By James Atkinson
ALH Group, the hotels joint venture between supermarket Woolworths and pub king Bruce Mathieson, has today confirmed its acquisition of various pubs in NSW.
As tipped by TheShout, Australian Leisure & Hospitality Group this morning announced that it has signed long term leases, as well as acquiring the businesses and associated assets of 31 hotels and one detached bottle shop in NSW from interests involved with the Laundy, Waugh and De Angelis Groups.
In an announcement to the ASX, ALH said it currently operates 27 hotels in NSW, and the acquisition of these hotel leases will complement its existing properties.
“ALH considers that these hotels have the capacity to achieve good trading growth, utlising our capacity to inject further capital into the business and our management expertise," said ALH CEO Bruce Mathieson Jnr.
The announcement says completion of the acquisition will occur once all applicable regulatory conditions have been met.
Stuart Laundy, director of Laundy hotel group (LHG) and architect of the deal, told TheShout the deal represents the Laundy family's continued faith in the hotel industry, and its strategic alliance with ALH.
"We are third generation publicans and have effectively joined forces with another publican family with similar historical ties in the industry. It's a good fit," he said.
"We will continue to operate hotels, and at the same time actively look for opportunities to partner with ALH where mutually beneficial circumstances exist. We are excited by the strategic relationship we share with ALH, and are buoyed by the continued strength our hotel industry enjoys and the opportunities this presents us with."