Millionaire property developer Bernard McNamara has acquired a significant interest in the Conrad Hotel in Dublin. The loss-making five-star property is only a short walk from the Shelbourne Hotel on St Stephen's Green, one of Mr McNamara's other major investments in the city.
Property sources put a crude valuation of at least €100 million on the 192-room hotel on Earlsfort Terrace, an estimation that values the 45 per cent stake that Mr McNamara bought only days ago at some €45 million.
Already a co-owner of the Superquinn chain and one of the most acquisitive investors in the commercial property market, Mr McNamara has built up a large hotel portfolio in recent years.
He co-owns the Shelbourne with four other investors and controls the Mercer Hotel in Dublin, which is itself only a stone's throw from St Stephen's Green. He also bought out the Great Southern Parknasilla Hotel in Co Kerry last summer and co-owns the Radisson SAS Hotel in Galway.
Mr McNamara was recently involved in two of the most prominent property transactions in Dublin. He was the largest single shareholder in the consortium that bought the former Irish Glass Bottle site at Ringsend for €412 million and is a member of the group that this month acquired the Allianz building on Burlington Road for €100 million.
The Allianz property is adjacent to the Burlington Hotel, which was put on the market last week by the Jurys Doyle group. Mr McNamara is considered a likely bidder for the Burlington, which is likely to fetch at least €250 million.
Mr McNamara acquired his interest in the Conrad from the Irish Shell pension fund and nominees of the Bank of New York. The deal is subject to the approval of the Competition Authority, which was notified of the transaction last Friday.
Mr McNamara entered the deal with Conrad International, the hotel chain which is part of the Hilton Group. A spokeswoman for the hotel said the chain would continue to operate the hotel. The other owners are Conrad International, Hibernian Life & Pensions and Cashel Fund.
The most recent filings for the owner of the Conrad - Earlsfort Centre Hotel Proprietors Ltd - indicate that the hotel lost €804,141 before tax in 2005 on a turnover of €13.8 million. The operating loss in 2005 was €72,726. While a €8 million revamp in 2005 resulted in the loss of some business that year, the hotel had a pretax loss of €861,414 in 2004 on a turnover of €13.27 million. The operating loss in 2004 was €38,987.
"The first-half performance was negatively impacted by disruption as the investment programme concluded in the Alex restaurant and the lobby area. The second-half performance was strongly ahead of budget and actual 2004," said the directors' note with the 2005 accounts.
"Overall occupancy exceeded budget and actual 2004, maintaining an upward trend from 2002. Revenue per available room was on budget and 8 per cent above actual 2004. Room revenues were on budget and 8 per cent above actual 2004. Food and beverage performance was disappointing as the refurbishment mentioned above resulted in lower than planned revenues."
