Irish government-backed Irish Infrastructure Fund (IIF) has been selected as the preferred bidder for the acquisition of the Dublin Convention Centre PPP project from Spencer Dock Development Company Limited (SDDC).

Paul McCann and Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton have been the joint official liquidators. Rubicon Infrastructure Advisors, an advisory firm headquartered in Dublin, has advised the sell side.

The assets include: the concession contract to operate and maintain the Dublin Convention Centre; ownership of the 320-space car park that is located underneath and the license to build and operate an approximately 330-bed hotel adjacent to the convention Centre.

The PPP operator is allowed to collect an availability-based payment and trading revenue generated from events hosted at Convention Centre over the 21 years it has left to run.

According to sources, the value of the assets could reach €80 million. The valuation of the deal was not made public.

The transaction is expected to be completed over the coming months.

Since opening in September 2010, the Convention Centre has exceeded expectations by hosting over 900,000 delegate days and has won 26 Industry Awards, including recognition as one of the top four convention centres in the world. In the last six months, the centre has secured 120 events, including 25 international conferences, booked for future years from 2015 to 2018.

Convention Centre executive chairman Dermod Dwyer said:

"I am very pleased that the sale process has made such significant progress at this stage. The day-to-day operation of the Convention Centre has continued successfully and without any disruption and this will continue until the conclusion of the process and beyond. The Convention Centre is a strategic national asset. In this regard, the long-term approach of IIF will be a good fit with the objectives of the ultimate owner of the Convention Centre, the OPW."