The Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT) has entered into a mutually beneficial agreement with Irish Residential Properties REIT plc (I-RES) in which both companies will have the opportunity to acquire properties from one another. For up to one year, CAPREIT will have access to € 150-million to acquire high quality Irish properties and, once funding has been sourced, I-RES will be able to acquire CAPREIT properties.

The agreement, known as the Pipeline Agreement, is subject to specific terms, including the approval of I-RES shareholders and the existing Investment Management Agreement, between I-RES and wholly-owned CAPREIT I-RES Fund Management Limited. If the Investment Management Agreement is terminated, the Pipeline Agreement will follow suit.

“We are very pleased to be supporting I-RES with their growth plans and to have received recognition of our strong management platform with the I-RES Board approval of the extension of the Investment Management Agreement,” says Thomas Schwartz, President and CEO at CAPREIT. “The funds available under this innovative agreement will be used to acquire high quality properties in Ireland that meet both CAPREIT’s and I-RES’ investment criteria. Importantly, all properties acquired under this agreement will be accretive to CAPREIT from both a property cash flow while CAPREIT owns the assets and an ongoing fee basis once I-RES acquires the properties from CAPREIT and I-RES Fund Management Limited manages the properties for I-RES.”

In addition to this announcement, CAPREIT reported that it has been selected as a preferred bidder to acquire approximately € 88.9-million in residential suites and commercial space in Dublin, Ireland.