EBC Hotel & Leisure Fund has moved to sell its three Tasmanian hotels in The Foreshore, Hobart, Old Tudor Hotel, Launceston and Bayside Inn, St Helens.
JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group has been retained to market the three properties, which will be sold on a going concern basis. The three licensed properties feature a combined 4.58 hectares of freehold land, 132 accommodation rooms and 90 gaming machines, generate revenues of circa $17m and achieve an EBITDA of almost $3.7m.
JLL’s National Director, John Musca said: “The growth opportunities and scalability of these assets will drive on significant interest from national hotel groups and aggregators looking to accelerate the revenue and EBITDA performance of their existing portfolios”.
He added: “Opportunities like this, where we can provide buyers with a stable investment platform, upside and growth at a yield point traditionally more attractive than in New South Wales or Victoria, and the opportunity to establish a foothold in one of Australia’s key growth markets, will appeal to numerous buyers.”
The sale comes at a prosperous time for Tasmania, with the state having delivered 20 consecutive quarters of economic growth, with Deloitte Access Economics forecasting the Tasmanian economy to continue recording solid growth over the next five years. The current population of 520,000 is targeted by the Government for a 25 per cent increase in the near future.
Peter Harper, JLL’s Executive Vice President, said: “Tasmania has experienced strong increases in domestic and international tourism as the state is increasingly recognised for its natural beauty, exceptional food & beverage offerings, adventure activities, and numerous major attractions and events. This growth should continue due to a range of notable drivers including the runway extension allowing for international flights and proposed Antarctic tourism base at Hobart Airport.”
The new owner will also benefit from new gaming ownership legislation expected in the state in the coming year, as JLL’s Mathew George explained.
“A new Liberal government legislated gaming ownership and tax regime is expected in the next 12 months, and believed likely to mirror the highly lucrative Victorian model moving from a three party operator system to a two party operator system delivering large uplifts in gaming profits to owners and taking positive effect in 2023,” said George.
“A stable government and interest rates remaining at an all-time low is significantly benefiting Tasmanian investment,” he added.