Hotel

Blackstone In Talks To Buy Ballsbridge Hotels Stake

By Publications Checkout
Blackstone In Talks To Buy Ballsbridge Hotels Stake

Blackstone Group is in talks to buy a 25% stake in three Ballsbridge hotels once owned by property developer Sean Dunne.

The portfolio, which includes the Berkeley Court, Towers and Jurys Hotel, is being sold by the administrators of the UK unit of failed Icelandic lender Kaupthing Bank.

Dunne's banks, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s Ulster Bank, Rabobank and Kaupthing, took control of the hotels in 2009 after planning authorities refused Dunne permission to redevelop the 6.8-acre site.

The now-bankrupt property developer bought the former Berkeley Court, the Towers and Jurys Hotel in 2005 for close to €380 million. At the time it was the highest price paid per acre in Ireland.

New York-based Blackstone bought the Burlington Hotel in Ballsbridge in November for €67 million from Lloyds Banking Group, which was less than a quarter of the €288 million paid by Irish Bernard McNamara in 2007.

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