A spokesman for Home Consortium, a group of Rich List retailers led by former UBS Australia boss David Di Pillar, said the group has "a binding contract" with Woolworths to "deliver" shares in Hydrox Holdings, the vehicle which controls 61 Masters stores and 21 development sites.

It was "far-fetched" to suggest the deal was in any danger, he said. Woolworths has granted Home Consortium an exclusive call option over its two-thirds share in Hydrox.

Woolworths stated last week that the deal to sell the property portfolio was "subject to Lowe's consent".

Home Consortium, which agreed to buy the portfolio last week, includes the owners of Spotlight and Anaconda, Morry Fraid and Zac Fried and Chemist Warehouse chain owners Mario Verroccchio and Jack Gance. Other investors include Greg Hayes, Mary and Alex Shaw and UBS managing directors Robbie Vanderzeil and Matthew Grounds.

The large-format retail sector has been "in hiatus" during 2016 while the market awaited a resolution to Woolworths' troubled Masters situation which involved more than 700,000 square metres of space.

Retailers have been unwilling to commit to space while the fate of the Masters stores was unresolved. The stores are typically well located and very close to the Bunnings stores they were supposed to beat.

Meanwhile, Home Consortium had quietly lined up a string of retailers,  including those retail chains controlled by the investors, to lease space in the stores which typically measure between 13,000-and-15,000 square metres,

JB Hi-Fi, the Good Guys, Super Amart, BBQs Galore, Super Cheap Auto, as well as Woolworths, Dan Murphys and even Masters arch-competitor Bunnings have also signed up for space in the stores which will be vacant by the end of the year.

It is understood that there are ongoing negotiations with other retailers who operate in the large-format market.

Savills large format director Keith Kooloos said the missing name in the narrative has been Harvey Norman, the homewares and big box superstores that dominate Australia's retail landscape. Other potential tenants could include Fantastic Furniture and European-based sports retailer Decathlon which has recently entered the Australian market.

However, there are questions about how the large space will be redesigned, especially for smaller retailers.

Mr Kooloos said the stores largely cater for larger operators.

"If you try to carve that up into 1000 square metres you will create a cricket pitch or a bowling alley," Mr Kooloos said.

"You really need a minimum 2000 square metres to get a sensible frontage-to-depth ratio. It's really going to depend on how they chop them up," he said.

The whole sector had been "in hiatus" for months as retailers waited to see what would happen with the Masters portfolio.

"It will go back in hiatus again if this deal doesn't happen. There's obviously no single retailer who wants to take the space," he said.