FINANCE: Irish residential specialist IRES REIT has agreed a pipeline facility with its 20.8% shareholder CAPREIT after having deployed all of the capital raised in its IPO.
Under the agreement, North American multi-family investor CAPREIT will make facilities of up to €150m available to IRES REIT for further acquisitions.
IRES REIT has invested all of the €192m raised in its April IPO, plus €125m of a €130m credit facility. The REIT’s gearing, at 47.1% LTV, is now nearing the maximum levels permitted under Irish REIT legislation.
The first proposed acquisition under the agreement is the €88.9m Rockbrook Portfolio, a Nama package of 270 Irish flats and 48,000 sq ft of mixed commercial space.
An analyst note from Investec this morning said the agreement was welcome, as it allowed IRES REIT to overcome “near-term balance sheet constraints and sanction further investments at a time when prices are rising steadily and many attractive residential assets are being offered for sale”. The bank has re-affirmed its “buy” rating of IRES REIT shares.
