Riverview club members to vote on proposals from David Lloyd Leisure

Some 2,300 members of the Riverview Racquet and Fitness Club in south Dublin will vote on January 18th on an offer by the British leisure group, David Lloyd Leisure, to buy the club.

Riverview is currenty leased from Patchford, a company owned by Smurfit group and clothing firm Flairline Fashions, and members will be asked to release Patchford from the lease. Lloyd approached Patchford early in November and a deal - pending the agreement of the club's members - has been agreed. No figure has been disclosed but current property values in Dublin 4, where the club is based, would suggest that Riverview's 6 1/2-acre site could be worth more than £10 million.

The club's members would not benefit financially from the deal as they do not own the property, but David Lloyd has committed to invest £4.5 million sterling to develop swimming pool and upgrade gymnasium facilities at Riverview.

In a letter this week, Riverview's president, Mr Maurice Pratt, urged members to accept the deal. "The critical thing from our point of view is that David Lloyd have committed a very significant amount of money to develop the club and that's very attractive,", he said. Mr Pratt, is also managing director of Tesco Ireland, yesterday.

Riverview recorded a trading loss of £42,000 in the 1998-1999 financial year. Flairline's owner, Mr Sean Barron, said this was due to a decline in the club's restaurant business.

Mr Barron said there had been a number of approaches to buy the land since 1995, but he was keen that the leisure facility would be retained.

Mr Barron and a Smurfit spokesman said the club had not been offered for sale before it received the offer from David Lloyd.

But Smurfit group's chairman, Dr Michael Smurfit, told shareholders at its 1998 annual general meeting that it was not committed to its investments in the leisure sector in the long term. The group also owns the exclusive KClub in Co Kildare.

Owned by the Whitbread group in Britain, David Lloyd opened an outlet in Belfast last week. The company has 41 outlets in the UK and its current year turnover is expected to reach £78 million sterling.

Asked whether David Lloyd was planning further acquisitions in Ireland, a spokesman said it was "too early to say yet".