Dalata Hotel Group CEO Dermot Crowley will step down later this year at an unspecified date, according to Scandic Hotels Group, which will soon assume operations of Dalata's hotel portfolio.
Dalata's deputy CEO Shane Casserly also is leaving the Ireland-based hospitality company.
The news comes five months after Scandinavian duo Pandox AB and Eiendomsspar AS — under the holding company name of Pandox Ireland Tuck Limited — completed the acquisition of Dalata for €1.4 billion ($1.65 billion). Dalata became a wholly owned division of Pandox and Eiendomsspar in November when it was delisted from the London Stock Exchange. Pandox owns 91.5% of Pandox Ireland Tuck, with Eiendomsspar owning the remaining share.
Crowley has been at Dalata for 13 years, the last five as CEO.
“I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved together as a team. … Over the last five years, we have added 16 hotels (3,800 rooms) across Ireland, the U.K. and Europe,” Crowley said in a statement. “The business is in a very strong place. … We are on target to open three new hotels in Dublin, Edinburgh and Berlin this year with a further four hotels in the pipeline in London, Edinburgh and Madrid.”
Pandox and Eiendomsspar chose Scandic to operate the Dalata hotel portfolio following the acquisition plan to separate Dalata’s property company and operating company interests, which is due to be completed by the end of this year.
Dalata has a portfolio of 56 hotels and 12,219 rooms, predominantly in Ireland and the United Kingdom and mostly branded under flags Maldron Hotels and Clayton Hotels. Of those hotels, 31 are owned, 22 are leased and three are managed via hotel management agreements. Dalata also has a development pipeline of 1,912 hotel rooms and a target to open approximately 21,000 rooms by 2030.
Scandic released its first-quarter 2026 earnings report on April 22, which commented on Dalata and its C-suite changes.
“The restructuring process [of Dalata] is progressing as planned. … Once the restructuring is complete and should Scandic seek to exercise an option to acquire Dalata’s hotel operations, the operations would be conducted in line with Scandic’s operating model, similar to our other markets,” Scandic's earnings release said.
In the quarter, Scandic saw revenue increase 3.1% year over year to 4.7 billion Swedish krona ($512 million); occupancy increase 1.3% to 55.8%; revenue per available room increase 1.5% to 665 Swedish krona, and operating profit increase 9.3% to 212 million Swedish krona.
“The comparative quarter was positively impacted by non-recurring items of SEK43 million in Denmark, partly offset by a profit contribution of SEK50 million from the management agreement with Dalata during the quarter,” Scandic's earnings release said.
Scandic added Des McCann, “Dalata’s current chief operations officer will continue in his role [following the restructuring] … while the current CEO will remain with the business for a period to ensure a smooth leadership transition and restructuring process.”
McCann will also become a member of Scandic’s executive committee, reporting to Scandic President and CEO Jens Mathiesen.