French investor acquires Sandyford office block for €18m

French asset management company Corum has returned to the acquisitions trail, with an agreement to acquire Blackthorn House in Sandyford in south Dublin from Irish Life, for around €18 million.

The completion of the deal will bring Corum's overall investment in the Republic and Northern Ireland to more than €229 million and comes just weeks after it paid €5.6 million for Aldi's supermarket premises in Carrigtwohill, Co Cork.

Agent Savills Ireland acted for Corum in the purchase of Blackthorn House, while CBRE represented the vendor, Irish Life. Both agents declined to comment on the transaction when contacted by The Irish Times.

Located at the junction of Blackthorn Road and Bracken Road in the Sandyford Business District, Blackthorn House comprises approximately 4,273sq m (46,000sq ft) of office space distributed over four floors. The building has been let in its entirety to Google since 2017. It is understood the US-headquartered tech giant has approximately four years remaining on its lease.

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While Corum made its first investments in the Irish market in 2017, the company has been particularly active here since the beginning of this year.

Joint venture

In January, the French investment giant paid €30.5 million and €29.5 million respectively to acquire One Kilmainham Square in Dublin 8 and Classon House in Dublin 14 from a joint venture partnership led by Avestus Capital Partners.

In 2019, Corum acquired the Tesco supermarket in Gorey, Co Wexford, and South Point at Grand Canal Dock, Dublin, for €21 million and €12.7 million respectively.

A year earlier it paid more than £16.4 million (€18.8 million) for 40-46 Donegall Place in Belfast city centre. The sale of the property, which is occupied by Next and Eason, represented the company's first investment in the Northern Ireland market.

In 2017, Corum paid €14 million to add the Joyce’s Court retail and office complex off Talbot Street, Dublin, to its then € 80 million portfolio of Irish assets. The company had previously acquired Voxpro Office Park in Cork and another office complex in Galway as well as Harvey Norman’s retail store in Cork.