Eagle Street Partners is being described by UK and Ireland real estate professionals as a firm to watch as it continues to strike eye-catching transactions.
The company was only set up in December 2020 by Justin Bickle and Shane Scully.
On Wednesday, it revealed the latest deal – a €340 mln joint venture acquisition with Harrison Street of 554 units at a residential site at East Road in Dublin’s North Docklands, with debt provided by Apollo Global Management. Law firm Kirkland & Ellis advised on the transaction along with Eversheds Sutherland.
The acquisition is clearly part of a bigger plan. Last year, Eagle Street bought an adjacent residential site at Castleforbes Business Park. That deal was struck with Nuveen Real Estate, and Hesta, the Health Employees Superannuation Trust Australia. The firm will now deliver 1,256 residential units as it consolidates holdings in the area.
This is just the latest in a string of deals made by Eagle Street as it notches up €650 mln of committed equity to transactions since setting up two and a half years ago.
It has offices in Jersey, Dublin, London, and Luxembourg and is primarily focussed on the UK and Ireland plus other select markets. It is backed by an institutional investor and can play in different sectors, being commercial property, residential, hospitality, and life sciences.
The company has dedicated operating platforms such as Resident Space. The first acquisition for Resident Space was the JV acquisition of Castleforbes undertaken with Nuveen and Hesta.
High flying
Bickle has an interesting history that suggests he is slightly unusual as a founder, executive chairman and CIO of a pan European real estate and asset management business.
For one thing, he is vice chairman of Nordic Aviation Capital, the world’s largest regional jets and turboprop aircraft leasing company.
He started out his career as a lawyer, working in the restructuring group at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. He even taught debt restructuring at the London Business School and is a former chairman of the English National Ballet.
But he has had plenty of real estate investment experience, much acquired during his 12 years at Oaktree Capital Management, the US alternative asset manager and private equity firm. There, he was MD of the firm’s European Principal Group.
While at Oaktree, those that know him say he was involved in many real estate debt deals in Europe, and was instrumental in the formation of Oaktree's Knightsbridge Student Housing, which was eventually sold to GIC in 2016, and Kadans Science Partner, sold by Oaktree to Axa Investment Managers in 2020.
When he left Oaktree, he created and floated housebuilder, Glenveagh Properties plc, backed by Oaktree. It listed on the Euronext Dublin stock exchange and the London Stock Exchange. Oaktree has since sold down its shares in the company.
He first became involved in Irish property in 2010 when Goldman Sachs called him at Oaktree to look at rescuing McInerney Homes. Oaktree did not invest ulitmately, but the firm did however build a real estate network in Ireland, buying land in the process.
That land formation led to the creationm of Glenveagh. Bickle was CEO, while the executive chairman was John Mulcahy, a former senior executive at Irish bad bank, NAMA. In its first two years, it built and sold 1,119 homes, 16% above stated targets at the time of IPO.
Eagle Street's co-founder Scully was also at Glenveagh. He began his career at JLL before spending 12 years at Bennett Property Limited sourcing developments in Ireland and the UK. He then joined Bickle at Glenveagh in 2017 as chief development officer. The company is still operating.
Since being established at the end of 2020, Eagle Street has made a series of acquisitions. For example, it has acquired Eusasia House in Maidenhead, Cobalt Business Park in Newcastle, Hertz House in Uxbridge, London, and 310 Vincent Street in Glasgow, among others. But its JV with Harrison Street appears to be highest profile to date.
Spies say Bickle is a frequent member at the Arts Club in London's Dover Street from where he can be seen furthering business.
Real estaste professionals suggest there will be much more to come.
