27 Group Close To €75m Deal With Irish Finance Institution
The Sunday Business Post, 4th March 2007The 27 Group, an Irish property investment vehicle, is close to finalising a €75 million funding deal with a leading Irish financial institution.
The €75 million investment will be used to fund the purchase of four Belgian properties, according to Peter McCarthy, one of the principals behind the 27 Group.
The 27 Group was launched last September, and specialises in sourcing commercial property in Belgium. It is an investment spin-off of the Thornsett Group, an Irish-owned property development company that specialises in social and affordable housing.
We are in talks with one of the banks to invest €75million, and we hope to conclude that deal within the next few weeks,” said McCarthy, a former executive of Digicel, the Caribbean telecoms operator controlled by Irish businessman Denis O’Brien.
This €75million is on those four alone, but we have a long line of projects that will reach into the hundreds of millions.
“The most important thing is to get the first deal across the line.”
McCarthy said the group was in talks with a number of other banks and institutions in Ireland about other investment deals.
He said they were interested in acquiring properties with long-term leases, such as student accommodation, healthcare facilities and university buildings.
“We have three or four schemes on the map with a number of banks, and we are hoping to finalise some deals shortly. We are looking to joint venture with banks and institutions on the investments,” said McCarthy.
The 27 Group is managed by Belgian estate agent Etienne Valthier, but is ultimately owned by the Thornsett Group, which has significant interests in Belgium.
McCarthy founded Thornsett five years ago with the Longford-born brothers Gerard and Denis Cunningham.
Thornsett now has a Belgian property portfolio with a gross development value of almost €110 million.
In Ireland, the group has completed eight development projects and is working on another 12.
The majority of those have been social and affordable housing projects – state-backed schemes that help low and middle-income earners get on the property ladder.