Macquarie in €250m universities deal

A Macquarie-led consortium has won a €250 million deal to build new buildings for third-level colleges around the Republic.

Enbarr Partnership, led by the Australian lender, recently won a contract from the Department of Further and Higher Education to build six new facilities on campuses in Dublin, Dún Laoghaire, Cork, Tralee and Athlone.

The €250 million deal will provide a total 5,000 extra student places across four colleges, Technological University Dublin, Munster Technological University in Cork and Tralee, Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dún Laoghaire and Technological University of the Shannon in Athlone, Co Westmeath.

Macquarie is the consortium’s equity sponsor and financial adviser. JJ Rhatigan is the building contractor and Sodexo the facilities manager. AIB, Bank of Ireland, Nord/LB, Korea Development Bank and Norinchukin Bank will provide the finance.

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The project is to design, build, finance and maintain the six buildings. Under the deal’s terms, Enbarr will operate and maintain the facilities over a 25-year period, during which time it will get a monthly payment from the department. At the end of the contract’s terms, the buildings will pass to State ownership.

Macquarie Capital senior vice-president Richard Osborne said the deal built on the bank’s track record of delivering social infrastructure projects in the Republic.

A Macquarie-led group also built the east and central quad buildings that form the core of Technological University Dublin’s (TUD) Grangegorman campus.

TUD’s Tallaght and Blanchardstown campuses will get new teaching buildings through the deal with Enbarr.

Munster Technological University in Tralee will get a science, technology, engineering and maths centre while its Cork campus is earmarked for a new structure that will allow it take in 1,000 more students.

The Institute of Art, Design and Technology is in line for a new digital media building that will house 590 students.

Technological University of the Shannon is also getting a new science, technology, engineering and maths building, that will have capacity for more than 1,300 students.

Macquarie has been in the Republic since 2003. It has backed energy projects, digital infrastructure and waste management businesses. Its aircraft leasing arm, Macquarie AirFinance, is also based in the Republic.