By Andy Young
The Colonial Leisure Group (CLG) has purchased the leasehold of the Newtown Hotel from The Keystone Group.
CLG, which owns or manages 19 venues across Australia has said it expects it to be business as usual in the short-term, but has plans to focus on the food and beverage offering of the hotel to bring it in line with its Victorian and Western Australian pubs.
CLG national general manager Lawrence Dowd said: “The purchase of the Newtown Hotel is certainly one of the most exciting deals we’ve done in a while and we are very happy to be entering the NSW market.
"This iconic pub is the perfect fit into our diverse portfolio and in addition, will be a great base for our Colonial Brewing Co brand in Sydney."
The Keystone Group said that it had not been seeking buyers for the property, but after being approached by CLG, the group decided to accept the offer "to take advantage of favourable market conditions".
Keystone bought the Newtown Hotel in 2010 and undertook extensive renovations to restore it to its original state, as well as increasing the food offering, and opening the Animal restaurant on the upper level.
John Duncan, managing director of The Keystone Group said: "We are pleased to confirm the sale of The Newtown Hotel to Colonial Leisure Group. It has been a very successful venue for us, and we know it will continue to trade strongly in an exciting suburb.
“For The Keystone Group, the sale will allow us to continue to focus on building and expanding our core brands across our bar and restaurant portfolio."