db Group
| db Group | |
|---|---|
| Industry | Hospitality, Real estate |
| Founded | 1984 [1] |
| Founder | Silvio Debono |
| Key people | Silvio Debono, executive chairman; Arthur Gauci, CEO Robert Debono, executive director[2] |
| Revenue | €88.7 million (2024)[1] |
Number of employees | 6,184 (2024)[1] |
| Website | dbgroupmalta |
The db Group is largest hotel holding in Malta, with over 3,500 beds and 6,184 employees in 2024.[1] It was founded and is still owned by Silvio Debono and his family from Mellieha.
History
[edit]According to his account, Debono started as waiter and a barman in the early 1980s, before taking on a small tearoom, which he turned into a successful restaurant, whose owner asked him to become a partner. He went on opening a bar, a discotheque, and a pizzeria. He then opened an 80-room hotel in Mellieha, bought the Tunny Net restaurant, and a 3-star hotel. He obtained a bank guarantee from Thomson in London to open a 95-apartment complex. Later he contacted the Hard Rock Café franchise in Orlando, Florida, opening the first Hard Rock Café in Malta.[3] He also established partnerships with the Accor Hotel Group, and RIU Hotels & Resorts.[4]
In the late 2010s, db Group had become the largest hotel operator in Malta, with over 3,500 beds and 2,850 employees.[4] In April 2017 the db Group issued a €65 million 10-year Bond at a fixed coupon of 4.35%m, which was listed on the Malta Stock Exchange one month later.[4][non-primary source needed]
On 11 March 2017, Silvio Debono filed 19 libel suits against Daphne Caruana Galizia - one per each line in a post that the journalist had written about the highly controversial ITS land deal at St George's Bay. Caruana Galizia had noted that Debono exploited a legal loophole allowing him to file a separate case for each article or comment, regardless on whether they had the same author and content.[5] Debono and the family of the slain journalist reached an out-of-court settlement in 2021.[6]
Companies
[edit]Real estate
[edit]- db San Gorg Property Limited
- Kika Construction Company Limited
- Kika Developments Company Limited
- Siar Property Investments Limited
- Ghadira Property Investment Limited
Hotels
[edit]- db Seabank Resort + Spa
- db San Antonio Hotel + Spa
- Starbucks Malta
- Hard Rock Café Malta
- Porto Azzurro
- Adeera Complex – Amami – Blu Beach – Westreme
- db City Centre at St. George's Bay, in St. Julian's - former Institute for Tourism Studies
- Nine Lives
- Aki
Contract catering
[edit]- Sky Gourmet Malta Limited
- Malta Healthcare Caterers Limited
Healthcare
[edit]- Healthmark
- Health Service Group Limited
- Support Services Limited
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 Annual-Report-July-2024
- ↑ MFSA
- ↑ "Interview with Silvio Debono, founder of Seabank Group | Malta: Open for business and looking east report". The Report Company. Retrieved 2026-08-26.
- 1 2 3 "db Group". CWEIC. Retrieved 2026-08-26.
- ↑ "Defence against frivolous and vexatious libel suits". The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation. Retrieved 2026-08-26.
- ↑ Silvio Debono drops 19 Caruana Galizia libel cases following settlement, Times of Malta, 19 April 2021; Silvio Debono drops libel cases against Daphne Caruana Galizia following settlement, Malta Today, 19 April 2021