Quinlan closes €775m London deal

Irish property player, Quinlan Private, is set to become the new owner of a prime 3.4 acre commercial and retail site in London following a €775 million deal.

Quinlan and a group of investors has agreed to buy a site in Knightsbridge, London, between high profile retailers Harrods and Harvey Nichols known as the Estate from BP's pension fund.

The Irish buyers have agreed to pay £530 million (€775 million) for the property, which covers 3.4 acres and has 48,300 sq m (520,000 sq ft) of retail, commercial and residential space. BP had been seeking to sell the site for some time after a strategic review of its pension portfolio.

Quinlan emerged a week ago as the preferred bidder, ahead of six other potential buyers. Its offer was well ahead of the £415 million originally sought by BP.

The parties agreed the deal on Monday and have since exchanged contracts, the first step on the road to legally transferring the property.

Billionaire property investors, Simon and David Reuben were reputed to be among the bidders that Quinlan beat to complete the deal.

The Reubens successfully outbid another Irish company, the Seán Quinn-controlled Quinn Group, for the prestigious Wentworth golf club in England last autumn. Quinlan Private was also at one time reputed to be interested in Wentworth.

Yesterday's announcement marks another coup for Quinlan Private, run by former tax inspector, Derek Quinlan. Early last year, it paid €1.1 billion for the high-profile Savoy hotel group in London.

It sold the flagship property within months for one-third of the price it paid for the whole group to the under-bidder for the group, a partnership of Saudi royal, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, and Bank of Scotland.

The group has a portfolio of 150 commercial property assets, including office blocks, shopping centres, hotels and car parks in Europe and north America.

In a statement yesterday, Quinlan Private partner Thomas Dowd made it clear the Knightsbridge property had the potential to increase its current rent returns. He said the deal reflected the firm's objective to "acquire prime real-estate assets with compelling upside potential".

The site has a large number of small tenancies, which the new owner believes can be consolidated into larger holdings over a period of time.