DOYLE Hotels, tipped to take a stock market listing this year, has further strengthened its senior management ahead of the expected move to become a public company.
Doyle has hired a new head of sales and marketing, Mr Mike Glancey, from British hotels group Stakis and he will have responsibility for the marketing of the 10 hotels in the Doyle group - seven in Dublin, one in London and two in Washington DC.
Mr Glancey's is the latest in a series of appointments at senior management and board level, all of which have fuelled speculation that Doyle is gearing itself for a stock market flotation.
Last month, Doyle brought in a former chief executive of Hilton Hotels, Mr Michael Hirst, as a non executive director and last year appointed former Price Waterhouse senior partner and current ESB chairman Mr Billy McCann as a non executive director. Previously, the former chief executive of Waterford Crystal, Dr Paddy Galvin, was appointed non executive chairman.
Ever since chief executive Mr David Doyle rejoined the family owned company in March, 1996, speculation has intensified that the company is gearing up for a flotation.
Mr Doyle himself is thought to be keen on such a move and changes in the shareholding structure, which spread voting rights more evenly between Mr Doyle, his three sisters and his mother, are all seen as moves to make Doyle Hotels a more attractive prospect for institutional investors.
On strict financial criteria, Doyle should be attractive to investors especially given the strong stock market performance from Jurys Hotel and forecasts that the hotel sector is set for continued growth in the next few years.
Jurys, with a market capitalisation of around £130 million, is valued at just under 13 times its 1996 profits while Ryan Hotels, with a market value of £31 million, is valued at just over six times 1996 profits.
The most recent Doyle results are for the year to November, 1995, when the group had profits of £11 million. On this basis, Doyle is likely to be valued closer to Jurys with a market capitalisation in the region of £120 to £140 million.
Doyle itself has never made any public comment about a flotation, nor has it commented on periodic rumours linking it with a merger with Ryan Hotels.
