Banks Notched $119M in Branch Sale-Leasebacks in 2023
Bank of the Sierra sells 13 central California branches to Blue Owl.
High interest rates turbocharged sale-leaseback deals of STNL assets in 2023, with bank branches completing their highest volume of sale leasebacks in seven years.
With two transactions encompassing nearly $20M coming in at the end of the year, the total volume for sale-leasebacks of bank branches was $119M, according to CoStar data.
Bank of the Sierra, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sierra Bancorp, entered into two agreements at the end of last month for the sale and leaseback of 13 branches across central California.
Bank of the Sierra is selling the branches to an affiliate of Blue Owl Real Estate Capital for $19.9M, according to an SEC filing. The bank is not closing any of the branches and will continue to operate them under new long-term leases.
Bank of the Sierra will lease each of the branch properties for 18 years, with additional renewal options. According to the filing, the aggregate first full year of rent expense will total $1.7M, with annual rent bumps of 2.25%. The transaction resulted in proceeds to the bank in excess of $14.3M.
A big swing to digital banking during the pandemic accelerated what became known as the “Great Consolidation” in bank branches nationwide. The consolidation peaked in 2021, when 2,700 bank outlets were shuttered across the country, and then ebbed in H2 2022.
In 2023, several banks embarked on expansions aimed at enlarging their footprints in the Southeastern U.S.
In November, Indiana-based First Financial announced it was buying Tennessee-based SimplyBank in a $73M cash transaction. SimplyBank, with $702M in assets, has 10 Tennessee branches and three Georgia.
The acquisition expands First Financial’s footprint into Georgia for the first time and doubled its footprint in Tennessee, where it has nine branches.
The Indiana bank, which has nearly $5.5B in assets, first entered the Volunteer State in 2019 when it acquired HopFed Bancorp, headquartered in neighboring Kentucky.
Bank of America is expanding in Louisville, KY, Birmingham, AL and Huntsville, AL, with five new branches expected to open in Louisville and one in Birmingham in 2024. BOA also plans to open four additional branches in Birmingham by 2026.
TD Bank announced last year it would target South Florida, North Carolina and Atlanta in an expansion of its branch network planned through 2027.