Whitewater Shopping Centre in Kildare bought for €180m

German fund manager Deka Immobilien Europa has acquired the Whitewater Shopping Centre in Kildare for €180m.

The transaction — conducted via Savills Ireland — gives the German company ownership of two of Ireland’s prime regional shopping centres.

Deka also owns Mahon Point shopping centre in Cork, which it acquired for €250m in 2005.

Whitewater, located in the centre of Newbridge, is Ireland’s largest regional shopping centre.

It covers 320,640 sq ft over a two-storey mall and has four anchor tenants in the form of Marks and Spencer, Debenhams, H&M, and Zara.

Other significant tenants include Boots, New Look, River Island, and Odeon cinemas, as well as the likes of Oasis, Diesel, Bershka, and Tiger.

The centre opened ten years ago and generates net income of nearly €12m per year, 87% of which comes from tenants and the rest from carpark and residential units.

“The sale of Whitewater Shopping Centre was keenly anticipated by many domestic and international investors looking for scale and security but potentially not willing to compete for the enormous scale which was offered through Project Jewel,” said Savills Ireland director Domhnaill O’Sullivan.

“This was apparent throughout the sales process which attracted strong interest from domestic and global institutional capital, as well as a host of private equity investors.”

Deka — which also owns the Tommy Hilfiger store on Dublin’s Grafton St — reportedly outbid six European and US investment funds for Whitewater.