The founder of the State's largest waste company, Beauparc Utilities, has agreed a deal which will see him acquire Royal Hibernian Way on Dublin's Dawson Street for €74 million.
Eamon Waters is understood to have exchanged contracts on the transaction with the scheme's owners, Aviva Investors, earlier this week.
While Royal Hibernian Way is arguably best known as the location of the Davy Stockbrokers head office, the 8,630sq m (92,888sq ft) scheme also includes around 1,950sq m (21,000sq ft) of retail and hospitality space.
The retail quarter is occupied by a number of well-known brands including Boylan's Shoes, Carol Clarke Jewellers and Leonidas Chocolates, while the hospitality offering includes the Marco Pierre White steakhouse; Isabelle's restaurant; and the Lemon & Duke bar, owned by Noel Anderson and his business partners, former rugby internationals Sean O'Brien, Jamie Heaslip and Rob and Dave Kearney.
Mr Waters' purchase of Royal Hibernian Way comes just weeks after he and US private equity firm Blackstone secured the sale for €1 billion of Beauparc Utilities to Australian financial services giant Macquarie. The deal for the company which owns the Panda and Greenstar waste firms in Ireland is understood to have provided Mr Waters with a windfall of about €367 million, based on company filings prior to the announcement.
When Royal Hibernian Way was first offered to the market last September by joint agents JLL and TWM at a guide price of €80 million, it attracted offers from a number of parties including German family-office investor AM Alpha, Derek McGrath’s Core Capital and US private equity giant Lone Star’s Irish affiliate, Hudson Advisors. While AM Alpha was said to have been in pole position to acquire the scheme at one point, a deal did not proceed.
In purchasing the property for €74 million, Mr Waters is set to secure a discount of 8 per cent on the €80 million Aviva Life and Pensions Ireland DAC had been seeking from its disposal.
Both JLL and TWM declined to comment when contacted by The Irish Times. A spokeswoman for Aviva said: "We can confirm that contracts have exchanged on Royal Hibernian Way. This transaction is subject to strict confidentiality and no further details can be disclosed."
