Knight Frank Advises Sale of Strategic Industrial Acquisition in Ternat to SmartUnit

Deal Overview

Knight Frank Belgium is proud to have advised the seller, a major international industrial occupier, on a significant year end transaction involving a long term sale-and-leaseback of four industrial buildings in the Ternat industrial zone. This transaction supports SmartUnit’s continued expansion within Belgium’s light warehousing real estate market while enabling the occupier to secure long term operational continuity across its sites.

The assets represent 30,911 sq m on nearly 6 hectares across four locations on Industrielaan and Handelstraat. Under the sale and lease back structure, the occupier will remain in place on a long‑term basis.

This transaction reflects SmartUnit’s commitment to high‑quality light warehousing and production assets and highlights Knight Frank Belgium’s capability to guide clients through complex disposals and acquisitions.

The Challenge

The transaction required precise coordination under tight year‑end deadlines, combined with the need to align multiple parties with differing operational priorities.

The Ternat transaction demanded a carefully structured sale-and-leaseback solution that balanced SmartUnit’s investment objectives with the long‑term requirements of the occupier.

Successful execution depended on seamless communication between all stakeholders, led by our local experts in Belgium and the wider Knight Frank international network.

Value Delivered

Knight Frank Belgium leveraged the firm’s extensive global platform to deliver an optimal outcome for the occupier and SmartUnit. Our capital markets teams collaborated closely, ensuring that the client benefitted from cross‑border insight, a broad investor perspective and access to senior stakeholders within international occupier organisations.

Our advisory role covered strategic positioning, valuation guidance, negotiation support and risk assessment. The result is a structured a sale-and-leaseback that provided SmartUnit with secure income while enabling the occupier to maintain operational continuity across its production and distribution activities.

Client Impact

Through this transaction, SmartUnit strengthens its footprint in a key industrial hub with outstanding multimodal access, while securing long‑term tenant stability. Knight Frank’s integrated service model ensured consistent guidance throughout, supporting the client’s strategy and reinforcing confidence in new acquisition opportunities across Belgium.

The Knight Frank view

Filip Derijck, Managing Director of Knight Frank Belgium: “This deal illustrates the value of Knight Frank’s blend of local specialisation and global reach. By combining Belgian market knowledge with international collaboration, together with our Cross-Border Capital Markets team in London, led by Richard Laird, Knight Frank is uniquely positioned to support investors targeting strategic light warehousing and production assets. The successful completion of the Ternat transaction highlights the firm’s ability to execute complex mandates, provide cross‑border insights and serve as a trusted long‑term partner to institutional investors.”