Signature Capital working on €65.15m deals in Britain – Sunday Business Post

February 13, 2005

Signature Capital, which last week acquired Sherry FitzGerald Capital, is working on deals worth more than €65million in Britain.

The company has bought into a retail park being built just outside Glasgow, which is due for completion at the end of the year.

It is also involved in a residential development near Westminster in London, and a residential and retail scheme in west London.

“We will typically deal with the financing arrangements and the provision of equity,” said Signature’s managing director, Ciaran McNamara.

He said the firm was likely to retain its stake in the retail park for six to seven years and that it was looking at an 18to 24-month turnaround for the residential projects that are yet to be built.

In the deal with Sherry FitzGerald, Sherry FitzGerald Capital become part of Signature, with the Sherry FitzGerald Group taking a stake in Signature.

“They will be strategic shareholders. They wanted to be part of something bigger, and they’re in for the long term,” said McNamara. “We would have known people on both sides, and it seemed to make sense.”

The deal was negotiated over the last three months.

“We’re looking for opportunities that have an angle, and are looking at the moment in Ireland and Britain,” he said.

“We’re also looking at France, and in particular at Germany. Germany has been a very depressed market over the last few years, but there are opportunities in residential and commercial there.”

McNamara said Signature would be forming partnerships with developers and investors in Ireland, and is particularly interested in retail opportunities in the Republic.

“It’s difficult to get good deals in Ireland, but we hope to get in at the development stage of the deal.” He confirmed that the firm had looked at investments in the US, but said it had yet to sign a deal there. Signature specialises in sourcing, structuring and financing asset-backed investments, with a particular focus on property development and investment.