A consortium comprising Swedish hotel owner Pandox and Norwegian property company Eiendomsspar has proposed a potential €1.3bn takeover offer for Ireland’s largest hotelier, Dalata Hotel Group – which owns the popular Clayton and Maldron chains.
Dalata operates its core brands across Ireland, the UK and has recently started expanding into mainland Europe with openings in Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.
Dalata started a strategic review of its entire business in March, with all options – including a complete sale of the business – being on the table.
As it stands, the Scandinavian approach is a proposed move and does not – as yet – represent a formal bid for Dalata.
Eiendomsspar – which has a property (including hotels) portfolio in Norway – owns around 36% of Pandox. The Norwegian company is also the second largest shareholder in Dalata, with a stake of around 8.8%.
Pandox holds an 8.5% stake in Dalata and has a growing hotel portfolio in Europe.
Under Irish Takeover rules, the consortium has until July 15 by which to make a formal offer for Dalata.
