Dive Brief:
- Ahold Delhaize’s U.S. division has inked a deal with Blackstone Credit & Insurance under which funds it manages will invest $475 million in the supermarket operator’s planned automated grocery distribution center in Burlington, North Carolina, according to a Tuesday announcement.
- Under the agreement, Blackstone will cover all of the in-scope construction costs for the facility and own the distribution center when it is completed. Ahold Delhaize USA will lease the center for an unspecified amount of time and retain the option to buy the site in the future under pre-agreed terms.
- The deal will allow Ahold Delhaize USA to preserve cash as it moves ahead with the 1 million-square-foot distribution center, which the company expects will cost $860 million to build.
Dive Insight:
Ahold Delhaize USA said its arrangement with Blackstone — which calls itself the largest private owner of warehouses in the world — is designed to align costs with the benefits the facility will offer over the long-term. The grocer did not indicate how long the lease will last, but said it will reduce risks associated with refinancing and permit it to “deploy capital efficiently to advance major infrastructure investments.”
Construction on the new center is set to begin in early 2026, and the facility is expected to start servicing stores in 2029. Ahold Delhaize USA plans to use the facility, which it announced in October 2025, to expand its ability to distribute fresh and frozen foods to supermarkets in North Carolina under its Food Lion banner.
The distribution center will employ technology and methods used at an automated site parent company Ahold Delhaize operates in the Netherlands, the Dutch company said when it announced its third-quarter financial results last November.
Ahold Delhaize USA plans to run the new facility through a triple net lease, a type of commercial real estate agreement under which a lessee typically pays for rent and utilities as well as insurance, maintenance, and taxes.
Triple net lease agreements generally allow lessees to pay less rent than other kinds of leases and tend to have longer timeframes, according to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute. They also appeal to investors because they come with fewer financial and management-related obligations.
The investment in the distribution center by Blackstone Credit & Insurance reflects that company’s “focus on partnering with leading investment grade corporations globally by providing flexible, low-cost capital through our credit and insurance platform,” Christopher Yonan, head of European infrastructure for Blackstone, said in a statement.
Over the past several years, Ahold Delhaize USA has transitioned to a self-run distribution system to supply its supermarkets, with distribution centers and other facilities located up and down the East Coast.
