Dalata Hotel Group plc, Ireland’s largest hotel operator, has conditionally agreed to acquire the Moran Bewley’s Hotel Group for an enterprise value of €455,000,000.
The Moran Bewley’s Hotels are a portfolio of nine hotels comprising 2,506 rooms across Ireland and the UK. The portfolio includes four hotels in Dublin, two hotels in London and one hotel in each of Cork, Manchester and Leeds. The Red Cow Moran Hotel and the Red Cow Inn Complex, each in Dublin, do not form part of the Acquisition.
The Acquisition offers the Group a rare opportunity to acquire a large, well invested portfolio of three and four star hotels with 2,506 rooms, allowing the Group to scale up its operations significantly and in particular expands the Group’s position in the key Dublin market.
The four Dublin-located Moran Bewley’s Hotels contain a total of 1,423 rooms. The Acquisition also expands the Group’s presence in Cork with the addition of the Silver Springs Moran Hotel, and gives Dalata exposure to three attractive UK hotel markets, London, Manchester and Leeds and provides a platform from which the Company can further grow in the UK in the coming years.
The Company has agreed conditionally to purchase the Moran Bewley’s Hotel Group for an enterprise value of €455,000,000 (subject to adjustments as provided for in the Acquisition Agreement). The sums payable pursuant to the Acquisition consist of the repayment of intercompany and third party debt, the issue of 12,200,000 shares in Dalata Hotel Group p.l.c. (representing 10 per cent. of the Existing Issued Share Capital) and the remainder being satisfied in cash.
Current trading
In the interims the Directors forecast EBITDA in the full year to be in the range €7.5 million to €8.0 million excluding the effect of acquisition activity (2013: €5.3m). Performance since then continues to show strong growth on 2013 supported by strong incoming visitor numbers and improving domestic consumer confidence.
The Directors now expect Dalata Group EBITDA for 2014 to be in the range of €8.1 million to €8.3 million excluding the effect of the Acquisition and other acquisitions completed during 2014. EBITDA for the Moran Bewley’s Hotel Group for the six months ended 30 June 2014 was €14.3 million which was 17 per cent up on the equivalent period in 2013, driven by strong market conditions in Ireland and the UK. Performance continues to show strong growth on 2013. The Directors expect EBITDA for the Moran Bewley’s Hotel Group for 2014 to be in the range of €32.5 million.
Transformational development
Pat McCann, Chief Executive of Dalata, commented:
“The acquisition of the Moran Bewley’s Hotel Group is a transformational development for Dalata, it is a business we have admired for a long time and the acquisition is a rare opportunity to acquire a large well invested portfolio of hotels.
“We have now fully invested the proceeds from our IPO in line with our investment strategy well ahead of schedule. I look forward to driving value from the acquisitions we have completed in 2014 for the benefit of our shareholders.”
www.dalatahotelgroup.com
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