That's not really comparable at all.

Most retailers, banks, and companies realized that owning realestate is not part of their core competency. Canadian tire rolled their realestate into a REIT and then rents the locations back.

There's no double dealing or anything nefarious about it. Heck there is a huge company called Brookfield that has made a living out of buying commercial realestate from companies and renting it back to them while spining the realestate out into a REIT.

That's just smart business for the company who gets money upfront and a stable knowing rental price.