Hibernia Reit snaps up Dublin home of Depfa for €39m

The Forum building in Dublin's IFSC has been sold

Donal O'Donovan

Stock market-listed property firm Hibernia Reit has sealed a €37.8m deal to buy an office block in the IFSC.

Hibernia is buying the Forum building from US property firm Atlas Capital Group.

The building is fully let to German bank Depfa - once classed as Ireland's biggest bank before it was bought by Germany's Hypo Real Estate just before a spectacular fall from grace.

The collapse of Depfa - which specialised in lending to local authorities - was the biggest in Irish corporate history, 
but the bill was picked up in Germany thanks to the timing of its takeover by Hypo Real Estate.

The Forum building is fully let to Depfa, with an annual rent of €40 per square foot or €2m a year and a lease that is up for renewel in 2019.

The sale is expected to complete later this year.

It's the tenth acquisition by Hibernia Reit, which raised €365m when it was listed on the Dublin Stock Exchange at the end of 2013.

The building is on Commons Street and comprises 47,109 square feet of space. It was built in 2003.