Ardawn, the property company that invests in large portions of development land close to Dublin, has raised more than €100 million through NCB.
The fundraising round, which was due to close at the end of February, surpassed the firm's initial target to raise €75 million from NCB's private clients.
The Ardawn II programme was initiated in January and had commitments of €40 million at the start. The final amount is thought to be one of the largest fundraisings ever completed by a private Irish company.
With €100 million now secured, Ardawn will be able to leverage up and borrow about the same amount again. This means the firm will have a war chest of more than €200 million to spend on development land.
Ardawn is headed by former PricewaterhouseCoopers partner, Pat Shine. Mr Shine's company, Cova, manages the investments on behalf of the fund. Ardawn II is also managed by auctioneer, Bill Mulrooney and building contractor, Brendan Fitzsimons.
Peter Murray, former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, is chairman of the new fund.
Mr Shine was expected to be one of the largest individual investors in the latest round, taking between €4 and €5 million of the total.
"The other investors like to see you taking some of the risk," he said earlier this year.
The idea behind Ardawn is that it opens the world of property investment to a wider audience. It allows people who have money to invest, but who might not have enough to get into development, to access large projects.
A large number of investors put in amounts between €250,000 and €500,000, but others invest as little as €50,000, the minimum access point for Ardawn II. The fund is scheduled to have a life of seven years.
Typical backers are professionals or people who have come into money after the sale of a business. The latest closing follows a €56 million fundraising completed by NCB for Ardawn I last year. With borrowings, this earlier fund-raising gave the firm access to close to €120 million. This money was invested within six months.
The success of Ardawn's two fundraisings to date symbolises the sheer volume of free cash swirling around the economy.
Ardawn's expertise lies in bringing sites through the planning process. The firm then develops properties itself or, more usually, sells them on with planning permission. It has paid an average of €300,000 per acre in the past.
The company concentrates on land in the east of Leinster that is zoned for residential development. Bringing sites through planning can take up to three years.
Earlier this month, the Sunday Business Post reported that Ardawn was in talks to buy sites worth €80 million in Wicklow, Kildare and Dublin.
The company was also cited last month as a possible buyer in the largest land deal in Irish history. The 400-acre property in question, at Oberstown near Naas in Co Kildare, is said to have changed hands for more than €270 million, thus surpassing the €260 million paid by Seán Dunne for Jurys' land at Ballsbridge last year.
