B&F Business Person of the Month, July 2014 – Pat McCann, Chief Executive, Dalata Hotel Group

Barry O’Connor, Partner, MERC Partners; John Glenny, Partner, MERC Partners; Pat McCann, CEO, Dalata Hotel Group

Pat McCann’s extensive career in the hotel industry came to the fore this year when Dalata floated on the Dublin and London Stock Exchanges raising €265m.

Dalata is the largest hotel operator in Ireland, operating more than 40 hotels with over 6,000 rooms. Founded in June 2007 by Pat McCann, with investment from TVC Holdings plc and clients of Davy Property Holdings, all of the hotels in the Group’s portfolio are located in Ireland, other than the Maldron Hotel Cardiff.

Dalata operates 12 hotels under lease agreements, one hotel under a long-term operating agreement and 27 hotels under short-term management agreements.

McCann recently took a 25% stake in the companies behind the former Jurys and Berkeley Court, Durance Investments in a deal estimated to be in the region of €22m. McCann was previously chief executive of Jurys Doyle Hotel Group from 2000 to 2006. Since 2007, Dalata has recruited a number of former senior executives from the former Jurys Doyle Hotel Group and has built a centralised management team with expertise across all areas of the hotel business.

In 2007, Dalata acquired a group of companies from Choice Hotels Ireland that held leases and management agreements for 11 hotels. Then in 2008, Dalata rebranded its leased hotels under its own Maldron Hotels brand. Dalata currently operates 13 three and four-star hotels under the Maldron Hotel Brand, with 12 of these hotels located in Ireland and one in the UK.

In March 2009, Dalata Management Services (DMS) was set up in order to provide hotel operational and management expertise to receivers and banks. DMS provides a complete hotel management solution focusing on the implementation of the operational and physical asset changes and the introduction of the appropriate systems and controls to maximise the return on the hotel.

In March 2014, Dalata announced that it had raised €265m from listing its shares on the Dublin and London Stock Exchanges. While in June, Dalata struck a deal to acquire the freehold interest in the Maldron Hotel on Dublin’s Parnell Street for €15.3m. It is thought that some of the proceeds of the IPO will be used to pay down some of the company’s debt, but will be mainly used to fund the acquisition of between 16 and 25 Irish hotels.

CV highlights

• Pat McCann began his career in the hotel business in 1969 with Ryan Hotels plc.
• After 20 years working with Ryans, he joined Jurys Hotel Group plc in 1989 as general manager of its flagship hotel in Dublin.
• Five years later he was appointed operations director of Jurys and in 2000, he became chief executive of Jurys Doyle Hotel Group.
• He then went on to work as an independent hospitality and leisure consultant until August 2007 when the opportunity arose to become an initial promoter of Dalata.
• McCann has held a number of non-executive positions within the hospitality and other industries, including state and public company entities.
• He was formerly a director of EBS Building Society and Greencore Group plc.