Morrisons has sold the ground leases on 76 of its supermarkets as part of a move to raise £331m to cut its debt.

The supermarket chain expects to complete the ground rent financing transaction on 2 October, subject to closing conditions.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Morrisons confirmed that the 76 properties will be trans outside of the group and leased back. The entities leasing back the the properties will fund their acquisition using third party financing.

The properties will remain under the control of Morrisons’ ultimate parent company, Market Topco Limited.

The Guardian reported that should all the proceeds go towards paying down debt, Morrisons would have net debt of £3.6bn – down from £8.6bn at the end of last year.

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