Irish hotel firm MHL Hotel Collection has acquired two hotels in Dublin from Tifco Hotel Group, which is also based in Ireland. The Irish Times reports the deal has a value of €100 million ($114.5 million).
The two hotels are both located at Dublin Airport and adjacent to one another: the 209-room Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport and 214-room Holiday Inn Express Dublin Airport.
Prior to the acquisition, MHL Hotel Collection's hotel portfolio included 14 properties and approximately 2,300 rooms across Ireland, including eight hotels in Dublin, three hotels in Galway and one each in Limerick and Wicklow. The company also has one hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
MHL’s partner and co-founder Paul Higgins said the move is its “most significant transaction for 10 years,” The Irish Times reports. He added now is the perfect time to invest in the Dublin Airport hotel market due to this week's ruling by Ireland that scraps the 32 million-per-year passenger limit for the airport.
Ireland’s Minister of Transport Darragh O’Brien said the new legislation will “facilitate the sustainable development of Dublin Airport by ensuring compliance with applicable European Union law, while balancing the rights of local residents with the objectives of Ireland’s National Aviation Policy and the needs of business and tourism.”
In mid-May, CoStar News reported that MHL had completed a €190 million ($218 million) refinancing package with AIB Group for four hotels in its portfolio — The 191-room College Green Hotel and 262-room Trinity City Hotel in Dublin; 184-room Limerick Strand Hotel in Limerick, and 275-room Galmont Hotel & Spa in Galway.
Lately Tifco Hotels has been disposing its hotel assets. Now its portfolio includes three Dublin hotels: Crowne Plaza Dublin Blanchardstown; Arthaus Hotel and Clontarf Castle Hotel.
Tifco, owned by Apollo Management since 2018, also has the the master franchise agreement for the Travelodge and Travelodge Plus brands in Ireland, and it has six joint-venture hotels that are all located in Ireland.
