Birrane family to continue property investing as they book a €27m profit
THE family of Mayo-born property tycoon and former racing driver, the late Martin Birrane, are to continue investing in property at his €225m London-based firm Peer Group following his death last June at the age of 82.
The firm had previously set a target of growing its property assets to about €285m, and it’s believed this target will be approached over the next year or so, subject to the necessary financing being secured.
Peer Group properties is currently valued at €225m, while net assets amount to €129m, when debt is taken into account. The firm recorded rental income of €11.5m for the financial year to the end of last July, which was about 10pc down on the previous one due to some leases on London properties expiring.
A parent company earned a profit of €27m, up from €15.7m, the accounts state.
“Given the group’s strong platform and the current lending climate, the directors will seek to gain more leverage from one additional lender, to provide the group with appropriate financing from which it can grow the asset base and income stream,” the group said in its most recent accounts.
Most of the firm’s properties are in London and the south-east of England, but there is also a shopping centre in Newcastle, and a beach-front site in Brazil that was intended for a hotel and holiday home development.
Here, there is a €27m hotel and holiday home development near Dungarvan in Co Waterford, for which the firm had sought planning permission.
Meanwhile, Kildare racetrack Mondello Park, which Birrane owned, and which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, continues to thrive.
Birrane’s daughters Lis and Amanda, together with his long-time lieutenant Howard Dawson, a qualified chartered surveyor, now run Peer Group and Mondello. According to company filings in the UK, Amanda Birrane, a business, marketing, property valuation and law graduate, has the largest shareholding in the firm, with more than 50pc of control over trustees of a trust.
Widow Susan, also on the firm’s board, has 25pc or more, while another daughter, commercial solicitor Bridget Birrane, and an Irishman, Brendan Murphy, have also inherited shares in the firm.
Ballina native Birrane built up the business over 35 years from just £280,000 of assets, through buying and selling sites and developing properties.