Two of Dublin’s leading bar and restaurant groups are to merge to form a near €50m revenue-generating business with control of many of the capital’s leading hospitality venues.

The combined value of hotel sales is set to top €500m this year, and could exceed €1bn depending on certain sales being completed before year-end.

Setanta Sports is in the final stages of selling its Australian broadcasting division to an international conglomerate owned by an affiliate of Middle East media giant, Al Jazeera.