The remaining hotels in the Jurys Doyle chain have been valued at more than €700 million following a series of asset disposals that yielded a profit of almost €950 million for the families which took the group private in 2005.
The internal valuation of up to €750 million on the 11 hotels in Ireland, Britain and the US implies a break-up valuation in the region of €2.62 billion on the entire business, which was taken private for some €1.6 billion less than two years ago.
In advance of a significant reinvestment programme, the hotels are projected to make some €50 million this year in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
Jurys Doyle was taken off the stock market by JDH Acquisitions, the vehicle controlled by the daughters of the late PV Doyle - Bernadette Gallagher,Eileen Monaghan and Ann Roche - and the family of former chairman Walter Beatty.
Having concluded the sale last month of the Jurys Inn chain to Quinlan Private, they now plan to invest some €150 million in the remaining hotels. The Jurys Inn sale yielded €1.165 billion, a transaction that brought the net realisations from the disposal of a series of hotels to €1.872 billion.
This also included:
•the €379 million that developer Seán Dunne paid for the Jurys, Towers and Berkeley Court sites in Ballsbridge in 2005;
•the €288 million that developer Bernard McNamara paid for the Burlington hotel last April;
•and the €40 million that Superquinn owner Select Retail Holdings paid for the Montrose hotel in February.
•The €1.872 billion proceeds from such transactions mean that JDH has already realised more than twice its original outlay on the take-private while retaining control of a profitable hotel portfolio.
Owners of 42 per cent of Jurys Doyle before the buy-out in late 2005, the consortium effectively spent €928 million to buy the 58 per cent it did not already own and assume the group's debt.
The €1.6 billion valuation on that deal included debts of some €385 million.
The realisations from the asset disposals imply a profit of €944 million over the money the group paid for the remainder of the group and take on its debt. That calculation excludes professional fees and finance costs.
The remaining portfolio includes the Westbury and Croke Park hotels in Dublin and the Jurys hotel in Cork.
The British hotels include the Kensington, Clifton Ford and Great Russell Street hotels in London and a hotel in Bristol. There is a hotel in Boston, and three in Washington.
The group, which wants to take the hotels upmarket, this week appointed Bill Walshe as chief executive. He joined the business from Dubai luxury hotel group Jumeirah and previously worked for Kempinski hotels and resorts.
The Jurys Inn and Burlington disposals provided more than enough money to clear the group's debts, which stood at €870 million earlier this year. For reasons of financial efficiency, the group is considered unlikely to pay down all of its debt.
PV Doyle's eldest daughter Bernie Gallagher is chairman of JDH Acquisitions.
