Raising capital from corporate real estate

As a result of a gradually improving macroeconomic backdrop in 2025, overall EMEA investment volumes rose to €217bn in 2025, representing a 15% year-on-year increase. The following key insights demonstrate the optimistic tone for 2026 and beyond:

Sale-and-leaseback structures remained a preferred execution route, enabling corporates to unlock capital while retaining operational control of mission‑critical assets, particularly across industrial, logistics, and retail portfolios.

Disposals were driven more by strategic capital allocation than expansion, with proceeds redirected towards debt reduction, core business investment, and funding capex for sustainability initiatives and asset improvements.

Investor appetite remained selective but improving, focused on assets with strong covenant strength and long income profiles, supporting transactional recovery despite volumes remaining below long-term averages and previous peak-cycle levels.

Deal growth in 2025 was driven primarily by smaller and mid-sized transactions, indicating a cautious return of buyers and sellers rather than a resurgence of large portfolio or trophy deals.

Capital allocation to long-income and net-lease products has risen notably, attracting new investors, especially from the US market. Corporates are increasingly utilizing asset disposals to raise capital, supported by growing transaction volumes and expanded investor participation across a wider spectrum of capital sources.

In terms of sectors, industrial and healthcare are expected to maintain and improve market share, underpinned by resilient demand and corporate requirements for investment into manufacturing and innovation facilities. The office sector is anticipated to gradually recover, moving closer to historic allocation levels as occupiers adapt to changing workplace needs.