The Polish sale-leaseback market may set another record in 2026. In the first half of this year, the transaction volume amounted to approximately EUR 380 million, and after estimating transactions with undisclosed prices – to approximately EUR 390 million, compared to EUR 338.6 million a year earlier. This is over EUR 50 million more than before, which means an increase of approximately 15% year-on-year. According to the report’s authors, the market during this period was primarily driven by large operations in the logistics and retail sectors, including the sale of the Raben Group portfolio and eight Auchan shopping centers. Experts from UCE RESEARCH and INWI predict that more transactions will be concluded in the second half of the year than in the first, although they will likely have a lower unit value.
As reported by experts from UCE RESEARCH and INWI, following a record-breaking 2025, in which the number of sale-leaseback transactions increased by 25-30% year-on-year, the first half of 2026 brought further growth in market value. Importantly, its nature has changed. Last year, the value result was largely based on one major transaction, i.e., the sale of two Eko-Okna factories for over EUR 250 million, or more than PLN 1 billion. In 2026, however, portfolio transactions and the sectoral diversity of the market gained greater importance.
In the first half of 2026, we observed an increase in investment volume of approximately EUR 50 million, i.e., PLN 220 million, which is 15% year-on-year. From January to the end of June this year, 3 transactions were recorded, covering 16 properties. For comparison, in the same period last year, 5 transactions and 10 properties were registered. At the same time, the estimates apply only to disclosed transactions. However, some sale-leaseback agreements are not made public, so the actual scale of the market may be even larger.
– says Agnieszka Radkiewicz, co-author of the report from INWI.
The published volume is approximately EUR 380 million, and after estimating transactions with undisclosed prices – approximately EUR 390 million, compared to EUR 338.6 million a year earlier. The above conclusions are based on publicly available investment market data for the six months of 2026 and the corresponding period of the previous year. Furthermore, it is already known that this year brings a broader base of foreign investors and a diversified multi-sector market. Foreign capital is increasingly treating Poland as one of the key Sale-Leaseback markets in Central and Eastern Europe.
The factors driving the observed growth are primarily the growing interest of companies in releasing capital from their own real estate, the inflow of foreign capital, and the standardization of Sale-Leaseback structures. This is what lowers the barrier to entry for subsequent companies.
– adds Agnieszka Radkiewicz.
Analysts from UCE RESEARCH point out that two particularly large transactions were finalized in the first half of this year. The highest value was the sale of eight Auchan shopping centers (Białystok, Częstochowa, Gliwice, Legnica, Łomianki, Sosnowiec, Kołbaskowo, Wałbrzych). The portfolio covered approximately 208,000 sqm of leasable area, valued independently at over EUR 210 million, or nearly PLN 900 million. The transaction was carried out in a Sale-Leaseback formula. Auchan remains the main tenant under a 15-year agreement with an extension option, and the new owner announces the development of the facilities and the acquisition of additional tenants.
The second record is the sale by the Raben Group of a logistics portfolio for EUR 169 million, or approximately PLN 720-725 million. The portfolio with a total area of over 150,000 sqm includes four assets forming a logistics campus in Poznań and four warehouse and cross-dock facilities in other locations in Poland. The portfolio with a total area of approximately 150,000 sqm includes a logistics campus of four assets in Poznań and four warehouse and cross-dock facilities in other locations in the country. The transaction was finalized in two tranches – seven properties in January, and the last one in February. The entire portfolio was leased to the Raben Group in a triple-net formula for 15 years.
– explains the expert from INWI.
The latter transaction is a model example of mission-critical. The investor buys assets that are key to the operator, secured by a long lease and income protected against inflation. Both of the largest transactions of the first half of the year had a total value of approximately EUR 380 million, or approximately PLN 1.6 billion. For comparison, the record-breaking full year 2025 closed with an amount of approximately PLN 3.5 billion. Just two transactions from the first half of the year therefore account for almost half of the record full-year volume of last year – estimates Agnieszka Radkiewicz.
The sectors of the economy that most intensively used sale-leaseback transactions in the first half of 2026 were logistics and warehousing, as well as retail. In the entire investment market, the warehouse sector was the clear leader of the half-year. Already in the first quarter of 2026, it accounted for the highest, approximately 44 percent share in the realized volume, and after five months its value was estimated at over EUR 700 million. A significant part of this result was built by the aforementioned Raben Group transaction. Logistics fits particularly well into the sale-leaseback model because warehouses and distribution centers are often mission-critical assets, and at the same time, it is relatively easy to cover them with a standardized, long-term triple-net agreement.
The second pillar of the market is retail. The sale of eight Auchan shopping centers in the discussed formula showed that sale-leaseback has returned to the large retail format, and at the same time, strong interest in retail parks has been maintained. For retail chains, Sale-Leaseback is a way to finance modernization and expansion while remaining the operator of the facility.
– analyzes Agnieszka Radkiewicz.
In the first half of 2025, it was the manufacturing sector – due to the record Eko-Okna transaction – that dominated the market and built its value record. In 2026, the weight shifted towards logistics and retail. This does not mean, however, a weakness of the manufacturing sector, but a gradual normalization and greater diversification of the market. – The dependence on one industrial “megadeal” has disappeared, and the volume has been distributed more evenly across several sectors. This is exactly the qualitative change that distinguishes 2026 from 2025 – a transition from a market built around one record transaction to a more diversified market – comments the co-author of the report.
According to the predictions of the report’s authors, the second half of 2026 should bring an even greater number of transactions than the first, although they will likely have a smaller unit value. Currently, primarily medium-sized processes are being prepared, with values ranging from a dozen to several dozen million euros, concerning individual facilities and smaller portfolios. With the current pace maintained and the announced processes finalized, the volume for the entire year may exceed the record result from 2025, which amounted to approximately PLN 3.5 billion.
Growth in the second half of the year will be driven primarily by logistics and warehousing, where investor demand for mission-critical assets remains the strongest, as well as retail, especially retail parks. We also expect the return of the manufacturing sector, for which sale-leaseback is becoming an attractive alternative to bank financing. The number of currently ongoing processes and the interest of foreign capital support such a scenario. Everything indicates, therefore, that Poland will strengthen its position as one of the most important Sale-Leaseback markets in the region
– concludes Agnieszka Radkiewicz.
Source: UCE GROUP LTD.