Simple Sale Leaseback Arbitrage Math

In an M&A transaction that includes a real estate component, the real estate is often undervalued. This is typically because sellers are valuing it based on an appraisal or price per square foot, rather than a cap rate or income-based approach. For example, if you’re acquiring a business at a 4x EBITDA multiple, that same EBITDA can often be attributed to rent and monetized through a sale-leaseback at a significantly higher multiple, often in the range of 10x to 12x. This effectively unlocks substantial capital that is otherwise tied up in non-earning corporate real estate. If you’re evaluating any deals with a real estate component, feel free to reach out. I’m happy to take a quick look and provide feedback on whether it could be a strong candidate for a sale-leaseback. Joel Cukier ###-###-#### redacted #saleleasebacks