Investment fund to invest €2bn in Irish property sector
Up to €2bn may now be provided over the next four years to the new homes and property development sectors by alternative lender Castlehaven Finance, says the firm’s regional manager John ‘Paco’ Fitzgerald.
The statement comes after global investment firm Avenue Capital Group takes up a funding role for Castlehaven from previous private provider Pollen Street Capital, in a deal put at over €250m.
It will see Avenue Capital commit €500m per annum in lending over the next four years to the Irish entity Castlehaven Finance, founded in 2014 and which has offices in Dublin, and in Cork since earlier this year.
Working in the alternative lending sector, Castlehaven has thus far funded the start of 3,500 new Irish homes, in 118 projects, lending €584m to date, with c €385m of that through the link with Pollen Capital.
Pollen Capital employs 70 in London and in New York since founding in 2013, managing some £2.7bn for investors/pension funds, asset managers, banks etc.
It’s now replaced by the even larger Avenue Capital Group, founded in 1995 and which manages assets of $10.3bn for institutional investors, pension funds, family offices, sovereign wealth funds and foundations.
With its new backer, Castlehaven is now looking to ramp up its lending to the new homes, PRS and commercial sector, typically lending senior development loans for a two year period and offering 90% loan-to-cost, and 80% on bridging.
It currently employs 15 people, and is headed up by founders Will Aylmer and Clark McCann, Irish financiers who returned to Dublin’s Dundrum from London’s alternative finance as the Irish construction sector picked up pace.
Castlehaven expects to do over €300m in lending in 2019, including residential and a 149-bed Dublin Hotel at James Street for the Cosgrave family owned Dublin Loft company.
Finance Partner, Will Aylmer said the new partnership with Avenue “allows us to continue to scale up. We’ll be increasing volume and providing new opportunities to current clients, along with developers we’ve never worked with before”.
It opened its first regional office in February at Cork’s Lapp’s Quay to cement what it said was a commitment to expand its base in the Munster region. The Cork office is headed by Kerry-born former Irish rugby international, John ‘Paco’ Fitzgerald, whose business background includes Lombard, FEXCO and Forth Capital.
www.castlehavenfinance.com
