ICG Real Estate (ICGRE) has agreed to acquire a portfolio of 24 newly developed grocery stores from Lidl in a sale-and-leaseback transaction valued at €203.5 million, approximately £180 million. The acquisition, made through ICGRE’s Strategic Real Estate II Fund, spans 17 properties in the UK, four in Ireland, and three in Spain, totalling around 50,000 square metres. Each asset will be leased back to Lidl on a long-term, triple-net basis, ensuring stable income for ICGRE while allowing Lidl to retain operational control of the stores.

The deal enables Lidl to release capital from its real estate holdings and reinvest into its core business and rapid expansion plans. The stores within the portfolio are either newly completed or approaching the final stages of construction, and ICGRE has committed to acquire each asset as it is delivered through July 2026. This agreement marks a shift from Lidl’s traditional build-and-own approach, providing the retailer with greater flexibility to accelerate its store rollout.

For ICGRE, the acquisition strengthens its portfolio of essential retail properties and aligns with its strategy of investing in resilient, income-generating assets backed by strong operators. The long-term leasing structure offers predictable cash flows supported by one of the grocery sector’s most established global brands.

This transaction forms part of Lidl’s broader plan to expand its UK estate to 1,500 stores and reflects a growing trend among European grocery retailers to utilise sale-and-leaseback agreements to support their expansion. Lidl, the world’s third-largest grocer by revenue with more than 12,000 outlets worldwide, continues to attract institutional investors due to its scale and financial strength.

Investor appetite for the European grocery sector remains strong, with essential retail assets viewed as stable and defensive in varying market conditions. The agreement between ICGRE and Lidl represents one of the retailer’s most significant recent sale-and-leaseback deals and highlights the increasing collaboration between grocery operators and institutional property investors across Europe.