Dalata rejects takeover bid
The offer of €6.05 per share by Pandox and Eiendomsspar represented a premium of just over 27pc on the €4.76 closing price of March 5, the last trading day before Dalata announced it was launching a strategic review, with one option being a sale.
It was a 14pc premium to the three-month average price of €5.32 per share.
In an announcement made within hours of the offer being notified, Dalata said it had considered the bid, along with its advisers, and was rejecting it.
'The board announced a strategic review on 6 March to explore options available to optimise capital opportunities for the group and to enhance value for shareholders, including a Formal Sales Process (FSP) pursuant to the Irish takeover rules,' it said in a statement. 'The board continues to engage in constructive discussions with a number of parties who are participating in the FSP and who have submitted initial non-binding proposals to acquire the entire issued and to-be-issued share capital of the group. Pandox is not a participant in the FSP, having declined to enter the process on the terms set out.'
Dalata said its board remains committed to the ongoing process, and a further announcement will be made in due course as appropriate. Shareholders were advised to take no action in relation to the Pandox offer.
Russ Mould, an analyst with AJ Bell, had pointed out that the consortium's 27.1pc bid premium was below the 36pc average on UK-listed takeovers so far this year. 'That leaves scope for someone else to come along and offer slightly more,' he said.
A number of American investment firms have already submitted bids for Dalata, according to reports by Green Street, a property news website. They are said to include Bain, Apollo and Starwood, which already owns 2.7pc of Dalata through an affiliate.
The board of Dalata has hired Rothschild, an investment bank, to carry out the strategic review. The company is listed in Dublin and London, and its share price was boosted by the announcement of the bid. It was up over 8pc in London, to £5.10, and by over 5pc on Euronext in Dublin, reaching €6.07 at lunchtime.
Eiendomsspar, one of the largest property owners in Norway, with its portfolio including 11 hotels, already has an 8.8pc stake in Dalata. It controls 36pc of the shares in Pandox, a Swedish firm that owns 163 hotels across 11 countries in Europe, with about 36,000 rooms.
Based in Stockholm, Pandox develops and then leases hotels to operators under long-term deals. Its hotels in Ireland operate under the Leonardo brand.
'As established hotel investors with deep knowledge of the European hotel sector and experience in successfully executing similar transactions in the UK and Ireland, the consortium is well positioned to support Dalata's business and long-term growth ambitions,' it said in an announcement to the stock exchange.
'The consortium is currently negotiating with a reputable European hotel operator to enter into a framework agreement for the operation of the Dalata hotels if the consortium acquires Dalata. This operator shares the consortium's commitment to long-term profitability and sustainable growth.'
Under takeover rules, the consortium has until July 15 to either announce a binding intention to make a bid for Dalata, or to pull out.
Dalata, whose chief executive is Dermot Crowley and which was established in 2007, has a portfolio of 55 hotels in Ireland and Britain, both owned and leased, operating under the Maldron and Clayton brands.
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