Goldman Sachs enters Green REIT sale fray
Goldman Sachs has emerged as a contender to buy Green REIT or some of its assets.
Indicative bids came in last week (June 12), and it is thought that around eight firms took part.
Other names linked to the portfolio include Brookfield, Kennedy Wilson, and Irish Life.
Goldman Sachs has emerged as a contender to buy Green REIT or some of its assets.
Indicative bids came in last week (June 12), and it is thought that around eight firms took part.
Other names linked to the portfolio include Brookfield, Kennedy Wilson, and Irish Life.
A slew of German funds including Union, the investment arm of DZ Bank Group, are also understood to be vying for the portfolio.
Meanwhile, this week, Kuwait Investment Authority revealed that it holds a 3.27% stake in the property group, leading to speculation that it may also be making a play for Green REIT.
Green REIT, which put itself up for sale in April, has a €1.5bn (£1.3bn) portfolio of largely office and logistics assets. Some 83% of the portfolio is made up of offices in the Dublin area.
If Goldman Sachs does purchase some of Green REIT’s portfolio, it would mark its first serious Irish property deal since it mopped up cheap retail assets following the market downturn.
Shortly after the crash in 2009, it acquired Citywest Shopping Centre in southwest Dublin.
The bank also bought Bridgewater Shopping Centre in Arklow, south of Dublin, in an off-market deal for €33.25m in 2016.
While it is not known for making many direct property purchases in Ireland, Goldman Sachs has been very active in the Dublin non-performing loan market.
The bank bought a large bundle of non-performing buy-to-let property loans from AIB in 2017. It contained around 1,500 loans, with the deal affecting roughly 1,200 borrowers.
The news comes as it emerged this week that Goldman Sachs is merging four separate units to create a $140bn private investing business, according to reports. These reports said the bank is preparing to raise money this year for a real estate equity fund.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs also already has its eye on big-box logistics deals, having teamed up with M7 Real Estate to launch Mirastar.
Green REIT’s portfolio includes Horizon Logistics Park in north Dublin, which could be an attractive asset for Mirastar. The venture is targeting a portfolio of big-box logistics developments and investments in Europe, mainly focusing on core Western European markets.
All parties declined to comment.
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