IPUT is in advanced talks to buy Harcourt Life Assurance Company’s 70.8% stake in Riverside 1 in Dublin for more than €80m (£56.5m), well above the €75m asking price.
Located on the River Liffey and close to Facebook’s Irish office, the seven-storey, 110,000 sq ft building is one of Dublin’s prize assets.
The building is let in its entirety to law firm McCann FitzGerald with 16 years left on the company’s lease.
The Scott Tallon Walker-designed office was built specifically for the law firm and completed in 2006.
The firm is paying around €45 per sq ft with an upward-only rent review due in 2016.
Given the strength of the covenant, bidding is likely to have been fierce. Irish Life, Union and JP Morgan are all thought to have shown interest in the asset.
The remaining 29.2% stake in the building is owned by Aviva.
The Anglo Irish Pension Fund was the original owner of the majority stake. Derek Quinlan, one of Dublin’s biggest pre-crash investors, had invested in the fund before it was bought by Harcourt Life.
Savills acted for Harcourt Life. IPUT was represented by JLL.
