UK investor weighs purchase of €67.5m shopping centre portfolio

Manchester-based investment firm David Samuel Properties is in talks with US real estate investor Davidson Kempner in relation to the proposed acquisition of a portfolio of three of Ireland’s best-known regional shopping centres. The “Cobalt Collection”, as it is known, comprises Letterkenny Retail Park in Donegal, Tullamore Retail Park in Co Offaly, and Deerpark Retail Park in Killarney, Co Kerry, and was offered for sale in March at a guide price of €67.5 million.

Should the deal proceed, it would represent David Samuel Properties’ first investment in the Republic of Ireland. The company, which is understood to act on behalf of a number of UK and Israeli investors, already owns five retail parks in Northern Ireland, including Shane Retail Park on Boucher Road in Belfast.

Davidson Kempner assumed ownership of the three properties in the Cobalt Collection in 2015 as part of its €170 million acquisition from the Bank of Ireland of the “National Portfolio”, a collection of five retail parks that also included Nutgrove Retail Park in Rathfarnham, Co Dublin, and Sligo Retail Park in Co Sligo.

The proposed disposal of the Cobalt portfolio comes just eight months on from the US fund’s sale for €65 million of Nutgrove Retail Park to the Munich-based investor AM Alpha.