F&C REIT Asset Management spent £1bn buying offices and stores in England and Scotland in 2009. The money manager now is turning to Ireland, western Europe’s worst-performing property market.

The real estate business of London-based F&C Asset Management Plc is trying to buy Liffey Valley, a mall in west Dublin with retailers including Marks & Spencer and Starbucks , managing director Kevin McGrath said.

“It’s a brave move, but sometimes fortune favours the brave,” said McGrath who helps oversee about £8bn on behalf of clients including Cambridge University. “The Irish market has suffered the most. It will probably suffer the longest, but it will come through this.”

bloomberg.com