Norwegian property group Eiendomsspar has acquired a 5.45% stake in Dublin-headquartered hotel group Dalata.
Eiendomsspar now owns nearly 11.7m shares in the operator of the Clayton and Maldron hotel brands after increasing its stake from 4.06%.
The company first disclosed its interest in Dalata at the end of October when its stake rose above 3%.
Eiendomsspar also owns a 25% stake in Swedish hotel property group Pandox, which owns and leases 159 hotels across Europe, including locations in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Belfast.
The Oslo-based firm also includes a 14.7% stake in the Scandic Hotel Group in its portfolio, which runs 264 hotels.
Shares in Dalata are trading at €4.44 on Euronext Dublin and have fallen about 5% this year. The group's market capitalisation is around €950m.
Dalata, which recently agreed to sell the Clayton Whites Hotel Wexford to Neville Hotels for €21m, announced a €600m debt refinancing last month.
The group secured a green term loan facility of €100m as well as a multi-currency revolving credit facility of €375m and raised €125m from its first private placement of senior secured notes with a maturity profile of between five and seven years.
The facilities will provide Dalata with greater financial flexibility as it pursues growth. The group currently has 12,258 rooms across 57 hotels and has a pipeline for a further 700 rooms.
It has set a target of having another 21,000 rooms open or in development by 2030.
Dalata is currently completing a €30m share buyback programme after reporting half-year revenues of €302m and profits of €35.8m.
Speaking to the Irish Times, Eiendomsspar CEO Sigurd Stray said the investment was based on Dalata being a “a well-driven company with a good position in Great Britain and Ireland” and a view that its shares are trading at a “fair market price in the current market climate."
He declined to say if Eiendomsspar, now Dalata's fourth-largest shareholder, would increase its holding but said the company hasn’t got any plans to become an active shareholder.
London-based Helicon Investments is the largest outside investor in Dalata with a 14.3% stake, and the Saudi Arabian conglomerate Zahid Group has a 10% stake.
Photo: Dalata Hotel Group CEO Dermot Crowley and Chief Marketing Officer Roma O’ Connor. (Pic: File)
