Mergers regulators plan a full investigation of hotel group Dalata’s €80 million-plus bid for rival Radisson’s property at Dublin Airport.
Dalata announced in November that it planned to buy the Radisson Blu Hotel at the airport in an €84 million deal set to close by June 30th this year, subject to regulators’ approval.
Mergers overseer, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), confirmed on Thursday that it planned a “phase two” investigation of the transaction to ensure consumers’ choice of price and quality do not suffer.
The regulator’s move follows an initial review of the deal.
Coffee drinkers face new price hikes and the latest Trump tariff twists
If planning laws were changed, obsolete offices could be converted into housing to ease Dublin’s rental crisis
Johnny Lappin: ‘I got scammed by a rogue so-called roofing contractor. I foolishly paid him in cash’
The silence of the CEOs in the face of Donald Trump’s tariff chaos
It carries out more detailed phase two investigations in cases where its first assessment cannot determine whether a transaction will affect commercial competition.
The commission has up to 120 working days to complete the process.
Within that time the CCPC must determine whether or not to clear Dalata’s proposed purchase of the Radisson Blu.
The regulator may decide to impose conditions on either or both companies, meant to safeguard competition, if it approves the deal.
Dalata runs 32 hotels in the Republic. It already operates the Maldron Hotel in the airport, around 200m from its terminals, and the Clayton in nearby Swords, a short drive from the hub.
The company noted in November that its licence to run what is now the Maldron property was due to expire in January next year.
Several other companies run hotels close to the airport, including Premier Inn, Travelodge and Holiday Inn.
Hospitality group Accor is joining forces with French business Sofitel and investor Arora to build a 412 bedroom hotel at the airport that is due to open late next year.
Dalata declined to comment on Thursday. The CCPC said it had decided that “an in-depth investigation is needed to establish whether or not the proposed transaction will result in a substantial lessening of competition in the State”.
Any interested party has until 4.30pm on May 2nd to make submissions to the regulator, the statement added.
According to the commission, during a phase two investigation, it continues taking evidence from the organisations involved and third parties, while “deepening its analysis” of a transaction’s likely impact on consumers.
If the CCPC forms a preliminary view that a deal will substantially lessen competition, it then puts this to the parties involved, giving them the opportunity to respond.
Dalata subsidiary DHGL Ltd, and CG Hotels Ltd, owner of the Radisson Blu, notified the deal to the commission in late November. The pair announced the transaction publicly around the same time.
Dalata runs most of its hotels under the Clayton and Maldron names. The company is listed on the Irish Stock Exchange, but recently hired investment bank, Rothschild, to find a buyer, signalling its exit from the market.
The company, Ireland’s biggest hotel group, believes that its share price does not reflect its underlying value.
Dalata also has hotels in Britain. Its revenues last year grew 7 per cent to €652 million while it generated €234.5million in cash.
