Poland’s sale-and-leaseback market could reach another record in 2026 after the value of transactions increased by approximately 15% year on year in the first half of the year.
The disclosed transaction volume amounted to around €380 million. After including an estimate for deals whose prices were not made public, the total rises to approximately €390 million, compared with €338.6 million in the corresponding period of 2025.
According to a report by UCE Research and INWI, the market was driven primarily by major logistics and retail transactions, including the sale of a property portfolio by Raben Group and eight Auchan shopping centres.
The report’s authors expect more transactions to be completed in the second half of 2026 than in the first, although individual deals are likely to be smaller.
Market becomes more diversified
The latest increase follows a record-breaking 2025, when the number of sale-and-leaseback transactions rose by an estimated 25–30% year on year.
The structure of the market has changed significantly, however. In 2025, the overall transaction value was heavily influenced by a single major deal involving the sale of two Eko-Okna factories for more than €250 million, equivalent to over PLN 1 billion.
In 2026, portfolio transactions and greater sectoral diversification have played a much more important role.
“In the first half of 2026, we observed an increase in investment volume of approximately €50 million, or PLN 220 million, representing growth of 15% year on year,” said Agnieszka Radkiewicz, a co-author of the report from INWI.
“Between January and the end of June, three transactions covering 16 properties were recorded. In the corresponding period of last year, there were five transactions involving 10 properties.”
She stressed that these estimates cover only publicly disclosed transactions. Some sale-and-leaseback agreements are not announced, meaning the actual size of the market may be larger.
Foreign investors increase their presence
The analysis is based on publicly available investment market data for the first six months of 2026 and the corresponding period of 2025.
The report also points to a broader group of foreign investors and a more diversified, multi-sector market. International capital is increasingly treating Poland as one of the most important sale-and-leaseback markets in Central and Eastern Europe.
“The main factors driving growth are companies’ increasing interest in releasing capital tied up in their real estate, the inflow of foreign capital and the standardisation of sale-and-leaseback structures,” Radkiewicz said.
“Standardisation lowers the entry barrier for more businesses considering this form of financing.”
Under a sale-and-leaseback transaction, a company sells a property to an investor and simultaneously signs a long-term lease allowing it to continue using the asset. The seller releases capital that can be used for investment, debt reduction, acquisitions or expansion without disrupting its operations.
Auchan shopping-centre portfolio sold for over €210 million
Analysts identified two particularly large transactions completed during the first half of 2026.
The largest involved the sale of eight Auchan shopping centres located in Białystok, Częstochowa, Gliwice, Legnica, Łomianki, Sosnowiec, Kołbaskowo and Wałbrzych.
The portfolio comprises approximately 208,000 square metres of leasable space and was independently valued at more than €210 million, equivalent to nearly PLN 900 million.
The transaction was structured as a sale and leaseback. Auchan remains the principal tenant under a 15-year lease with an extension option.
The new owner has announced plans to further develop the properties and attract additional tenants.
The deal demonstrated that sale-and-leaseback transactions have returned to the large-format retail market, while investor interest in retail parks has also remained strong.
For retail chains, this structure provides an opportunity to finance modernisation and expansion while continuing to operate the properties concerned.
Raben completes €169 million logistics deal
The second major transaction was the sale of Raben Group’s logistics portfolio for €169 million, or approximately PLN 720–725 million.
The portfolio has a combined area of more than 150,000 square metres. It includes four assets forming a logistics campus in Poznań, as well as four warehouse and cross-dock facilities in other locations across Poland.
The transaction was completed in two stages. Seven properties were transferred in January, while the final asset was sold in February.
The entire portfolio was leased back to Raben Group for 15 years under a triple-net arrangement.
Under this type of lease, the tenant typically bears most of the property-related operating costs, including taxes, insurance and maintenance, making the asset particularly attractive to investors seeking predictable long-term income.
The Raben deal is described in the report as a model example of a mission-critical transaction. The investor acquires properties that are essential to the tenant’s operations and are secured by a long lease and inflation-protected income.
The Auchan and Raben transactions had a combined value of approximately €380 million, or around PLN 1.6 billion.
For comparison, the entire Polish sale-and-leaseback market reached a record value of approximately PLN 3.5 billion in 2025. The two largest deals completed in the first half of 2026 therefore represented almost half of the previous year’s total volume.
Logistics leads the market
Logistics, warehousing and retail were the sectors making the greatest use of sale-and-leaseback structures during the first six months of 2026.
The warehouse sector was also the clear leader in Poland’s wider commercial property investment market. In the first quarter alone, it accounted for approximately 44% of completed investment volume.
After five months of the year, the value of warehouse transactions was estimated at more than €700 million, with the Raben portfolio contributing a significant share of this result.
Logistics properties are particularly well suited to sale-and-leaseback structures because warehouses and distribution centres are often critical to a company’s operations. They can also be covered by standardised, long-term triple-net leases.
Retail was the market’s second major pillar. In addition to large shopping centres, retail parks continued to attract strong investor demand.
Manufacturing no longer dominates the market
In the first half of 2025, the manufacturing sector dominated Poland’s sale-and-leaseback market because of the record Eko-Okna transaction.
In 2026, the centre of gravity shifted towards logistics and retail.
According to the report, this does not indicate weakening demand from manufacturing companies. Instead, it reflects the gradual normalisation and diversification of the market.
The sector is no longer dependent on a single industrial “megadeal”. Transaction volume is now spread more evenly across several parts of the economy.
This represents the main qualitative difference between 2025 and 2026: the market has moved from being built around one record transaction to having a broader and more balanced structure.
More transactions expected in the second half
The report’s authors expect the second half of 2026 to bring a larger number of transactions than the first six months, although their average value will probably be lower.
Most of the processes currently being prepared are medium-sized deals worth between several million and several dozen million euros. They involve individual properties and smaller portfolios rather than very large groups of assets.
Provided the current pace is maintained and the planned transactions are completed, the full-year market volume could exceed the 2025 record of approximately PLN 3.5 billion.
“Growth in the second half of the year will primarily be driven by logistics and warehousing, where investor demand for mission-critical assets remains the strongest, as well as by retail, particularly retail parks,” Radkiewicz said.
“We also expect manufacturing companies to return to the market, as sale and leaseback is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative to traditional bank financing.”
She added that the number of ongoing processes and the level of interest from international capital support this scenario.
“All indications are that Poland will strengthen its position as one of the most important sale-and-leaseback markets in the region,” Radkiewicz concluded.
