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BEWLEY’S HOTELS WILL be rebranded after Ireland’s biggest hotel operator – the Dalata Hotel Group – agreed to buy the chain as part of a €455 million takeover.
It will be part of the deal to buy 9 hotels from the Moran & Bewley’s Group including the landmark, 304-room Bewley’s Hotel Ballsbridge and 3 other properties in Dublin.
Dalata will also get a launchpad for the UK with the purchase of the Bewley’s Hotels in Leeds and Manchester, and 2 Moran-branded hotels in London, as it boosts its range overnight by 2,506 rooms.
But the Bewley’s name will be dropped as the publicly-listed hotelier re-markets some of the 3-star hotels as 4-star venues.
The Moran & Bewley’s Group was formed in 2008 when Limerick businessman Tom Moran bought the 6 Bewley’s Hotels for a reported pricetag of about €570 million at the peak of the property boom.
Moran’s first property, Dublin’s Red Cow Inn, and the 123-room Red Cow Moran Hotel are not part of the Dalata deal.
A big chunk of Dublin
Dalata said the buyout would expand its holdings in the key Dublin market as well as giving it a platform to grow in the UK, where until now it only leased one property in Wales.
The company will control 18% of the total Dublin hotel market through properties it either owns, leases or manages, although the competition watchdog still needs to approve the deal.
It said the purchase, which was also awaiting shareholder approval in January, would lift its profits, before deductions, towards €8.3 million for the year.
Chief executive Pat McCann said the buyout would be a “transformational development” for the company, which expects to save up to €3 million a year by merging back-office operations of the 2 hotel groups.
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,” he said.
The full buyout includes:
McCann said Dalata had now spent all the proceeds from its €265 million stockmarket float in March.
The latest buyout will be funded with a combination of existing cash, a €50 million private share offer and new €318 million loan.
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Brilliant. Now, when I fall asleep on the last Dart home, I will be woken up in Drogheda and not Malahide…
@Phil O’ Meara: I know of a man who intended to get off at Laytown and fell asleep and regularly ended up in Dundalk! But at least he was early enough to get a train back later!!
And while they’re at it, run a spur line from Skerries to the airport!
@Brian Hunt: extend the metro to donabate train station instead.
@Brian Hunt: Maybe Brian, we could move the Airport to Skerries for you!! Would you like that diddums ?
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: Meant to say Malahide!
We can extend the DART to Drogheda but not Dublin Airport – Only a few kms off the existing line – and instead have to spend billions on an unnecessary metro??
Madness!!!!
@Barry Sorensen: A monorail loop is the solution for that Barry. No tunnelling and can go along existing roads, well mostly!!
@Barry Sorensen: Metro is an absolute necessity, but we also need the DART to the airport. Having both would go a long way to easing pressure.
@Barry Sorensen: Don’t worry. “The Metro” is a fantasy and will never happen. Though greater Dublin as a city region of approximately 2 million should by now have about 3 metro lines like other cities of its size in more developed countries.
@Barry Sorensen: And where exactly would be the route from the present line to the Airport! How many houses etc would you have to buy etc!
Until there are more lines going into the city they are just tinkering around the edges. If they increase the DART frequency (which is planned) then there won’t be capacity for commuter/intercity trains which use the same lines.
@The next small thing: that’s exactly what I’m thinking! So we just switch from commuter to DART and our journey time is then EXTENDED..
@The next small thing: Seems to work jolly well for the South Soiders,
@The next small thing: it’s way more than tinkering at the edges. Whilst there are no extra lines, overall passenger capacity will increase significantly due to the electrification and other planned infrastructure upgrades. There will be one Belfast train per hour, which I think is what we currently have, so no adverse effect there
@Le Merchelant: Not really, 99% of the time from Malahide/Howth Jct the commuter train just crawls along behind a Dart all the way into the city centre so you shouldn’t notice much, if any, difference in journey time.
@SYaxJ2Ts: The overall numbers may increase but with DART’s running every 6 minutes then any intercity or commuter train will get delayed behind the DART. Unless the plan is to terminate the commuter trains at Greystones/howth junction and for passangers to change over to DART’s.
@Alim Seghu: Same issue on the south side line.
@The next small thing: you’re wrong. I suggest you read up on the project plan
@The next small thing: Its worse on the southside after Bray single track.
@The next small thing: Route planning and timing and train traffic control is something they have worked out in advance of anything else!
The Estate agents in Drogheda are only rubbing their hands together.
@Gav Murphy:
As are anyone in Drogheda that’s thinking of selling
What about ticket prices? The difference in price from Drogheda to the city and Balbriggan to the city are crazy. I also don’t understand why the train is cheaper after 10am, it should be the other way around to help those going to work, not punish them.
Didn’t our government pass an essential infrastructure bill many years ago to reduce these projects being delayed. They have never used it, so we waste vasts amounts of money at each stage. Someone is profiting but not the public. Only in Ireland would we cheer loudly for a plan being submitted not the projects completion.
Yep typical as usual build anything but the metro! Even get a spur line to the airport and sword to ease the daily traffic jam but no hope
@Alan Boyd: Where would you put this spur line to the airport, which would be two lines wide plus the essential space required. Have a go on Google maps and see how you do!
The airport needs to be connected in the baddest of ways. 32m passengers….all by road….ffs….
@Grant Masterson: it’s hilariously embarrassing, when taken in context with any other modern airport to a reasonably small city like Dublin. So hard to get to.
Pointless when the frequency is so low. Why don’t you put a dart every 5 minutes in each direction every day of the week ?
@Alex: Read the Dart + plan and then comment!
And South to Gorey..
@Gerry Dornan: Then it becomes the WART ( Wexford Area Rapid Transit)
The article says the trains will run on batteries from Malahide to Drogheda but the are also going to electrify that stret h of rail?
@Oh Mammy: Yes, the first of the battery trains will start coming in to the country next year. The overhead lines will take longer than that. So the batteries will be an interim solution until electrification is complete. Same cars will be used.
Throwing a few km of electricity poles on an existing train line and building no new stations…Irish Rail’s ambition knows no bounds. The Chinese must be in awe
@yourname: Unfortunately, like most infrastructure projects in this country you are depending on private sector contractors to complete the task for TFA, not Irish Rail.
@Fr. Fintan Stack: “NTA
@yourname: Irish Rail is opening new stations regularly! Pelletstown is one example and there are others going on the southside of Dart + as well. Extra stations in Cork as wellQ!
@Fr. Fintan Stack: Irish Rail have the knowledge and plans NTA provide the money! It is a Quango and not required!
Forget the dart and metro just build luas lines everywhere and connect them together
This only increases the need for Transport Police!
Malahide must be protected from the Wildlings to the North!
Intercity trains from all directions should terminate in Drogheda/Bray/nNewbridge with a Dart connection to the city…time to act on the wexford line urgently as it’s landlocked.
@Ben dover: So that is great people milling around stations trying to get connections!
Not one ‘I hear those things are awfully loud?’ comments. For shame.
Sure extend it to Dundalk, Delvin and anywhere else that starts with D.
have your say