A low-profile investment firm run by the family of Dublin-based financier John McCormack has bought a shopping centre in Liverpool in a deal understood to be valued at about €120 million.
Alanis Capital acquired the Metquarter centre in the main shopping area of Liverpool in partnership with the private banking arm of Anglo Irish Bank.
Though little known outside property circles, the firm has built up a big portfolio of international investment and development assets in the last 20 years.
Investment properties under management by Alanis are understood to have a valuation of some €1.5 billion. The firm is thought to be involved with partners in development projects worth another €1.5 billion.
A former director of a Bank of Ireland subsidiary called Property Loans & Investment Company, Mr McCormack established the business in 1985. His sons Brian, Niall and Alan are partners in the business, as is businessman Marcus Ryan.
The Metquarter transaction sees the company take control of 44 retail units over two levels in the main shopping area of Liverpool. Tenants include retailers Armani, Hobbs, Coast, MAC, Hugo Boss, Timberland and Kurt Geiger. The company was advised in the deal by surveyors HWBC.
"Liverpool has undergone significant regeneration in recent years and the acquisition of this strong asset at the heart of the city's revitalised retail centre presents a great investment opportunity. This latest acquisition complements our ongoing strategy of investment in key retail developments across Europe," said Brian McCormack.
Alanis is known to be an investor in Choice Hotels Ireland - it was a beneficiary this week of Choice's €46.4 million sale of the Comfort and Quality chains to a consortium led by private equity group TVC Holdings.
The company has reinvested in that consortium and it remains owner of the freehold title on some of the 11 hotel sites that changed hands in the deal.
Other hotel investments by Alanis include a small stake in the Four Seasons hotel property at Ballsbridge, Dublin.
In addition to investments in Ireland and Britain, Alanis holds property assets in Germany and US cities such as Boston and Houston. The company also owns investments in Central and South America and in the Caribbean.
The company acts as both the principal and manager in sourcing, structuring and financing of investment and development projects. It typically holds property investments on a long-term basis and often invests in partnerships with other investors.
The company's retail portfolio includes the Royal Exchange shopping centre in London, which it acquired for some €78 million from the Rolls Royce pension fund in 2005. It owns the Kennet Centre in Newbury and a share in the Square shopping centre in Tallaght, west Dublin.
Alanis also has leisure, car park, residential and office developments.
