Activate Capital (“Activate”), Ireland’s leading private credit provider of residential development finance, announces a new €770m commitment by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and funds managed by global investment firm KKR.
The announcement marks a decade of successful collaboration between ISIF and Activate. Established in 2015, Activate has since become one of the leading funders of the Irish homebuilding sector and one of ISIF’s longest and most impactful investment partnerships.
This commitment represents a continuation and extension of ISIF’s and KKR’s long-term support for Activate.
Since inception, Activate has advanced €3.0 billion in residential development financing, enabling the delivery of more than 25,000 homes nationwide by supporting many of Ireland’s largest and most active homebuilders.
Developments funded by Activate have delivered new houses, apartments and student accommodation across Ireland’s cities and key urban areas. The commitment by ISIF and KKR will support the continued growth of new lending by Activate in response to the growing market need for capital and scaling of housing output by Irish homebuilders.
Commenting on the announcement, Nick Ashmore, Director of ISIF, said:
“ISIF’s commitment to Activate over the last decade demonstrates the economic impact that can be achieved through long-term partnerships, and by continuing our commitment, we are supporting Activate’s ambition to scale and deliver more new homes in the years ahead.
Housing is one of ISIF’s key investment themes and since its inception, ISIF’s support to the sector has enabled the construction of new homes for owner occupiers, renters, students and people in need of social housing, nationwide. The partnership with Activate has played a key role in delivering those homes and we look forward to working with them to support large-scale housing delivery that fosters a sustainable homebuilding sector across Ireland.”
Robert Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer of Activate, said:
“The Government’s revised housing target necessitates a material step change in the availability of development finance. This €770 million commitment from ISIF and KKR will enable Activate to build on our long track record of providing scale funding to Ireland’s leading homebuilders.”
Dan Pietrzak, Global Head of private Credit, KKR said:
“We have committed significant capital to Ireland. Our strategic partnership with ISIF since 2015 has been key to our deployment to date. The original thesis behind our investment in Activate was anchored in the need to address an acute supply/demand imbalance in the Irish housing market. We are proud of the role that Activate has played to date in enabling scaled housing production. We are pleased to continue our collaboration with ISIF in playing an impactful role in addressing this national strategic priority.”