect to see more corporations leverage this financing model to extend their financial power in 2016.

GlobeSt.com caught up with Gordon Whiting , managing director of privately-held investment advisor Angelo, Gordon & Co. and the founder and portfolio manager of the firm's net lease real estate strategy, to get his perspective on the state of the sale-leaseback trend in the net lease industry. He told us he's seeing a boost.

GlobeSt.com: Are you seeing more sale-leasebacks in the net lease industry?

Whiting: Yes. Recently, the cost of borrowing for many businesses has increased as the spread on unsecured bonds went from 400bps over Libor in February 2015 to 800bps in early 2016, according to CapIQ.

This increase in borrowing costs is particularly relevant for private equity-backed and sub-investment grade companies, which often use or have more leverage. These are the types of tenants that Angelo, Gordon specializes in.

When traditional financing is not available, private equity firms will often seek alternative forms of financing, such as a sale-leaseback. Sale-leaseback financing continues to remain attractive to companies that want to unlock the capital embedded in their real estate.

GlobeSt.com: Can you offer any recent examples of companies that are doing this and offer some insights into the deals?

Whiting: In November 2014, private equity firm American Infrastructure MLP Funds acquired a cold storage operator in Nashville. As part of the acquisition, instead of contributing additional equity or using incremental debt, American Infrastructure MLP Funds decided to sell and leaseback the real estate. This was a win-win as the private equity firm found a more efficient capital structure for the acquisition and Angelo, Gordon acquired a critical group property under a long-term triple net lease with a solid business.

GlobeSt.com: What are the challenges of executing an SLB and entering a net lease agreement? And how can buyers overcome those obstacles?

Whiting: The challenges can sometimes be in the actual papering of the agreement. While the parties may agree on the financial terms of a deal, at the end of the day, these are very long term contracts with a number of detailed provisions that need to work for all parties. Experienced counsel can really help this process.