Quinlan directors set up real estate firm under Avestus name

THE DIRECTORS of property investment firm Quinlan Private have set up a new real estate business under the name Avestus Capital Partners. The move follows the resignation of founding partner Derek Quinlan from the company last year.

Thomas Dowd, Peter Donnelly, Olan Cremin and Mark O’Donnell – who are the four remaining directors of Quinlan Private – have shifted the real estate asset management services currently provided by Quinlan to the new company.

This will allow Quinlan’s directors to extend the share ownership of the business to a further six individuals who are senior members of its management team.

Mr Cremin will be chief executive of the new company, which will manage assets valued at more than €8 billion. It will also be seeking new finance from US institutional investors. A spokesman for the company said it had “a rough target” of “a couple of hundred of million” for the fundraising.

Avestus, which becomes operational at the end of the month, will manage assets in 15 countries and adopt “a particular focus” on the European real estate market, the company said.

Avestus is seeking to take advantage of low prices following the downturn in property markets. New real estate funds targeted at institutional and professional investors are in the pipeline.

A slimmed down Quinlan Partnership will continue to provide taxation, accounting and financial management services to its existing clients.

“The creation of Avestus Capital Partners is a carefully considered response to our assessment of the current and future requirements of our investors and, also, our own desire to extend our leadership team and broaden the ownership base,” Mr Cremin said.

He added that Avestus was “well placed” to take advantage of the investment opportunities “that will inevitably arise as economic growth is re-established and real estate markets recover”.

Mr Quinlan, who founded Quinlan Private more than 20 years ago, first signalled last summer that he intended to step down as chairman and partner. He resigned as a director of the company in November 2009.

Quinlan Private has typically been involved in large-scale syndicated property investments that attract the very wealthy. Among its early high-profile projects was the €1.1 billion purchase of the Savoy hotel group in 2004.

Like most other property interests, some of the group’s investments came under pressure, leading to calls for syndicate members to advance new cash for refinancing purposes.