Morrisons to sell shop freeholds

Morrisons plans to sell off stores as it seeks to shore up its balance sheet. Clayton Dubilier & Rice, which bought the supermarket in a highly-leveraged £7bn deal last year, is seeking to sell and lease back five Morrisons supermarkets in what is thought to be the first such deal to be sanctioned in the Bradford-based grocer’s 123-year history. BNP Paribas Real Estate is sounding out buyers for the stores, which will come with 20-year leases and rental uplifts linked to inflation. CD&R is seeking about £150m for the portfolio. The proposed deal comes off the back of plans to sell and lease back warehouses and food manufacturing sites for hundreds of millions of pounds. The Times (£)