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Irish Times
21 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Bidding war for Dalata Hotel Group hots up
A week ago, the board of Dalata Hotel Group rejected a €1.3 billion bid from the Nordic Pandox consortium , which had tabled a €6.05 a share, non-binding cash offer. Dalata, which is led by chief executive Dermot Crowley, said the bid 'materially undervalues the group and its prospects'. The market would seem to agree with the shares closing in Dublin yesterday at €6.25, some 3.3 per cent higher than the Pandox bid. The Irish hotel chain is at the stage of second round bids, having effectively put itself up for sale on March 6th by announcing a strategic review. Seems fair to assume that those bids place a higher value on the company than the Pandox offer. READ MORE The Pandox consortium comprises Swiss hotel operator Pandox and Norwegian real estate group Eiendomsspar, which has a stake of 8.8 per cent in Dalata and a near quarter stake in the bidding consortium. Eiendomsspar first emerged on the Dalata share register in October, the same month as Dalata held an investor day to outline its strategy as a listed company. Pandox's bid was a surprise, with the consortium bypassing the formal sales process in tabling its offer. Its 9 per cent stake isn't in blocking territory to a takeover of the company by a third party, but it could make life difficult for whoever emerges as the preferred bidder from the sales process. How to manage your pension in these volatile times Listen | 37:00 Two other entities – Zahid Group and Helikon – hold 28 per cent of Dalata's shares between them, putting them in blocking territory. Dalata is a well-run, profitable hotel group with a strong track record (Covid years aside). It has paid regular dividends and completed share buybacks, and outlined an ambition to grow its footprint to 21,000 bedrooms by 2030. Yet somewhere along the way, it appears that some long-term investors who weren't impressed by its growth strategy or its decision to pay €84 million for the Radisson Blu hotel at Dublin Airport decided to bail on the group, opening the way for Pandox, Zahid, and Helikon to build their stakes. This process has a long way to play out and a price closer to €7 a share might be required before a winner emerges. The only certainty is that Dalata will be checking out of the stock market.
Irish Independent
03-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Takeover battle looms at Ireland's largest hotel operator
The offer of €6.05 per share by Pandox and Eiendomsspar represents a premium of just over 27pc on the €4.76 closing price of March 5, the last trading day before Dalata announced it was launching a strategic review, with one option being a sale. It is a 14pc premium to the three-month average price of €5.32 per share. Russ Mould, an analyst with AJ Bell, said: 'The big unknown is whether their proposed bid is enough to seal the deal and whether another party makes a higher offer. The consortium's 27.1pc bid premium is below the 36pc average on UK-listed takeovers so far this year. That leaves scope for someone else to come along and offer slightly more.' A number of American investment firms have already submitted bids for Dalata, according to reports by Green Street, a property news website. They are said to include Bain, Apollo and Starwood, which already owns 2.7pc of Dalata through an affiliate. The board of Dalata has hired Rothschild, an investment bank, to carry out the strategic review. The consortium said it has not participated in that process and formulated its proposal independently. Dalata is listed in Dublin and London, and its share price was boosted by the announcement of the bid. It was up over 8pc in London, to £5.10, and by over 5pc on Euronext in Dublin, reaching €6.07 at lunchtime. Eiendomsspar, one of the largest property owners in Norway, with its portfolio including 11 hotels, already has an 8.8pc stake in Dalata. It controls 36pc of the shares in Pandox, a Swedish firm that owns 163 hotels across 11 countries in Europe, with about 36,000 rooms. Based in Stockholm, Pandox develops and then leases hotels to operators under long-term deals. Its hotels in Ireland operate under the Leonardo brand. 'As established hotel investors with deep knowledge of the European hotel sector and experience in successfully executing similar transactions in the UK and Ireland, the consortium is well positioned to support Dalata's business and long-term growth ambitions,' it said in an announcement to the stock exchange. 'The consortium is currently negotiating with a reputable European hotel operator to enter into a framework agreement for the operation of the Dalata hotels if the consortium acquires Dalata. This operator shares the consortium's commitment to long-term profitability and sustainable growth.' ADVERTISEMENT Learn more Under takeover rules, the consortium has until July 15 to either announce a binding intention to make a bid for Dalata, or to pull out. Dalata, whose chief executive is Dermot Crowley and which was established in 2007, has a portfolio of 55 hotels in Ireland and Britain, both owned and leased, operating under the Maldron and Clayton brands. Its portfolio has grown by a third over the last four years, and it has declared an aim of having 21,000 rooms by 2030. In April, the company said it had done a deal with a Spanish real estate firm to lease to develop a Clayton hotel in Madrid. The share price was bumping along around the €4 mark for much of last year, leading its board to conclude that this did not reflect the asset base, performance, cash generation and growth prospects of the business. After the announcement of the strategic review, analysts at Jeffries said the external valuation on the estate of hotels was €1.64bn but adding in earnings from its leased estate, and its pipeline, the value could jump to 'at least €2bn'. Apart from Eiendomsppar, other prominent shareholders in Dalata include the Saudi conglomerate Zahid Group and the British hedge fund Helikon Investments, which has a stake of over 17pc. Barry English, founder of Winthrop Technologies, has built up a share of over 1pc in Dalata, but this is thought to be a value play rather than a signal of interest in purchasing, although he already owns Mount Juliet, the Johnstown Estate Hotel and Trim Castle Hotel.
Business Post
07-05-2025
- Business
- Business Post
Dermot Crowley's pay packet falls below €2m as bonus payments halve over missed earnings target
Hospitality Dermot Crowley's pay packet falls below €2m as bonus payments halve over missed earnings target Fionn Thompson 13:14 Dermot Crowley, the Dalata chief executive, saw his pay packet fall below €2 million as earnings-based bonus payments nearly halved. Picture: Maxwells Business Post subscribers can read: • How Crowley's pay packet compares to previous years • What the bonus remuneration package for Dalata entails • How the company missed earning targets that underpin bonuses News Dalata Dermot Crowley Companies LATEST NEWS 13:45 Live News: Quilter Cheviot Europe acquires GillenMarkets; Low-cost carriers hit hard by US demand slump 13:36 Amazon heralds Vulcan robot as 'fundamental leap forward' as part of €700m tech investment 13:14 Dermot Crowley's pay packet falls below €2m as bonus payments halve over missed earnings target 12:58 Quilter Cheviot Europe acquires Irish investment advisory firm GillenMarkets 12:44 Waystone set to strengthen European presence with Luxembourg acquisition 12:12 Murdoch group behind FM104 and 96FM reports consecutive €2.7m pre-tax losses
