French investor pays €8.5m for Bank of Ireland branch portfolio

French Investor Iroko ZEN has made its second investment in Ireland, paying €8.49 million for a portfolio of five buildings let and occupied as branch premises by Bank of Ireland. The properties are located in Enniscorthy, Longford, Mallow, Roscrea and Loughrea respectively and are generating total annual rental income of €798,000. The purchase price provides Iroko ZEN with a net initial yield of 8.5 per cent after standard purchaser’s costs of 9.96 per cent.

The sale of the portfolio was brokered by Damien McCaffrey of BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland on behalf of joint vendors Signal Capital Partners and Ardú Capital. The portfolio included six assets in total let to The Governor & Company of the Bank of Ireland and fully occupied on 25-year full repairing and insuring (FRI) leases expiring in 2032. Iroko ZEN acquired five of the assets while a private Irish investor purchased a single investment comprising the Bank of Ireland branch building at Emily Square in Athy, Co Kildare.

Commenting on the deal, Marion Bertrand, co-director of investments of Iroko ZEN, said: “The acquisition of this portfolio allows us to position ourselves for an attractive and secure long-term investment with a high-quality tenant.”

Damien McCaffrey of BNP Paribas Real Estate said: “This sale confirms demand for secure, stable cash-flow investment properties and the continued appetite from French investors for Irish real estate.”

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News of Iroko ZEN’s latest Irish acquisition comes just three months on from its first investment here. As reported by The Irish Times last June, the French-headquartered company paid €10.14 million for White Pines, a newly built and fully let retail scheme developed by Ardstone in south Dublin.

Located on Stocking Avenue in Rathfarnham, the development comprises a purpose-built supermarket fully let to Tesco Ireland Limited and a creche building let to Safari Childcare Limited. White Pines forms part of a major residential scheme developed by Ardstone featuring a mix of one- to four-bedroomed units catering for up to 636 families on an overall site of 36.3 acres (14.7 hectares).