Doyle consortium looks to have ended Jurys saga

JDH, the consortium led by the daughters of the late PV Doyle, has secured over 50% of the equity of Jurys Doyle Hotel chain to gain control of the business.

The consortium bid €1.25 billion for Jurys to retain the group intact.

After months of speculation the family, which initially held a significant minority stake in the business, were the only ones to put a firm offer to shareholders.

That has now won the support of a simple majority of shareholders, making it highly unlikely a counter bid will be made for the chain of 33 hotels.

Jurys Doyle was put into play in May when Precinct Investments, a consortium led by developer Bryan Cullen, indicated its intention to offer €15.25 per share for the hotel chain.

That set off a chain of events involving other developers including Sean Dunne and Liam Carroll.

Mr Dunne now has a 28% stake in the business and is in the process of paying €260 million for 4.8 acres of prime development land owned by Jurys Doyle in Ballsbridge.

Mr Carroll, owner of Zoe Developments, holds 8.3% of the equity and unconfirmed reports say he is plotting a counter bid.

Market sources said anyone else trying buy the company at this stage faces a mathematical impossibility and while there may be some twists and turns before the deal is finalised, the Doyle family look to have finally won the day.

In a statement to the Irish Stock Exchange yesterday, NCB Stockbrokers said JDH owns 46.20% of the group, but also holds irrevocable votes of 1.75% and options of 2.1% that pushes its holding up to 50.1%.