Brehon Capital buys Citywest hotel for €29m

Property investment group Brehon Capital yesterday closed the deal to acquire the Citywest Hotel in Saggart, Co Dublin, for a sum believed to be about €29 million.

In a statement issued to The Irish Times last night, the company said: "Brehon Capital Partners confirms that its acquisition of Citywest Hotel has closed. We look forward to outlining our plans for growing the business in the near future."

The hotel’s 380 staff were briefed about the transaction last month and will transfer to work under the new ownership structure.

A spokesman for Brehon said it would be business as usual at the hotel.

The 770-bedroom hotel was acquired from receiver Martin Ferris, who was appointed in 2010 by Bank of Scotland (Ireland) to secure their loans on the property.

Citywest is the biggest hotel in the country, having been developed by the late businessman Jim Mansfield. It has large conferencing facilities, golf courses and substantial car parking.

It will continue to be operated by Dalata, the publicly quoted hotel group run by Pat McCann. Mr McCann said yesterday that the company had agreed a deal with Brehon to extend its management contract until January.

“We have done an interim agreement with Brehon that we will manage the property until January of next year. During that period we will review what our relationship might be going forward,” Mr McCann said.

This is Brehon’s sixth hotel acquisition in Ireland in recent times. Other deals included the Marker Hotel in Dublin, the Mount Juliet resort in Kilkenny, and the Powerscourt Hotel in Enniskerry.

The company recently appointed Paul Connolly, a financier and business associate of Denis O’Brien, as its chairman.

While the sale of Citywest to Brehon was closed yesterday, the process could yet face legal issues. The family of Mr Mansfield are challenging the receiver’s decision in the High Court on the basis that they have ownership rights on certain parts of the complex.