Green kicks-off complex €650m Blanchardstown refinance

Green Property is working on a complex, €650m refinancing of the 1.5m sq ft Blanchardstown town centre near Dublin, Real Estate Capital can reveal.

The regional mall’s existing financing expires in April. It is held by a group of banks and by private equity firms that have bought debt through various loan portfolio sales.

The private equity firms involved include Lone Star, Blackstone and Marathon Asset Management, while the traditional lenders include Helaba, Ulster Bank, Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland.

Lone Star bought its £95m loan in July 2013 as part of the £1.3bn non-performing slice of the former Eurohypo UK loan book. Blackstone is thought to have obtained its position from Allied Irish Bank in 2011.

The finance being sought reflects a loan-to-value ratio of around 75% and despite the Irish market’s dramatic improvement in the past two years is not seen as straightforward.

The private equity firms expect to be paid back at par on maturity and some of the banks are eager to roll over or expand their loans.

Given the relatively high LTV level, it is likely that Green will have to take on mezzanine debt and possibly put in extra equity. Eastdil Secured is advising the borrower.

Green Property, led by chairman Stephen Vernon and chief executive Pat Gunne, launched Ireland’s first REIT in July 2013 in a €310m listing. But Blanchardstown is not part of the listed vehicle’s portfolio and is held in Green Property Investment Fund 1.

The scheme, completed by Green in 1996, includes a 600,000 sq ft shopping mall, 400,000 sq ft of retail warehousing, offices, leisure facilities and a Crowne Plaza hotel.

The refinancing is under way as NAMA prepares Project Jewel, expected to be a sale of loans to Joe O’Reilly’s Chartered Land. The prize ‘Jewel’ is the upmarket Dundrum Shopping Centre, also in Dublin, said to be valued at around €1bn.