Tristan opp fund acquires Northern Irish mall for €70m

Tristan Capital Partners' Episo 4 opportunity fund has acquired the Bloomfield shopping centre in the Northern Irish town of Bangor for £54.5 mln (€70 mln).

Episo 4 purchased the 38,750 m2 centre, a legacy of the recession and the 2008 property crash, in a receivership sale handled by Ulster Bank.

Operating partner Ellandi is taking a minority stake in the investment alongside Tristan.

This is Tristan's second shopping centre purchase in Northern Ireland and follows the acquisition of Erneside shopping centre in the town of Enniskillen less than a year ago.

'It’s a market that we like because of the attractive pricing of retail assets relative to the rest of the UK,' commented Peter Mather, managing director UK & Ireland at Tristan Capital Partners.

Bloomfield opened in 1992 and was refurbished and extended in 2001 and 2002 respectively to accommodate anchor tenants Marks & Spencer and Tesco. The centre is 97% occupied and other major tenants include H&M, Boots, Laura Ashley, Mothercare, Pets at Home and DW Sports. Net is also scheduled to open a store there in coming months. The scheme offers parking space for almost 2,000 vehicles.

'This centre has a strong trading position in the catchment area, little vacancy, and offers a number of interesting opportunities to add value,' Mather said.

Tristan was advised by law firm Pinsent Masons.