Macquarie Capital reaches financial close on the Dublin Institute of Technology’s Grangegorman Campus

Macquarie Capital, the corporate advisory, capital markets and principal investment arm of Macquarie Group, today announced financial close on Dublin Institute of Technology’s (DIT) €220 million Grangegorman Campus project – one of Ireland’s largest educational campus developments financed through a public private partnership (PPP).

The Eriugena consortium – 100 per cent owned by Macquarie Capital – has been selected to construct two new core campus buildings, the Central Quad and East Quad, providing around 52,000m2 of academic space and catering for approximately 10,000 students and 600 members of staff. The buildings will provide world class facilities for DIT Colleges of Sciences and Health, Arts and Tourism and for the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

The Eriugena consortium is supported by a construction joint venture between John Sisk & Son (Holdings) Ltd. and FCC Ireland Ltd., and facilities management services provider by Sodexo Ireland Ltd. Under the PPP contract, Eriugena is responsible for designing, building and financing the construction of the buildings, and will also provide facilities management and lifecycle services over 25 years.

The wider Grangegorman project will enable the Dublin Institute of Technology to merge its current 39 locations across the city of Dublin together in one new state of the art campus on disused land in the city centre. The new campus will blend renovated old historic buildings with new build, creating a new urban quarter in Dublin.

Debt funding for the Project will be provided by the European Investment Bank, MUFG, Sun Life Investment Management and Talanx Asset Management.

The project’s procurement was undertaken by Ireland’s National Development Finance Agency (NDFA), part of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), acting on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills and the Grangegorman Development Agency (GDA).  

Ireland’s Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, said: “Today’s signing represents a very significant step forward in realising the Government’s ambitions for the Grangegorman development and in delivering a consolidated, state of the art campus for DIT. This significant investment in higher education infrastructure will also advance Ireland’s ambitions to provide the best education and training service in Europe by 2026. The Eriugena consortium brings considerable expertise to this ambitious project.  The PPP model harnesses the best of the private and public sectors.”

Gerard Cahillane, Deputy Director of the NDFA said: “We welcome financial close and congratulate the Eriugena consortium. As the procuring authority for this project, the NDFA is delighted to be involved in a flagship project that is central to the development of the new DIT campus at Grangegorman, and which will bring lasting benefits to the Institute’s students and staff.” 

Mark Bradshaw, Head of Infrastructure Projects for Macquarie Capital in Europe and Americas said: “As sole sponsor and equity investor, we are proud to have been awarded such a significant project in Ireland and to have reached financial close, paving the way for construction to now begin. We look forward to continuing to work with the NDFA, GDA and our trusted consortium partners John Sisk & Son, FCC Ireland and Sodexo Ireland to deliver world class facilities for the DIT, its staff and students.”

The Grangegorman project award follows Macquarie Capital’s previous role as sponsor on Ireland’s Schools Bundle 1 PPP and Schools Bundle 2 PPP projects, as part of the programme to provide 27 new schools across Ireland, with John Sisk & Sons and Sodexo; and the Mersey Gateway Bridge, a critical transportation link in the northwest of England, with FCC.