International financial institutions build stakes in Dalata
It joined BNP Paribas, the French bank, which disclosed yesterday that it had both shares and short positions in Dalata. According to its filing with the Irish Takeover Panel, the bank now holds just over 5.2 million shares, a 2.5pc stake. It reduced its short positions by 355,653 shares.
Short selling means borrowing shares whose price you think will fall and selling them. The intention is to buy the stock back at a lower price, return the borrowed stock, and pocket the profits.
Societe Generale, another French bank, has also declared its ownership and short positions in Dalata. In its filing to the regulatory authorities, Societe Generale disclosed it has a total interest of almost 5.2 million shares, equal to a 2.45pc stake.
Its short positions are relatively small – amounting to 0.03pc of the stock.
Goldman Sachs has already increased its voting rights in Dalata to 4.83pc.
State Street Global Advisors has a stake of just over 1pc.
Fil Ltd and its subsidiaries have disclosed a 6.3pc stake in Dalata, which owns 55 hotel properties in Britain and Ireland and is listed on the stock exchanges in London and Dublin. In a filing by Davy Stockbrokers, it declared both purchases and sales of shares of Dalata, saying it had bought 71,206 at prices ranging from €6.25 to €6.35, and sold 74,579 shares at prices from €6.27 to €6.37.
Dalata's share price reached €6.43 just after midday yesterday, its highest point in over a year, before falling back in afternoon trading. There were over 350,000 shares worth over €2.2m traded throughout the day.
Last week Dalata, whose chief executive is Dermot Crowley, rejected a €1.3bn offer from a Scandinavian consortium, saying it materially undervalued the group.
The offer of €6.05 a share by Pandox and Eiendomsspar represented a premium of just over 27pc on the €4.76 closing price of March 5, the last trading day before Dalata announced it was launching a strategic review, with one option being a sale.
In an announcement made within hours of the offer being notified, Dalata rejected it, a move that has been vindicated by the subsequent surge in the company's share price.
'The board announced a strategic review on March 6 to explore options available to optimise capital opportunities for the group and to enhance value for shareholders, including a Formal Sales Process (FSP) pursuant to the Irish takeover rules,' it said in a statement.
'The board continues to engage in constructive discussions with a number of parties who are participating in the FSP and who have submitted initial non-binding proposals to acquire the entire issued and to-be-issued share capital of the group.'
Yesterday, a spokeswoman for Dalata said there was no update on this position.
Under takeover rules, the Scandinavian consortium has until July 15 to either announce a binding intention to make a bid for Dalata, or to pull out.
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