Cairn Homes, the Irish house-building firm, which raised about €400m in equity capital by listing on the London Stock Exchange earlier in this year, is raising an additional €200m in debt and equity funding to finance the purchase of more land banks for construction purposes.

The new funding comprises of a €150m debt facility with AIB and approximately €47m through an accelerated sale of new shares to existing institutional shareholders, that could be completed within the next week.

The fundraising provides Cairn with a war chest of €500m to fund new land bank acquisitions.

Cairn, which only began selling its first batch newly-built homes on Dublin’s Malahide Road during this autumn, has confirmed it’s in the final stages of bidding for Ulster Bank’s Project Clear, a land bank of more than 1800 acres.

"The company is continuing to see significant investment opportunities and this placing is intended to raise the funds necessary to capitalise on these opportunities and deliver attractive returns for shareholders," Cairn Homes said in a statement after the market announcement.

"The company believes that there is a significant opportunity to capitalise on the recovery of the Irish residential property market by establishing itself over the medium term as a leading Irish house-builder, constructing high quality new homes with an emphasis on innovation, design and customer service," it added.