US FINANCE GIANT Goldman Sachs is set to take over the Travelodge franchise in Ireland in a move that will make it one of the largest hotel operators in the country.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) announced yesterday that a company called Halstonville, through its wholly owned subsidiary Mollydale Limited, is acquiring five subsidiaries of a firm called Smorgs and the assets of another two Travelodge hotels.

Halstonville is a firm that is jointly controlled by Goldman Sachs Group, one of the world’s largest finance and investment firms, and Piershine, a company controlled by DID Electrical founder Gerry Houlihan and his partner Aidan Crowe.

Travelodge, a budget hotel chain based in the UK, operates 12 hotels across Ireland. This includes five hotels in Dublin, two in Limerick and hotels in Belfast, Derry, Galway, Waterford and Cork.

Smorgs is a firm that owns the bulk of Travelodge’s Irish portfolio. The company made a loss of just over €1 million in the 12 months to the end of march 2014, the most recent year for which its accounts are available.

The deal must be approved by Ireland’s competition watchdog, the CCPC.

Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York Source: Mark Lennihan

Irish hotels

Goldman Sachs also has a controlling stake in Tifco, one of the largest hotel operating groups in the state. Houlihan and Crowe also have shares in the company through their Piershine vehicle.

The firm operates twelve hotels within Ireland, including the four-star Crowne Plaza in Blanchardstown, the Crowne Plaza Dublin Northwood and the Crowne Plaza Dundalk.

Irish hotels have become attractive assets for investors as occupancy rates and prices, particularly in Dublin, boom. It is expected that 2016 will be a near-record year for hotel sales.

According to property group CBRE, in the first half of the year 29 properties worth a combined total of €136 million changed hands.

The company said it expects the value of deals to soar during the second half of 2016, and added that it may even eclipse 2015, when 63 hotels totalling €710 million were bought and sold.

Written by Paul O’Donoghue and posted on Fora.ie