US logistics giant and sovereign wealth fund eye Dublin Airport lands

State company DAA’s belief that it may be the only bidder for the 105 hectares (260 acres) of land currently for sale next to Dublin Airport could yet prove to be wide of the mark.

With less than one month to go before agent JLL calls for bids, The Irish Times understands that several potential purchasers including a US-headquartered logistics and airport developer and a sovereign wealth fund from Abu Dhabi have expressed their interest in the landbank.

Although it remains to be seen if any of these parties makes a bid for the lands which are owned by brothers and aviation entrepreneurs Ulick and Des McEvaddy, along with other owners Seán Fox and Brendan and Orla O’Donoghue, their interest will likely serve to further concentrate the minds at DAA as it weighs up its own offer.

Although DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs told the Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications two weeks ago that the airport operator was interested in buying the 260-acre plot, he insisted it would not do so “at crazy prices”. “We only want to pay a sensible price for the land, otherwise I’ll be back here explaining to the committee why we paid too much for it,” he said.

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[ Owners of Dublin Airport land bank suggest they expect it to fetch €210m ]

[ Dublin Airport land sale raises interesting questions for DAA and Government ]

Mr Jacobs said he and his colleagues would evaluate the property and then discuss it at board level before deciding. “I think we may end up being the only potential bidder for the land,” he added.

Located in the centre of Dublin Airport, the landbank which is in agricultural use currently, is zoned DA – Dublin Airport, in the 2023 to 2029 Fingal County Council Development Plan. The objective under this zoning is to ensure the effective and efficient development of the airport in accordance with an approved local area plan. The land is available for sale in its entirety or in three separate lots and is being marketed by JLL as being “of strategic international importance and paramount to the short, medium- and long-term growth of Dublin Airport”.