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Heightened levels of activity will lead to €2.5bn to €3bn of real estate assets and non-performing loans trading in Ireland this year, according to an analysis by pan-European investment manager Ardstone Capital. This figure excludes the once off liquidation of IBRC, of which approximately €15bn of loans are in Ireland.

Ardstone said market activity will not reach frenzy levels but will be 'well in excess of the previous four years' as both domestic and crossborder investors step up a gear.

'The number and strength of international investors active in the Irish market is far greater than was imagined two years ago,' said Donal O'Neill, co-founder and head of investments at Ardstone. The investment manager based its predictions on an independent analysis of recent transactions in the Irish market, the investors operating in the market, their strategies and risk appetite.

O'Neill says the list of investors who have actually transacted has an 'opportunistic feel' to it at the moment. This category includes London & Regional, Blackstone, Northwood, Lone Star, Apollo Global, CarVal and King Street Capital. Kennedy Wilson, the Ardstone analysis notes, is also very active in the market, following an 'all-encompassing' strategy it employed in Japan in the 1990’s.

Interest in Irish real estate is reviving in line with the improving economy. Ardstone believes Ireland is 'punching above its weight and is leading the peripheral countries out of recession' after 3-4 tough years. 'The Irish economy is returning to growth and opportunities are emerging in the property market. Having fallen 65% from peak to trough, the property market stabilised during 2012 and is now returning to growth.'

Ardstone is understood to be actively pursuing opportunities in the top regional UK markets and also in Ireland. It has recently acquired an office asset in Dublin and is pursuing several other opportunities in the market with its capital partners. Additionally, Ardstone has secured a substantial cornerstone investor for its Dublin focussed Ardstone Value Partners value-add fund and is believed to be in advanced discussions with other LP’s.

Ardstone Capital is looking to selectively re-enter the real estate markets in the UK and Germany after recent sales of assets in London and Brussels.

The boutique European real estate investment manager has transacted over EUR 1.5 bn since 2003, and started selling in 2005, 2006 and 2007 as the markets were seen to be overheating. Ardstone now has EUR 400 mln of assets under management and the company is looking to grow that back to EUR 1 bn over the next two years.

'We are currently analysing a number of high-quality core-plus and value-add assets in Central London and some very high-grade assets in the key provincial markets in the UK,' said Donal O'Neill, co-founder and head of investments for Ardstone. 'In addition, we are actively pursuing high quality core-plus and value-add office portfolios across Western Germany'.

The move to start buying again comes fresh on the heels of the recent sale of Avenue Louise 209a, a prime multi-let office asset in Brussels, for about EUR 8 mln.

When Ardstone Capital took over the asset in early 2008 it was 75% vacant. Ardstone renovated the building and added three new tenants before selling it on to a private Middle Eastern buyer. In January, the company sold the office property 1 Bartholomew Lane in the City of London to Hines. The US asset manager partnered with a sovereign wealth fund on the deal which is reported to have involved an investment volume of around £70 mln.

Ardstone Capital specialises in direct real estate investment with core-plus and value-add characteristics in Western Europe, specifically the UK, France, Germany, and Belgium. It has a local presence in London, Dusseldorf, Paris, Brussels and strategic partner offices in Amsterdam and Barcelona.

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Ardstone is delighted to announce the successful sale of 1 Bartholomew Lane, a prime City of London office building, to global investor and fund manager Hines on behalf of an Asian investor.

The purchase of the building is the first time the investor has invested outside of it’s home country, further emphasising the appeal of this asset and London to international investors. The building, which overlooks the Bank of England, was completed in September 2010 and provides approximately 80,000 sq ft of office accommodation with typical sized floor-plates of 8,000 sq ft.

Since its launch Ardstone Capital successfully let accommodation to tenants including Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of Communications China and The Korea Investment Corporation achieving some of the highest rents in the City during 2011.

Ciaran Burns on behalf of Ardstone said: “Ardstone received an offer from a well funded partnership managed by Hines and we felt that the opportunity to sell would allow us to concentrate on new acquisition opportunities in the UK and Europe”. Ardstone Capital represented themselves in the transaction.

Ardstone Capital Limited, formerly Cornerstone Capital Management Ltd, has changed its business name to Ardstone Capital, effective 7 March 2011. The Directors decided to change the name to Ardstone Capital in order to create a unique name in the market and avoid confusion with the many other Cornerstone companies operating in the real estate and private equity industry.

"We are very excited about the introduction of our new company name. We believe the name Ardstone Capital allows us to better represent our business as we expand our platform and move into a growth and investment phase”, said Donal Mulcahy, Head of Fund Management for Ardstone Capital. "Our goal when we founded the company in 2005 was to provide investors with a clear value proposal in the real estate investment industry, and we continue to aggressively pursue that focused objective."

Head of Investments for Ardstone, Donal O'Neill, explains the name selection further, "In choosing the name Ardstone, we tried to link our old and new identities by keeping the “stone” and by using similar colours and logos. In addition, the word "Ard" means peak or high in gaeilge, and we believe that clearly represents where we always aim to be in our business and with our investor returns."

Ardstone is pleased to confirm the sale of 124-128 Keizersgracht, Amsterdam.

Head of Investments, Donal O'Neill, commented ”we sold this core office asset for well in excess of our purchase price in 2004, and it has been fully rented in the meantime, consequently, it has performed very well, despite the financial crisis”.