Hotel group Dalata to delist on Monday as €1.4bn acquisition finalised

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The hotel company, which operates properties in Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe under the Clayton and Maldron brands, is being bought by Pandox and Eiendomsspa. Dalata operates 56 hotels, with more than 12,000 rooms. It has a pipeline of almost 2,000. It currently owns 31 hotels, leases 22 and operates three under management contracts. Dalata shareholders, including chief executive Dermot Crowley, will get the proceeds from the sale no later than November 21, making for a pre-Christmas windfall for investors. In July, the Dalata board recommended an all-cash offer of €6.45 per share from the Pandox consortium which represented a near 50pc premium to the twelve-month volume-weighted average share price up to March 6. The closing of the sale marks another exit from the stock exchange in Dublin. Companies including CRH, Flutter Entertainment, DCC, Greencore and Datalex are among those that were once listed on the dwindling exchange. The company being used to effect the acquisition of Dalata is Pandox Ireland Tuck. Dalata, which was founded by former chief executive Pat McCann, said the scheme of arrangement in connection with the final recommended cash offer by Pandox Ireland Tuck became effective today. It confirmed that its shares will be delisted from Euronext Dublin and from the main market of the London Stock Exchange by 7am next Monday. Releasing first-half results in August, Dalata said its revenue per available room across Ireland has remained stable at the same level as last year despite figures showing a clear decline in visitor numbers to the country, especially earlier in the year. Revenue at the group in the first half of the year edged 1pc higher to €306.5m. Its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation declined 5pc to €102.5m. Profit after tax tumbled 45pc to €19.6m, the company noted in its results. It blamed the sharp fall in after-tax profits on the cost of its strategic review that led to the agreed sale of the business, as well as an increase in non-cash accounting charges. During the first half of the year, Dalata completed the €83m acquisition of the Radisson Blu hotel on the Dublin Airport campus. The 229-bedroom property will be rebranded as a Clayton hotel next year. Dalata also completed a number of deals in cities including Berlin, Madrid and Edinburgh.