By James Atkinson
The Australian Pub Fund (APF), the hotel venture of John Singleton and former Qantas boss Geoff Dixon, has announced it has signed contracts to purchase the Elephant Arms Hotel in Brisbane and the Bristol Arms Hotel in Sydney.
APF was set up by Sydney-based venture capital and private equity firm MH Carnegie & Co., which is a shareholder of the company along with Singleton, Dixon and Allan Johnston.
As with the group's eight existing Sydney pubs, daily operational management of the Elephant Arms and the Bristol Arms will be undertaken by Riversdale Group chief executive Paddy Coughlan and chief operating officer Rodney (Ned) Kelly, both who are also major investors in the company.
Coughlan told TheShout the Elephant Arms was acquired at a price of between $26 to $28 million and the Bristol Arms for around $8 million.
Coughlan, who will be an executive director of APF, said the Retro Nightclub will be maintained on the first two floors of the Bristol Arms, but the group plans to reopen a "classic CBD pub" on the ground floor, as well as adding a rooftop bar.
He said The Elephant at Fortitude Valley represents the group's first strategic interstate purchase.
"The purchase continues the execution of our core goal, namely acquiring assets with strong underlying real estate value at attractive entry yields with operational upside through innovative management," Coughlan said in a statement.
"We see the Brisbane metro area as a good fit for us and we hope to grow our QLD portfolio over the next 6-12 months."
APF Geoff Dixon said the fund had recently acquired $65 million of new capital to invest and was targeting in excess of $100 million of equity commitments.
"The Elephant Arms is our first purchase outside of Sydney, but in keeping with our growth strategy we are opening an office in Brisbane and will relocate a senior executive to that city," he said.
The sale of TheElephant was brokered by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels' John Musca and Paul Fraser, who told TheShout: "It’s the biggest hotel sale in the city since 2006, and a landmark asset in the fastest growing residential and precinct of Brisbane."
Musca added: "This transaction is a reminder that property assets delivering double digit cash-on-cash returns will always be highly regarded by the capital markets in any consolidation play."
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