A leaseback is an arrangement in which the company that sells an asset can lease back that same asset from the purchaser. With a leaseback—also called a sale-leaseback—the details of the arrangement, such as the lease payments and lease duration, are made immediately after the sale of the asset. In a sale-leaseback transaction, the seller of the asset becomes the lessee, and the purchaser becomes the lessor.
A sale-leaseback enables a company to sell an asset to raise capital, then lets the company lease that asset back from the purchaser. In this way, a company can get both the cash and the asset it needs to operate its business.