(Bloomberg) — Opportunistic credit firm Strategic Value Partners struck a deal to buy Blanchardstown Centre, Ireland’s largest shopping mall, from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to people with knowledge of the matter.
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The US investment bank offered the center for sale last year, seeking about €650 million, Bloomberg News reported at the time. The selling price is lower than that, the people said, asking not to be identified because the transaction has yet to be completed.
A Goldman Sachs representative declined to comment. SVP, founded by Victor Khosla, also declined to comment. The firm has more than $18 billion of assets under management.
After a decade of being roiled by online shopping, malls are starting to become attractive to investors again because declines in rents in recent years have made space more affordable for retailers, meaning there’s less chance they’ll miss payments. Tenants have also been boosted by 14 consecutive quarters of rising consumer spending in Dublin, according to data compiled for the city’s local governments.
“Capital values for prime shopping centers in Europe have fallen more than 40% since the peak and rental values in the best malls are now increasing, so if yields stabilize there is value recovery potential,” Sue Munden, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said of the region’s retail properties in general.
Goldman Sachs, based in New York, acquired the mall from Blackstone Inc. in late 2020, when it was valued at about €750 million. The complex has 180 stores and restaurants, according to its website, and gets about 16 million visitors a year. Occupants include Zara, Hollister and JD Sports.
The Irish Times reported last month that SVP had made an offer to buy the property.
–With assistance from Olivia Fletcher, Irene García Pérez and Lucca de Paoli.
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