Residential development lender Activate Capital is to commit €770 million for new housing, the company has said.
Activate’s original investing partners, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and global investment firm KKR, have committed to put forward the financing.
The announcement marks a decade of collaboration between ISIF and Activate. Established in 2015, Activate has become one of the top funders of the Irish homebuilding sector and one of ISIF’s longest investment partnerships.
Since inception, Activate has advanced €3 billion in residential development financing, which it estimates has enabled the delivery of more than 25,000 homes by supporting many of Ireland’s largest and most active home builders.
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Developments funded by Activate have delivered new houses, apartments and student accommodation across Ireland’s cities and key urban areas.
ISIF director Nick Ashmore said housing is one of its key investment themes. “Since its inception, ISIF’s support to the sector has enabled the construction of new homes for owner occupiers, renters, students and people in need of social housing, nationwide,” he said.
“The partnership with Activate has played a key role in delivering those homes and we look forward to working with them to support large-scale housing delivery that fosters a sustainable homebuilding sector across Ireland.”
Robert Gallagher, chief executive of Activate, said: “The Government’s revised housing target necessitates a material step change in the availability of development finance.
“This €770 million commitment from ISIF and KKR will enable Activate to build on our long track record of providing scale funding to Ireland’s leading home builders.”
KKR global head of private credit Dan Pietrzak said the group has committed significant capital to Ireland.
“Our partnership with ISIF since 2015 has been key to our deployment to date,” he said. “The original thesis behind our investment in Activate was anchored in the need to address an acute supply/demand imbalance in the Irish housing market.”
