Case Study: Columbia River Partners Unlocks Acquisition Capital Through Sale Leaseback

Ascension Advisory successfully arranged the sale leaseback of a three-property industrial manufacturing portfolio on behalf of Columbia River Partners in connection with its acquisition of CoreLinc, a strategic add-on to CRP’s TiniFiber platform.
 
The transaction closed simultaneously with Columbia River Partners’ acquisition of the operating business, providing a streamlined real estate capital solution that supported the broader corporate acquisition and helped facilitate the integration of CoreLinc into TiniFiber’s fiber optic manufacturing platform. The real estate portfolio was acquired by an institutional real estate investor and is leased on a long-term absolute triple-net basis.
 
Solution

Columbia River Partners sought to monetize the real estate associated with its acquisition of CoreLinc while preserving long-term operational control of facilities that are central to the acquired company’s manufacturing platform and strategically complementary to TiniFiber.
 
CoreLinc represents a strategic add-on to CRP’s TiniFiber platform, expanding manufacturing depth, fiber jumper and patch cord assembly capabilities, connectorization, kitting, logistics, and supply chain control. The acquisition enhances TiniFiber’s ability to offer an integrated production solution across armored cable manufacturing and termination.
 
The real estate transaction also provided additional liquidity to the seller at closing, enabling CRP to present a more comprehensive acquisition solution. By pairing the business acquisition with a simultaneous sale leaseback, CRP was able to offer a structure that enhanced certainty of execution and made its proposal more attractive in a competitive process.
 
Outcome

The transaction closed efficiently with an institutional real estate investor and was completed concurrently with Columbia River Partners’ acquisition of CoreLinc as a strategic add-on to its TiniFiber platform.
 
The sale leaseback delivered an attractive real estate capital solution for Columbia River Partners, while also providing incremental liquidity to the seller in connection with the business sale. This simultaneous structure helped strengthen CRP’s acquisition proposal by offering the seller a coordinated solution for both the operating company and its owned real estate.
 
CoreLinc maintained uninterrupted use of its operationally critical facilities under a long-term absolute triple-net lease, while the buyer acquired a diversified industrial manufacturing portfolio leased to a strategic operating platform in the fiber optic connectivity sector.
 
About the Business

CoreLinc is a U.S.-based contract manufacturer specializing in fiber optic cable assembly, component manufacturing, procurement, kitting, engineering support, and logistics management. Columbia River Partners acquired CoreLinc as a strategic add-on to its TiniFiber platform, enhancing the combined company’s manufacturing capabilities, vertical integration, and production efficiency.
 
TiniFiber is a manufacturer of high-performance fiber optic cables and assemblies serving telecommunications, enterprise, broadband, wireless, and data center applications. The combined platform benefits from CoreLinc’s contract manufacturing infrastructure and exposure to long-term demand drivers across fiber connectivity, broadband infrastructure, 5G network densification, and data center growth.