Dalata seals £44.3m deal to open first Maldron hotel in London

Dalata Hotel Group, Ireland's largest hotel operator, has purchased a new 192-bedroom hotel in London's Finsbury Park for £44.3m.

It comes after Dermot Crowley, chief executive of Dalata, revealed that London is a "key strategic growth market" for the company.

The property will open in summer 2023 under the Maldron brand, which will be the first of its kind in London.

The hotel is due to receive a £2m investment and was built using the Vision Modular System, which can lead to as much as a 40% reduction in embodied carbon emissions.

Dalata has acquired the entire share capital of Tide Developments (4) Limited (TD4) from Furadino Holdings Limited, while TD4 owns the freehold interest of the hotel property.

The 18th Dalata hotel in the UK is expected to produce stabilised annual earnings of £4m, the group said.

Dermot Crowley, chief executive of Dalata, said: "London is a key strategic growth market for Dalata. We are very excited to be opening our first Maldron hotel in the city in advance of our Maldron in Shoreditch, which is currently under construction.

"This acquisition represents an outstanding opportunity to operate a new, sustainably built hotel in a vibrant and developing area as we continue our ambitious UK expansion plan. The strength of our balance sheet has been a crucial element in enabling us to make this investment as we continue to create value for all of our stakeholders."

Shane Casserly, corporate development director at Dalata, added: "This transaction highlights our appetite for growth as well as the flexibility of our business model, which enables us to grow through acquisition, development and leasing."

Dalata Hotel Group was founded in 2007 and operates two main hotel brands, Clayton and Maldron Hotels. Its portfolio consists of 50 hotels and the group has 1,300 rooms in the pipeline across the UK and continental Europe.