Major Polish developer GTC bids to sell 25pc stake in Kildare Innovation project

Globe Trade Centre (GTC), a Polish real estate development group, is looking to sell its minority stake in the Kildare Innovation Campus, valued at hundreds of millions of euro. The GTC Group is a real estate investor and developer that has focused primarily on Poland, Hungary, and capital cities in central, eastern and southern Europe. The book value of the group’s portfolio is over €2bn, with it owning 46 modern office and retail properties.

The Warsaw-headquartered property firm invested €115m into the Kildare Innovation Campus back in August 2022, acquiring a minority stake of 25pc through debt notes. The former Hewlett Packard (HP) campus is located between Celbridge and Leixlip. It is an 184-acre site counting the likes of MGS Ireland, HP Enterprise, Mercury, and Nikon Precision Europe as occupants.



The former Hewlett Packard campus. HP closed the Leixlip facility in 2018 During a call with investors, Gyula Nagy, chief executive of GTC, was asked if the sale of the Irish project was a medium-term target for the group compared to the sale of Polish assets. He said it should be considered as a “separate sales strategy” but was still part of the group’s plans to dispose of certain assets.

“GTC still holds a 25pc minority stake in the project,” he said. “They're still showing interest from certain investors and big market players for the potential and the interest for acquisition. So negotiations are ongoing driven by the project manager; however, the disposal is still behind the initial planned schedule as the GTC management set up early this year.

“GTC still sees the feasibility of the exit in, let's say, the next six to nine or 12 months of the project. So we can confirm that the proceeds from disposal of the asset is not critical to execute the Eurobond financing – refinancing maturing in June 2026.” In the company’s most recent set of results, GTC said the fair value of the notes it holds in the Kildare Innovation Campus project amounted to €119.

4m. This accounts for 5pc of the Group's total property portfolio, including non-current financial assets. An economic assessment estimated that the total economic output from the expanded Kildare Innovation Campus will be €5bn According to the results, professional services firm Kroll Ireland estimated the fair value of the notes at between €120m and €140m.

The Kildare Innovation Campus is expected to be transformed into an advanced manufacturing and deep-tech campus. An economic assessment prepared by Grant Thornton has estimated that the total economic output from the expanded Kildare Innovation Campus will be €5bn. The campus announced plans for a €2.

4bn investment earlier this year, in a move that would create 3,000 jobs at the site over the next six years. In January, planning permission for an expansion of the campus was granted. Numbers employed at the site are expected to increase by 1,000 by the end of next year following the first phase of the new expansion, the campus told the Irish Independent earlier this year.

A further 2,000 roles will be added by the end of 2030, when all stages of the development plan are expected to be completed. CEO of the campus told the Business Post that three big multinational companies had committed to moving onto the campus over the coming years HP closed the Leixlip facility in 2018. New owners bought the site in 2021, launching the Kildare Innovation Campus alongside a master plan for the area.

In May, Allan Shine, chief executive of Kildare Innovation Campus, told the Business Post that three big multinational companies had committed to moving onto the campus over the coming years. These included a global semiconductor company, a data centre and technology firm, and a technology measurement multinational. Shine said unnamed investors in the site were prepared to commit billions of euro in investment.

However, Ireland’s energy constraints were a major disincentive to large companies looking to set up in Ireland. In response to questions from the Sunday Independent around a potential sale of its stake, GTC said it did not wish to comment..