McCANN BACK AS PART OF TVC HOTELS DEAL - There is news of a deal worth more than €40m this morning. Former Jurys Doyle chief executive Pat McCann is among a group of investors, led by listed investment company TVC Holdings, who have paid €41.5m to buy the Comfort Inn and Quality Hotel chains in Ireland from Choice Hotels Ireland.
Choice Hotels Ireland is owned by Frankie Whelehan and the McCormack and Kelly families. Some 11 hotels are included in the deal and they have in excess of 1,400 rooms.
Mr Whelehan said Choice had won the franchise rights for the Clarion hotel group in the UK and Germany, which triggered a review of the Irish operations. He said the company felt its resources were better deployed in the UK and Europe.
Mr McCann said he had been looking for a platform business since stepping down from Jurys Doyle. He said the business could be taken forward into the UK and Europe. Mr McCann said there would be now luxury hotels in the group and the three-star sector was the most resilient.
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MORTGAGE APPROVALS SLUMPED IN Q1 - There are some official housing figures this morning from the Department of the Environment. They show that, despite higher interest rates and the politicians' interference in stamp duty, the average price of a new house nationally, at just under €321,000, was 9% higher in the first quarter of 2007 compared with the same three months in 2006.
It also finds that average second hand house price were up 9% at just under €380,000. The squeeze comes on the mortgage approvals side with 22% fewer mortgages approved between January and March this year compared with a year earlier.
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MARKETS - In Tokyo, the Nikkei closed up seven points. The Dow Jones closed up 2% or 286 points last night, despite American Home Mortgage's filing for bankruptcy protection. The euro is worth $1.38 and just under 67.8p sterling.
