Patron Capital acquires Blackpool Shopping Centre and Retail Park in Cork

Patron Capital, the pan-European real estate fund manager, has acquired Blackpool Shopping Centre and Retail Park in Cork in the Republic of Ireland from Värde Partners. The acquisition has been made in partnership with Lugus Capital, the Ireland-based real estate investment platform.

Funding for the acquisition came from Patron Capital’s recently closed value-add focused Fund VII, which raised in excess of €860m, including more than €200m of discretionary co-investment capital for larger opportunities.

Blackpool Shopping Centre and Retail Park comprises around 320,000sqft of retail space plus an adjoining Dunnes Stores supermarket and additional office space. It is located 2km north of Cork, with 40% of the city’s population in its catchment area.

The community-focused asset benefits from a high occupancy rate and is home to more than 50 tenants, including Aldi, McDonalds, Sports Direct and New Look, with new leases recently signed by JD Sports and furniture brand Jysk.

Patron Capital and Lugus Capital said they had identified a range of asset management initiatives to improve the value of the shopping centre, including a capital investment programme and the leasing of void space.

This deal represents Patron Capital’s third retail investment in the past year, following the acquisitions of Livingston Designer Outlet in West Lothian and Dalton Park in County Durham in 2023.

Stephen Green, senior partner at Patron Capital, said: “This was a compelling opportunity to leverage our track record in retail property, including our previous ownership of the Northside Shopping Centre in Dublin, and acquire a well-located asset.

“While this asset already has strong fundamentals given its diverse line-up of tenants and location, it is set to benefit further from Cork City Council’s forthcoming investments into major infrastructure projects in line with its ambition to increase the city’s population by over 60% by 2040. In the meantime, we look forward to working with Lugus Capital to execute our strategy for this asset and continue to see further opportunities to deploy Fund VII capital across Europe.”

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