Canadian Giant Snaps Up Dublin REIT For €1.1B As European Office Spree Continues
Canadian asset management giant Brookfield has snapped up Irish REIT Hibernia for €1.1B ($1.2B), as it continues a buying spree of public European office owners.
The board of Hibernia has recommended that the REIT accept a cash offer from Brookfield subsidiary Benedict Real Estate Bidco Ltd that values it at €1.089B.
The cash offer represents a 36% premium to Hibernia REIT's undisturbed closing price of €1.18 as of 24 March.
Hibernia is the latest acquisition for Toronto-based Brookfield, which also bought German Alstria Office REIT for $4B and last month bid $1.5B for Belgian office REIT Befimmo.
The asset management firm has also built up a stake in British Land. Brookfield Asset Management has approximately $690B of assets under management across real estate, infrastructure, renewable power and transition, private equity and credit. The company’s real estate portfolio is valued at $250B and is composed of 2B SF globally.
Earlier this month Hibernia sold off its Forum scheme situated on Commons Street to a company controlled by Spear Street Capital for €31M. Other recent deals include the 289K SF pre-let of Hibernia’s Harcourt Square office development to KPMG on a 20-year lease.
"We have built a strong relationship with Hibernia REIT's management team and are excited to partner with them in the next phase of the company's development by combining Brookfield's global real estate expertise with Hibernia REIT's established operating platform and portfolio of high-quality standing and development assets in Dublin's most strategic submarkets,” Brookfield Managing Partner and Head Of European Real Estate Brad Hyler said.
The private equity giant is looking to raise $25B from real estate sales over the next five to seven years, Brookfield CEO Bruce Flatt said in his quarterly letter to shareholders. As of the close of Q2, BAM reported $30B of equity invested in real estate, through a combination of direct ownership and investment funds.
"Despite significant progress against its strategic objectives and a track record of successfully recycling capital into value accretive opportunities, Hibernia REIT has traded at a persistent discount to its prevailing EPRA NTA per share," Hibernia Chair Danny Kitchen said.
“The acquisition recognises the company's prospects and the quality of its portfolio of assets and delivers an acceleration of the value we expect to be created from completion of Hibernia REIT's major office development projects.”
