Swedish hotel investment group Pandox has joined forces with another investor partner, to make an offer to buy Irish group Dalata.
The move at the beginning of June came after Dalata put its business up for sale, apparently frustrated at the low valuation of its Irish-listed shares. However, Dalata promptly declared the offer unacceptable, saying the EUR1.3 billion cash offer significantly undervalued the business.
Partnering to fund the acquisition
In order to make its acquisition offer, Pandox worked in partnership with Eiendomsspar AS, one of Norway’s largest real estate investors. No stranger to the hotel space, Eiendomsspar currently owns 11 hotels in Norway, and is funding development of a further two. The company has been quietly backing Pandox, and today controls more than a third of Pandox voting shares.
It was at the beginning of March 2025 that Dalata announced it would be conducting a strategic review, with one potential result of that review being a possible sale of the business to new owners – if that option was attractive enough to shareholders of the publicly listed business. At the time, chairman John Hennessy commented: “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.”
In its response to the Pandox proposal, the Dalata board also revealed it has other interested parties who are making a play to buy the company: “The Board confirms it continues to engage in constructive discussions with a number of parties who are participating in the formal sales process, and who have submitted initial non-binding proposals to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the group.”
Dalata currently has a portfolio of 55 hotels across Europe, with a strong presence in Ireland and the UK. It owns 30 hotels, including some currently under construction, worth a total of EUR1.7 billion, leases 22 more and runs three sites under management contracts. All trade under either the Maldron or the Clayton brands, both in the four star segment of the market.
Access to a Europe-wide portfolio
In its home market of Dublin, the company has 19 hotels in total, accounting for around 16% market share. In regional Ireland, it has a further 11 hotels. In the UK, the group has five hotels in London, and a further 17 in regional city markets. In mainland Europe, it has hotels trading in Dusseldorf and Amsterdam, with two further hotels, in Berlin and Madrid, under negotiation.
The group has ongoing developments including a new Maldron Hotel at Croke Park, Dublin, where it is building a new 200 room hotel adjacent to the city’s major stadium. There is also a Clayton hotel expansion in the city’s Cardiff Lane. And in the UK, upcoming projects include Clayton hotels at Manchester airport, Edinburgh and in the City of London as part of the Tower 42 Estate.
