Kennedy Wilson poised to close new Irish buy

US real estate investor Kennedy Wilson is set to finalise the acquisition of another Irish multi-family residential portfolio after signing a preliminary agreement in late October, PropertyEU has learned.

'We plan to issue an announcement later this week if the transaction goes as planned and closes but it is not final yet,' a company spokesperson said.

The deal would be the latest real estate operation to be negotiated in Europe by Kennedy Wilson since its entry into the market in 2011. Last year, the company completed the acquisition of a UK real estate loan portfolio from Bank of Ireland for $1.8 bn (EUR 1.3 bn). In August this year, the Beverly Hills, California-based investor acquired an Irish loan portfolio with an unpaid principal balance of EUR 361 mln together with its partner, the European Commercial Real Estate Group of Deutsche Bank.

'We invested $7.4 mln of our equity in the vehicle that acquired these assets,' William McMorrow, chairman and CEO of Kennedy Wilson, said during the presentation of the group's third-quarter earnings. In a statement, the company said it has acquired or entered into contracts to acquire $391.8 mln (EUR 306 mln) of real estate related investments since end-September. The acquisitions comprise 926 apartment units and six commercial properties.

PropertyEU reported last month that Kennedy Wilson had teamed up with US opportunity fund manager Varde Partners and DK Partners to launch a bid for a package of predominantly Irish loans being sold by Allied Irish Bank.