Blackrock International Land and Total Produce have formed a new 50-50 joint venture company which has agreed to buy 135 acres of land in Dublin for a total of €25m. Both companies are spin-offs from Fyffes.
The lands are located at The Ward in north Co Dublin, close to the new N2 motorway which links the M50 interchange at Finglas to Ashbourne.
The companies say just over 36 acres of the lands are zoned for agri-business use. 20 acres have been targeted for the initial development of new facilities for Total Produce, the fruit and vegetable distribution company spun off from Fyffes.
Under the joint venture deal, Total Produce has an option to acquire these 20 acres at their cost prices.
The two firms say the remaining 99 acres, which also adjoin Blackrock's existing 120 acres holding at Corrstown, Co Dublin, are well placed to take advantage of the significant development expected to take place in this area of north Dublin over the next few years.
Blackrock and Total Produce have each contributed €12.5m to the total price. The sellers are subsidiaries of Balkan Investment Company, a company controlled by Neil McCann, which owns 6.38% of the share capital of Blackrock and 10.6% of the share capital of Total Produce.
The companies say the joint venture agreement and the agreements for the purchase of the lands have been negotiated 'at arm's length'.
