Insurance giant MetLife enters Irish market with €131m loan

New York-based global insurance giant MetLife has made its first foray into the Irish market, providing €131m in loans to property investment firm Kennedy Wilson to finance four residential assets in the greater Dublin area.

It is the first time the Manhattan firm, which ranks as the largest life assurer in North America, has lent in Ireland, but it has plans for more activity here.

“We are very pleased to be able to enter a new market with a strong, experienced international player like Kennedy Wilson,” said Paul Wilson, head of MetLife Real Estate Investors’ office in London. “These loans are the first for us in Ireland and we look forward to growing our portfolio in that market.”

The new commercial mortgage loans — including both five-year floating and 10-year fixed-rate structures — will finance Kennedy Wilson for four Dublin-based property assets; including three Class A residential multi-family properties and a multi-tenant office property.

On a global basis, MetLife lent a record $12.1bn in commercial mortgage loans last year, 5% more than the $11.5bn it lent in 2013. The company lent more than $2.1bn in the UK alone and has an established commerical mortgage portfolio of around $3.5bn, combined, in the UK and Ireland.

MetLife is among a number of life assurers that are lending more funds as they seek investments beyond corporate bonds and government debt, with yields near record lows.

Kennedy Wilson invested a further €45m in expanding its Irish-based portfolio last year, adding significant assets from Nama and the IBRC, including the 138-room Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links, which marked its first hotel investment here.