New Irish PE law will take a year

Ireland’s revamped limited partnership law is at least 12 months away, according to a representative of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.

Speaking at the Irish Funds Annual UK Symposium in London, Michael Lee said that while a limited partnership structure had been available in Ireland since 1994, the structures “haven’t been a roaring success.”

The proposed Investment Limited Partnership (Amendment Bill) 2017 would allow for aspects such as carried interest and complex fund accounting, which are not directly available in the existing structure.

Irish funds professionals and service providers have been positive about the proposal, saying they hope to redress the dearth of private equity managers operating in Ireland.
“I think it’ll encourage private equity managers who’ve never used Europe, to consider Ireland,” one lawyer told pfm in August. “The country is popular with hedge fund managers, but private equity managers have been held back by the lack of suitable structures,” the lawyer said.

Private equity is also politically controversial, following the real estate investment crash in Ireland after the global financial crisis.

“There’s a perception with the public of private equity being “vulture funds”,” said one fund administration executive at the event. “Politically, it may be difficult to promote,” he added.