JLL advises on $467M sale-leaseback portfolio of SouthState Corporation retail bank branches

CHICAGO, Feb. 28, 2025 –  JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has arranged the $467 million sale and leaseback of 165 retail bank branches across six southeastern states (the “Portfolio”), occupied by the SouthState Bank, N.A. (“SouthState”).

JLL worked on behalf of the seller, SouthState.

The Portfolio spans 1,183,816 square feet across Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. This strategic acquisition includes a 15-year, absolute NNN leaseback agreement with SouthState, featuring 2.00% annual rent increases.

The Portfolio offers a diverse mix of banking locations, providing Blue Owl’s Real Assets platform with a robust presence across key markets in the Southeast.  SouthState will continue to operate branches at each of the locations with no changes to its products or service offerings.  

JLL’s Corporate Capital Markets and Net Lease team represented the seller and was led by Senior Managing Directors Alex Sharrin, Coler Yoakam and Brian Shanfeld, Senior Director Jeffrey Cicurel, Director Josh Katlin and Associate Michael Roberts. Senior Managing Director Josh Hirsch and Andrew Weir also advised.

"Sale-leaseback transactions continue to create accretive balance sheet and capital optimization strategies for many financial institutions, including SouthState," commented Sharrin. "The ability to free up unrealized capital on the balance sheet by means of a sale-leaseback provides financial institutions with increased optionality.”

“We are pleased to work with JLL and Blue Owl on this capital accretive transaction”, said John Corbett, SouthState CEO. “This structure unlocks significant unrealized capital on our balance sheet, further enhancing our balance sheet strength and optionality, while the long-term leases solidify our commitment to our branch footprint across all geographies." 

“Blue Owl’s Real Assets platform is excited to partner with SouthState and JLL on this sale-leaseback transaction. Sale-leasebacks continue to be an effective tool for financial institutions to unlock capital from owned real estate which can be reinvested back into the business,” added Sean Sullivan, Managing Director at Blue Owl.

Jared Sheiker, Chief of Staff, Real Assets at Blue Owl said, “We think this sale-leaseback represents a fantastic outcome for both SouthState and Blue Owl and we look forward to a long-term relationship going forward.”

The sale of the SouthState portfolio underscores the strength of the net lease market and the appeal of banking real estate as a stable, long-term investment.

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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