French real estate group pays €45m for Kilmainham Hilton hotel

French real estate group, Covivio, has paid around €45 million to acquire the four-star Hilton Dublin-Kilmainham hotel under a structured arrangement with its current owners, the Tifco group.

While the transaction will see Covivio secure the freehold interest of the 120-bedroom hotel, it is understood Tifco will continue to be involved on foot of what market sources described as a sale-and-manage back agreement.

The Irish hotel group's continued interest in the Kilmainham property was confirmed in a notice published by the European Commission on November 11th last, in which it gave its approval to the "acquisition of joint control" over the hotel by Covivio and Tifco's owner, Apollo Capital Management.

Tifco declined to comment on the matter when contacted by The Irish Times, while efforts to contact a spokesperson for Covivio were unsuccessful.

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While the Tifco Hotel Group acquired the Hilton-Dublin Kilmainham from developer John Lally's Lalco in 2015, Apollo secured ownership of the property last year as part of its €350 million takeover of Tifco's Irish hotel portfolio. The Kilmainham hotel is understood to have accounted for around €35 million of that total.

Under the terms of the deal, Apollo purchased 18 hotels including the Crowne Plazas at Dublin Airport, Blanchardstown, and Dundalk, and Travel Lodges at Dublin Airport, Ennis Road in Limerick, Galway city and Waterford city, and two sites.

Tifco also manages a number of other high-profile hotels around the State, including Clontarf Castle in Dublin, the Heritage Resort at Killenard, Co Laois, and the Metropole in Cork.

Located immediately opposite the entrance to the Royal Hospital Kilmainham and within a short distance of Heuston Station, the Hilton Dublin-Kilmainham hotel briefly comprises 120 guest rooms, several bars and restaurants, a leisure centre and gym, six meeting rooms and a conference centre accommodating up to 150 delegates.