“Blind pool” reits nearing their end, conference hears

The period where IPO investors are prepared to buy into “blind pool” real estate investment trusts (reits), or trusts that have yet to reveal their planned acquisitions, could be at its end, a Dublin property conference heard today.

Robert Fowlds, vice chairman of Real Estate Investment Banking at JP Morgan Cazenove, whose company was joint bookrunner with Davy on last year's €300 million blind pool Green Reit IPO, suggested such models "may be beginning to play out". Mr Fowlds was speaking at a conference organised by Property Industry Ireland, an Ibec affiliate.

“I’m saying no to at least 10 a day,” he said of blind pools, adding that “only people with outstanding track records” were likely to successfully launch reits in this way in the future. Structures already “seeded” by existing assets may be more common, he said.

Mr Fowlds said the Green IPO merited “a big breath at the time”, adding that the sector “really is in full flow at the moment”. While not commenting directly on the Irish commercial property market, Mr Fowlds identified finding suitable properties and higher interest rates as potential future risks for reits.

“My conclusion is: the recovery is going to kill us,” he joked.