Eason sells Dublin warehouse to Iput for €19m

Eason has sold its St Margaret’s warehouse in north Dublin to Irish property fund Iput for €19 million. This is the first of a number of property sales planned by the Irish retailer as part of a major restructuring that will allow it to transfer €20 million to its retail business, and generate dividends for shareholders.

In a letter to shareholders, Eason chairman David Dilger said it was in "advanced discussions" with a number of parties on the sale of a further €10 million of property assets across a number of sites.

Eason is planning to sell 13 properties in the Republic in a move that could generate a €60 million windfall for its 220 shareholders. This will include the sale of its flagship property on O’Connell Street in Dublin, which would be leased back from the new owner and would continue to trade under the Eason brand.

Mr Dilger said the price achieved for the St Margaret’s site was a “very positive outcome” for shareholders. The complex was vacated over the Christmas period, with Eason staff moving to the Hertz Complex in Swords Business Park on January 2nd.

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Eason has outsourced all of its warehousing functions to third parties.

The St Margaret’s site extends to 184,886sq ft on a standalone site of 8.4 acres. Iput said it would undertake a “substantial programme” of works to upgrade the building prior to re-letting. It now owns and manages more than 2.4 million sq ft of logistics space in Dublin.

Mr Dilger told shareholders that Eason would now move to demerge its retail business from its property assets, which will require High Court approval. The €20 million capitalisation of the retail arm – Eason Operations Ltd –would be through a mix of cash and property assets in Northern Ireland.

“Our aim is that the de-merger will be completed by the end of Q1,” Mr Dilger said.