Patron teams up with O’Callaghan in new partnership

Patron Capital Partners has formed a new retail and residential partnership with Brian O’Callaghan, the son of well known Cork developer Owen O’Callaghan.

Patron has already begun working on its first joint project with Mr O’Callaghan to operate and expand the Northside Shopping Centre on the northern fringe of the M50 in Coolock, Co Dublin.

The UK and Luxembourg property fund with €2.5 billion under management acquired the centre in May from the National Asset Management Agency. The shopping centre was a key asset in a portfolio of loans bought by Patron, which are associated with developer Brian O'Farrell. The loans had a face value of €225 million. Other assets in the portfolio include a retail centre in Poland, a potentially valuable site in north Dublin and a large house in the K Club.

The fund continues to work with Mr O’Farrell, who is understood to be advising it on how to build out a prime development site in north Dublin near the Northside Shopping Centre, which is part of his former portfolio as well as helping it with the rest of his assets.

Patron told The Irish Times yesterday Brian O'Callaghan was its "retail partner in Ireland. It is Patron's intention to work with Mr O'Callaghan on future retail opportunities." It said it was also working with him on residential property development here.

“Brian O’Callaghan has established a collaborative relationship with Patron Capital under a new company, not connected with O’Callaghan Properties, to identify opportunities within retail and residential markets in Ireland,” a spokesman for the Cork businessman said. “Northside Shopping Centre is the first such project to come to fruition. Regarding any future involvement of Brian O’Farrell, discussions with the borrower are ongoing and are commercially sensitive.”

The joint venture plans to invest further in the Northside shopping centre, where tenants include Dunnes Stores, New Look, SuperValu and Heatons. The scale of this investment, it said, was not yet specified.

Brian O’Callaghan trained as an accountant with Deloitte and then worked in London in the merger and acquisitions division of PricewaterhouseCoopers.