Qualceram Shires plans to raise €29.6 million from the sale and leaseback of six properties in Britain and Ireland which it will use to pay down its debt.

The properties are being sold to subsidiaries of a real estate investment trust established and managed by WP Carey & Co, a US-based commercial property investment banking group.

Qualceram will then lease each of the properties back from the purchaser. Each lease will be for a 25-year term and the total annual rent charge in the first year of the leases will be around €2.8 million.

This will replace annual depreciation charges in relation to the properties of around €0.5 million and the interest payable on the company's medium-term debt of around €2.8 million.

On the anniversary of each lease, the bathroom manufacturer has the right to repurchase each property at either the market value at the time of exercise or the amount paid for the property plus a predetermined percentage, whichever is the higher.

The sale and leaseback, which will realise an estimated profit of €2.5 million after expenses for Qualceram, is conditional on shareholder approval because of the size of the transaction. Assuming it goes ahead, Qualceram expects to complete the transaction by April 16th.

"The transaction will assist in the future growth and development of Qualceram Shires," chief executive Mr John O'Loughlin said.

The properties being sold are all production and warehouse facilities. They include a premises at Broomhill in Dublin and another in Belfast.

Four British properties are being sold, at Bradford in west Yorkshire, at Darwen in Lancashire, at Rochdale in Greater Manchester and at Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire.

The company will retain ownership of sites at the Ballymount Industrial Estate in Dublin as well as its main manufacturing facility in Arklow.