Jurys share purchases fail to dent Doyle family control
Members of the Doyle family have further increased their stake in the Jurys Doyle Hotel Group to 29.9%. NCB Stockbrokers confirmed to the Irish Stock Exchange that Netherfields Developments, controlled by members of the Doyle family, bought 669,354 shares in the company on Wednesday at a price of €18.50.
Between them, the Doyles and Mr Dunne have 50.7% of the equity in the group, effectively making it impossible for anyone else to bid for the group.
Earlier this week, the family bought over 2.6 million shares to bring their stake in the hotel group to 28.8%, which highlighted their intention of having a significant say in the future of the group, a substantial portion of which was the legacy of their late father, PV Doyle.
They upped that stake further on Wednesday by going to 29.9% and any further share purchase by them at this stage would require them to make an all out bid for the group under stock exchange rules.
Mr Dunne is due to meet the family shortly for talks. He already has committed to paying €260 million to Jurys Doyle for 4.8 acres of land in Ballsbridge and has spent well over €200m in consolidating his 22% stake in the Dublin based hotel chain.
A spokeswoman for Jurys Doyle said the company has had no further indications of an intention to bid despite speculation of several potential bidders waiting in the wings.
Included among them are Quinlan Private, which bought and sold the Savoy Hotel in London for over €1 billion, and property developer Paddy Kelly.
Despite the intense interest in the group no bid has been put to the board and the chances of that happening now look to be getting more remote, analysts said.
Shares in the company fell 20cents yesterday to end the day at €17.95.
