Patron Capital has bought the Blackpool shopping centre and retail park in Cork for around €49.5m (£41.8m).
The investor has bought the 320,000 sq ft property from Värde Partners in partnership with Lugus Capital, the Ireland-based real estate investment platform.
Värde Partners paid €115m for the property in 2014.
Funding for the acquisition came from Patron Capital’s recently closed value-add-focused Fund VII, which raised in excess of €860m, including more than €200m of discretionary co-investment capital for larger opportunities.
Blackpool shopping centre and retail park also includes an adjoining Dunnes Stores supermarket and additional office space. Tenants across the site include Aldi, McDonald’s, Sports Direct and New Look, with new leases recently signed by JD Sports and furniture brand Jysk.
Patron Capital and Lugus Capital have identified a range of active asset management initiatives to improve the value of the shopping centre, including a capital investment programme and the leasing of void space.
The deal is Patron Capital’s third retail investment in the past year, following the acquisitions of Livingston Designer Outlet in West Lothian and Dalton Park in County Durham in 2023.
Stephen Green, senior partner at Patron Capital, said: “This was a compelling opportunity to leverage our track record in retail property, including our previous ownership of the Northside shopping centre in Dublin, and acquire a well-located asset.
“While this asset already has strong fundamentals given its diverse line-up of tenants and location, it is set to benefit further from Cork City Council’s forthcoming investments into major infrastructure projects in line with its ambition to increase the city’s population by over 60% by 2040. In the meantime, we look forward to working with Lugus Capital to execute our strategy for this asset and continue to see further opportunities to deploy Fund VII capital across Europe.”
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