Irish Hotel Group, Dalata Hotel Group, which has two hotels in Glasgow operating under the Clayton and Maldron brands as well as an interest in developing into Edinburgh, has put itself on the market as part of a Strategic Review.
The news comes after the group reported record revenue for 2024 of €652.2 million, with profits up 5% to €234.5 million.
Dalata operates a portfolio of 55 hotels which incudes 30 owned hotels, valued at €1.7 billion, including assets under construction, 73% of which relates to hotels in Dublin and London. It also operates 22 leased hotels and three managed hotels. The Regional UK owned and leased hotel portfolio includes nine Clayton hotels and eight Maldron hotels.
The company said that the Board has appointed Rothschild & Co as its financial adviser “to assist with a review of its strategic options to optimise capital opportunities for the Group and to enhance value for its shareholders. As a result of these deliberations the Board has determined that it would be in the best interests of the Group and shareholders as a whole that it formalise these assessments into the Strategic Review, which will take into account the views of shareholders.
“As part of the Strategic Review, the Board will consider options available to optimise capital opportunities for the Group and to enhance value for shareholders, including, but not limited to, continuing the Group’s existing strategy, further actions to improve shareholder value, returning further capital to shareholders, selling the entire issued share capital of the Group (which would be conducted under the framework of a formal sale process (“The Formal Sale Process”) in accordance with the Irish Takeover Rules) or undertaking some other form of merger or comparable corporate action”.
John Hennessy, Chairman of Dalata, will continue to Chair the Group throughout the Strategic Review process. He said, “The Board is excited about the 2030 Vision that was outlined by our senior management team at our Capital Markets Day in October 2024. However, we are unanimous in the view that the key to achieving that vision is the availability of capital; and that the share price does not reflect the underlying value of the company. We believe that now is the right time to undertake a rigorous and formal strategic review, which will consider options to increase access to capital and also enhance shareholder value.”
Dermot Crowley, Dalata Chief Executive Officer said, “Our 2030 Vision strategy sets an exciting goal to have 21,000 rooms either operational or under construction by 2030. We have an excellent management platform in place to deliver this strategy but access to capital is essential to achieve our vision. A thorough strategic review will enable us to assess available options to increase our access to capital and enhance shareholder value. During the process we will remain focused on the underlying business – continuing to take care of our people and continuing to meet the expectations of our customers. We have exciting initiatives in place to enhance further our revenues and deliver further productivity – our teams will remain focused on delivering on the objectives that we have set ourselves for 2025.”
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