Dublin nightlife pioneers ‘step back’ from Press Up group of bars and hotels

Significant change has been underway in Press Up for months, including the sales of some assets with a former lender, Cheyne Capital, taking a majority stake in the business over the summer.

Paddy McKillen Jr and Matt Ryan, the former schoolmates who helped transform Dublin nightlife after the financial crash – starting Press Up in 2009 – are "no longer directing day-to-day operations", according to a report in The Currency.

The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment. However, filings in the Companies Office indicate that both Mr McKillen Jr and Mr Ryan continue to be directors of the Press Up companies.

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The direction of the hospitality empire would now appear to be in the hands of Cheyne Capital, a London-based alternative investment fund.

The hospitality group has included some of Ireland's best-known venues, such as the Workman's Club in central Dublin, the Stella Cinema in Rathmines, the Dean Hotel on Harcourt Street, and the Elephant & Castle and Wagamama restaurant chains. Its assets have included everything from a golf resort in the midlands to a bowling alley, gyms, and well-known pubs such as Larry Murphy's on Baggot Street in Dublin. In 2019, Press Up took over the management of the Clarence Hotel.

Mr McKillen Jr and Mr Ryan also co-founded Oakmount, a property development firm that owned some of the Press Up venues. At its height, the combined group employed about 1,800 people.

Press Up was known to be on the lookout for investment ever since it abandoned a plan in late 2019 to raise up to €50m through the disposal of a 45pc stake through an IPO.

It was badly affected by the pandemic, when Covid restrictions shut many of its venues off and on for two years. After they reopened, the hotel and hospitality sector was then hit by inflation, while Oakmount faced higher prices in construction.

Cheyne refinanced the group's debt in 2021. At one point companies within the group owed up to €80m to Cheyne and other lenders. Some €13m of that was repaid when the Dean Hotel Group was sold by Mr McKillen Jr and Mr Ryan last February.

Mr McKillen Jr remained a minority shareholder in the group following the sale, which valued the hotel assets at €350m. The purchaser was Lifestyle Hospitality Capital, a British property firm, and Elliott Investment Management, founded by billionaire Paul Singer.

Under the terms of the sale, Press Up continued to manage the hotel operations, which include Glasson Lakehouse in Co Westmeath and the Clarence in Dublin, which it had bought last year from U2's Bono and The Edge and Paddy McKillen Sr.

According to recently filed accounts, the company behind the Dean Hotel had a €2.3m operating loss in the year leading up to the sale.

There had been speculation about Press Up's long-term future since last autumn, following an announcement that it was making almost one third of its head office staff redundant citing "tough trading conditions".

In recent months it has been trying to sell a number of pubs in the group, and did manage to sell some restaurants, while closing others, such as the Union Café in Mount Merrion. Some landlords have been pursuing the group for payment through the High Court.

Oakmount also put a number of pubs on the market including Ashton's in Clonskeagh and the Lucky Duck in Aungier Street, Dublin, which was sold over the summer. The sale price was not disclosed, but it is believed to have been bought by a private investor for less than the €2m which agent CBRE had been quoting.

Cheyne is understood to have taken a 90pc equity stake in Press Up as part of a refinancing deal, with Mr McKillen Jr keeping a small stake. Cheyne is thought to be ready to inject further finance, up to €20m, once its future has been decided.