10 / 50
Irish Funds and REITS such as Irish
Life, IPUT, Green REIT, Hibernian
REIT and Hines/HAIL were the
principal buyers for most of the
year, but with the rapid recovery of
the Irish economy, overseas funds
and private equity were more active
towards the latter part of 2014, with
US private equity funds acquiring
property loans at substantial
discounts from par value.
Funds such as Standard Life
and Credit Suisse have recently
acquired office investments in
Dublin, and German Institutions
such as Union Investment, Deka
and Realis have also been active
in the market. These investors are
unlikely to stray too far from Dublin,
and as a result more regional
investments continue to attract
value added and opportunist funds
such as Marathon and Varde, which
are seeking higher returns for
potentially higher risks.
In the face of strong rental growth,
supply and demand issues and
falling returns, office yields have
moved in significantly over the past
12 months.
10
Retail Therapy
| 2015
IRISH RETAIL
INVESTMENT
MARKET OPENS UP
With foreign
investment now
pouring in, the Irish
retail investment
market is no longer a
closed shop and will
become more liquid
and transparent in the
coming years.
Ireland