Cerberus Capital Management has sold Tenet Equity, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based real estate finance company, to CBRE's asset management arm for $1.6 billion, adding a 208-property portfolio spanning 39 states to the commercial real estate giant's holdings. The deal, announced Tuesday, gives CBRE Investment Management an instant foothold in the net-lease sector through a company Cerberus founded just five years ago.
Cerberus said it sold Tenet Equity to CBRE Investment Management, according to Reuters, which reported the transaction from Bengaluru. The acquired portfolio spans roughly 12 million square feet across those 39 states and 26 industries, leased to more than 65 middle-market tenants with a weighted average lease term of 16.7 years, according to PERE. CBRE's shares rose 1.2% after the bell following the announcement, per the same Reuters report.
A New Net-Lease Platform Takes Shape
Following the acquisition, CBRE Investment Management announced plans to launch a dedicated net-lease investment platform, to be headed by senior portfolio manager Akash Shivashankara, PERE reported. CBRE Investment Management Co-CEO and Chief Investment Officer Adam Gallistel said entering the net-lease market provides durable, inflation-protected income with long lease terms and low capital requirements that few other real estate sectors can match, per the outlet's account of the deal.
CBRE Investment Management operates as an independently managed affiliate of CBRE Group, Inc. and oversaw $155.2 billion in global real assets under management as of March 31, according to CBRE Investment Management. Tenet Equity's 208 properties and roughly $1.6 billion valuation now slot into that considerably larger asset base.
Five Years From Founding to Sale
Cerberus founded Tenet Equity in 2021 alongside Executive Partners Nicholas Eggert, who serves as Chief Executive Officer, and Andrew Gallagher, Chief Investment Officer, with former STORE Capital CEO Christopher H. Volk serving as Board Chairman, according to a release carried by PR Newswire. New York-headquartered Cerberus manages approximately $72 billion in assets across corporate credit, private equity, and real estate strategies as of September, per the same release.
Tenet Equity provides real estate-backed funding to middle-market companies and private equity firms across the United States, structuring 100% real estate financing through triple net leases and sale-leasebacks, according to Tenet Equity. That structure lets businesses monetize mission-critical assets without equity dilution or restrictive debt covenants, the company notes. Truist Securities acted as financial advisor to CBRE Investment Management, while Evercore served as exclusive financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel to Cerberus on the sale.
Part Of A Broader Sale-Leaseback Wave
The Tenet Equity deal follows another major institutional net-lease transaction just weeks earlier, when Goldman Sachs agreed in August to acquire sale-leaseback specialist LCN Capital Partners for up to $410 million, according to Banking Dive. Companies increasingly use sale-leasebacks to raise capital amid higher borrowing costs, per Reuters, and investors favor long-term leased properties for the steady income they generate.
That dynamic has already played out at the local level. Hoodline reported in April that Castle Rock's magnet-maker flipped its factory through a sale-leaseback while staying on as tenant, and in June that iHeartMedia put its Stone Oak headquarters on the market in a similar CBRE-listed format. Whether tighter credit conditions keep pushing more middle-market businesses toward these deals — and whether large asset managers can maintain underwriting discipline while rapidly scaling new net-lease units — remains an open question for the sector heading into the rest of 2026.
