Deals

Tristan acquires two Northern Irish retail parks

The deal marks the firm’s third such acquisition in the country in the past month.

By
PEI Staff
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London-based real estate investment manager Tristan Capital Partners has acquired two of Northern Ireland’s largest retail parks for €55 million, the sixth outlay from the firm’s €1.5 billion European Property Investors Special Opportunities 4 (EPISO 4) fund.

The two sites, Junction One, in Antrim, and The Outlet, in Banbridge, both within 30 miles east of the capital Belfast, cover a combined total of 95 acres of land and contain 597,000 square feet of retail and leisure property.

Junction One, which is 393,000 square feet of retail and leisure space, opened in 2004 and includes well-known brands such as LIDL and Sainsbury’s Homebase. The Outlet, at 204,000 square feet of retail space, is home to 50 leading brands including M&S, Nike, DKNY, LK Bennett and GAP.

Tristan said the next step would be to rejuvenate the two sites, which have a catchment population of 1.1 million, through “significant” investment. The construction of a McDonald’s restaurant and an eight-screen MAXX cinema at The Outlet was already under way.

Peter Mather, managing director at Tristan, said: “This deal represents a unique opportunity to bring together two outlet centers currently under separate ownership for the first time. Combined, these centers account for the vast majority of the Outlet market in Northern Ireland, with both sites already housing a broad range of national and international occupiers, including strong anchor tenants.”

The acquisition was made on behalf of Tristan’s value-add and opportunistic European-focused fund, EPISO 4, which hit a hard-cap of €1.5 billion last July, with commitments fully allocated after four months.

EPISO 4 was the largest single capital raise in the firm’s history, and was heavily oversubscribed. So far six deals have been closed, with a number under exclusivity. The firm’s most recent Northern Ireland transaction was the purchase of the 417,000 square foot Bloomfield shopping center in Bangor for €67.3 million in March this year.

According to its website, Tristan currently manages more than €7.5 billion of client assets.