US-based investment firm Strategic Value Partners (SVP) confirmed on Monday it has agreed to buy the Blanchardstown Centre on behalf of funds it manages.
It emerged on August that SVP had struck a deal to buy the retail complex, covering 1.2 million square feet and housing over 180 shops and restaurants, from Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs in a deal worth about €600 million to mark its first asset purchase in the Republic.
The Greenwich, Connecticut-headquartered firm said it plans to make significant investments in centre, including enhancements to its food and beverage offerings. SVP will work closely with Fingal County Council, existing tenants, and the centre’s asset manager, Falcon Asset Management, “to elevate the centre’s appeal and strengthen its position as a premier retail destination for visitors and tenants alike”.
The deal would mark a third change of control over the complex, off the M50 motorway in west Dublin, in less than a decade.
US private equity giant Blackstone spent €950 million buying Blanchardstown Centre from its developer, Green Property Group in 2016.
Goldman Sachs, among the financial backers of Blackstone’s investment, took control of the State’s largest mall at the onset of the pandemic in 2020 by swapping debt for equity as rental income fell sharply, driven by the liquidation of Debenhams, a former anchor tenant. That deal valued the centre at €750 million.
The investment bank put it back on the market last year with a guide price at the time of €650 million-€725 million.
Confirmation of the deal comes less than two months after Eagle Street Partners, the property asset manager founded by two former senior Glenveagh Properties executives, acquired The Square in Tallaght for about €130 million. Receivers had been appointed by lenders AIB in May. Eagle Street partnered with Arrow Capital on the acquisition.
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