L+R joint venture front-runner for Dalata?

LONDON and DUBLIN – A report by Green Street News in London said a joint venture between London + Regional and Davidson Kempner is potentially gaining an upper hand and possibly nearing preferred bidder status in the race to acquire Dublin-based hotel giant Dalata Hotel Group, who earlier this month rejected a €1.3 billion ($1.48 billion) buyout proposal from Scandinavian property companies Pandox AB and Eiendomsspar AS.

The report said L+R and Davidson Kempner are in competition with the likes of Starwood Capital, Bain, Apollo, TPG and KSL Capital Partners.

Davidson Kempner is reportedly in the process of raising its first dedicated real estate fund.

After the Pandox bid of €6.05 per share was rejected in early June, Green Street analysts said that €6.60 per share was the natural upper limit for a cash offer and that the L+R-Kempner bid was below that limit.

The L+R-Davidson Kempner 50:50 joint venture is being led by two former Starwood Capital colleagues – L+R Group Chief Executive Cody Bradshaw, who left Starwood in 2024 after his run as global head of hotel asset management, and Romain Ferron, a partner at Davidson Kempner and former acquisition associate at Starwood until 2013.

Dalata, which operates 55 hotels under the Maldron Hotel and Clayton Hotel brands, primarily in Ireland and the U.K., appointed Rothschild & Co in March to launch a strategic review to explore options to enhance shareholder value, including but not limited to a potential sale of the group.

Dalata’s 30 owned hotels have been valued externally at €1.7 billion ($1.84 billion), including assets under construction, it said, 73% of which relates to hotels in Dublin and London.

It has 22 leased hotels, the majority of which are on long-term institutional lease agreements with a weighted average lease length of 29 years, and also operates three managed hotels.

Dalata’s stated ambition is to grow its portfolio of 11,990 rooms and pipeline of 1,867 rooms to 21,000 rooms either operational or in development by 2030.

Earlier this week, Dalata received approval from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to acquire the Radisson Blu Hotel Dublin Airport for €83 million.