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Why exactly does the Saudi Crown Prince
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own a Morrisons in Stockport?
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>> So, I've been spending the last few days
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looking into the sale and leaseback
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craze in the retail and hospitality
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sector. So, this is when companies that
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are a bit short on cash, or they've got
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debt that they need to pay, they start
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selling the land that they own, the
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buildings that they own, to private
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to try and free up some cash, and then
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they agree a leaseback arrangement where
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they pay a certain rental fee for a
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period of several years. This is
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something that Morrisons have done. So,
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they've sold several of their stores,
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and one of them is a joint venture
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between Blackstone and the sovereign
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wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. So, they
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own four Morrisons stores that they
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bought for 110 million pounds in 2023 in
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Harrogate, Newcastle, Modern, and
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Stockport, and they're now reaping the
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rewards of that. So, they collected last
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year a 4 million pound dividend from all
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the rents that they're collecting from
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these stores. So, next time you walk
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into a Morrisons, you may well find it's
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a Morrisons owned by the government of
