Irish golf complex snapped up by Kennedy Wilson Europe

The Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links resort in Ireland has been sold to Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate for €29.8m (US$40.3m, £24m) – less than half the price it was bought for in 2005.

Capel Developments forked out €70m (US$95m, £56m) for the four-star complex in the mid-noughties, but as the Irish financial crisis took its toll on the ailing company, Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) swooped to appoint Simon Coyle of Mazars as receiver in 2011.

The latest sale of the 170-acre site was overseen by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), with its vice president Dan O’Connor describing a “highly competitive sales process, which underpins the strength and depth of buyer demand currently prevailing within the Irish hotel investment market.”

The seafront hotel – which boasts a course designed by golfing legend Bernhard Langer, plus 138 bedrooms and conferencing facilities – was originally placed on the market for €20m (US$27m, £16m), but strong interest from both domestic and overseas investors helped push up the sale price.

“These acquisitions demonstrate our robust sourcing capabilities in Ireland bolstered by our strong relationship with financial institutions,” said Mary Ricks, president and CEO of Kennedy Wilson Europe.

The sale is expected to be completed within weeks and suggests a strengthening of the Irish leisure property market, following Donald Trump’s high-profile purchase of the Doonbeg golf and hotel complex on the west coast of Ireland in February.