Realty Income Corp. Buys $500M in UK Assets

The San Diego-based company closes on 12 properties in the UK under long-term net lease agreements with Sainsbury's.

San Diego

San Diego-based Realty Income Corp. has closed on 12 properties in the US under long-term net lease agreements with Sainsbury’s in a sale-leaseback transaction. The transaction totaled £429 million or approximately $545 million.

This is Realty Income’s first international deal. The sale-leaseback closed at a 5.35% cap rate initially, but includes rent increases for the duration of the 15-year lease term. The company funded the transaction with proceeds from the private placement of £315 million of senior unsecured notes due 2034 with a fixed interest rate of 2.73%.

The company will hedge the net cash flow through a 15-year currency swap to mitigate exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency.