Blackstone has confirmed the acquisition of Blanchardstown Centre, Ireland's largest shopping centre and leisure scheme, in a transaction with an estimated value of €950 mln.
While Blackstone has not publically disclosed the purchase price, retail experts told PropertyEU that the centre was expected to sell for around €950 mln. Various media sources in Ireland reported in May that Blackstone, the New york-based private equity fund manager, was to be named as the preferred bidder by the centre owner, Green Property, within days.
Two other finalists in the bidding process were said to have been Chartered Land, owned by Irish developer Joe O'Reilly, and backed by equity from Morgan Stanley and Canadian pension fund investor CPPIB.
Back in January this year, PropertyEU reported that Green Property had appointed JLL and Eastdil Secured to seek around €1 bn for Blanchardstown Centre in west Dublin. The marketing process began in February.
Anthony Myers, head of European Real Estate at Blackstone, said: 'This is a further investment by us in Dublin and underlines our commitment to Ireland and belief in the strength of its economy.'
Blanchardstown Centre provides 112,000 m2 of space over 176 stores including 20 restaurants, two retail parks, a multiplex cinema and 6,000 surface car parking spaces. It generates €50 mln in rents a year. Multi Corporation, Blackstone’s pan-European retail platform, will manage the centre once the deal closes this summer, pending regulatory approvals.
The centre boasts an annual footfall in excess of 16 million. The site also has development capacity for an additional 148,500 m2 of retail, offices, leisure and 600 plus apartments, under a master development plan.
Detailed planning consent is already available for a net 25,300 m2 extension to the main centre including: a major store unit over three floors, 17 internal retail units; eight external retail/restaurant units and a food court over two storeys; and two underground levels of car spaces totalling 749 spaces.
The transaction is expected to close this summer pending relevant regulatory approvals.
Blackstone is on an investment roll. It recently raised €5.5 bn in the first closing for its new fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe V (BREP V). Blackstone is expected to grow the fund to above €7 bn, creating its largest-ever dedicated European real estate fund. It is expected to execute a slew of mega deals this year, given that its real estate arm had $31.2 bn (€27.97 bn) of ‘dry powder’ waiting to be invested at the end of the last quarter.
Blackstone had $101 bn of real estate AUM globally as of end-March 2016.
