A builder is to buy the 4.84-acre site of Jurys Ballsbridge and The Towers hotels in Dublin 4 for €260 million, it was announced this morning.
Jurys Doyle Hotels told the Irish Stock Exchange in a statement that is had agreed to sell the land to Padholme, which is controlled by businessman Sean Dunne.
There were 12 other bidders for the site; the €260 million price tag is understood to be the highest price paid for an Irish property.
The deal, which is subject to approval by Jurys Doyle shareholders, is expected to be completed in October with net proceeds after the deduction of costs of €2 million is expected to be €258 million, the statement said.
Profit on the disposal would be €158.8 million, it said.
Jurys invited tenders for the property, in one of central Dublin's most prestigious districts, last month following a strategic review of its business. The site encompasses two hotels and an apartment block. Jurys said it would continue to operate the hotels until 2007.
An extraordinary general meeting to approve the sale of the site would be held on September 27th, it said.
The company also gave an update on current trading, saying business across its hotels division in the United Kingdom and the United States, and across its inns division in both countries continued to be satisfactory.
However, the trading performance of its four-star Dublin hotel portfolio continued to be disappointing.