The publicly-quoted hotels group, Dalata, remains hot on the acquisition trail and has just announced it's to acquire the leasehold interest of the Gibson Hotel in Dublin’s Docklands, the Clarion Hotels in Cork and in Limerick, and the Croydon Park Hotel in South London.

All the hotels are currently operated as part of the US-owned Choice Group of hotels.

As part of the deal, Dalata will take over the management of the Clarion Liffey Valley Hotel, under a short-term management contract.

The enterprise value of the deal, the combined cash cost and the value of debts taken on board by Dalata, is €40m.

The Group says it also plans to invest €14m over the next two years in refurbishing hotels in Cork, Limerick and London and rebranding them under the Clayton moniker.

The deal will transfer close to an additional 1,000 bedrooms to the Group in the Greater Dublin Area, where revenues per available room are rising strongly and, through the Gibson, give it a foothold in Dublin’s Docklands where it also plans to build a new hotel.