The new group is led by Executive Managing Director Daniel Rice and Managing Director Andy Begal. The Rice/Begal team has successfully completed over $1.2 billion in retail and restaurant sale/ leasebacks including the Shopko-Pamida transaction for $815 million.

Begal tells GlobeSt. that the firm is currently in the process of finalizing fund raising details, but that Velocity Retail Group will build on its existing relationships with retailers and private equity firms to search out acquisition opportunities. "We have a lot of experience talking directly with companies rather than waiting for properties to go on the market," he says, indicating this is a main differentiator from other sale-leaseback investors.

Velocity Retail will make acquisitions with funds raised from both high-net worth individuals and institutional equity, Begal says. In particular, the firm's sale-leaseback group will be interested in providing solutions for big box retailers, grocery chains, drug stores and restaurants.

"The sale-leaseback platform allows us to expand our offerings and to be a resource for our existing and future customers," says Dave Cheatham, principal of Velocity Retail Group. He tells GlobeSt. that he talked with Rice and Begal for more than nine months to nail down the details of the new sale-leaseback group. He expects the new venture to focus on larger portfolios rather than one-off transactions.