MA Financial Group’s Redcape Hospitality has announced the sale of the Beach Hotel Byron Bay.
Beach Hotel Byron Bay is one of Australia’s most recognisable and sought-after hotels. The hotel has been sold to the Didier family, led by Melbourne-based businessman and philanthropist, Scott Didier AM.
The transaction represents a significant milestone for the industry and one of the largest pub sales in Australian history, at a reported $140m. The transaction was brokered by JLL’s John Musca.
The famed Byron Bay pub last sold in 2020, when MA Financial acquired the pub off the van Haandel family and Impact Investment Group for $104 million. At the time of that sale the leasehold and freehold were re-stapled for the first time since 2007.
Occupying a prime location on Byron Bay’s Main Beach, the Beachie as it is affectionately known is a large format, multi-award winning live entertainment venue hosting over 500 hundred acts on its iconic stage each year from local up and comers to world renowned artists and everything in between.
The pub sits on a 4585 sqm site with more than 100m of frontage overlooking the main beach in Byron Bay. As well as the large pub, beer garden, restaurant, bottle shop and function spaces the venue also has 25 luxury hotel rooms and a swimming pool.
Redcape have undertaken aesthetic improvements and minor upgrades to the Beach Hotel since taking on the pub five years ago, with the most recent being the creation of The Shack, a beachside outdoor bar and dining space.
“The Beach Hotel is a special place, and the team has thoroughly enjoyed being a part of its history”, said Chris Unger, managing director of Redcape Hospitality.
“The sale not only delivers a strong result but also marks an exciting new chapter for the Beach Hotel and we are sure it will continue to thrive as a beloved part of the Byron Bay landscape under the guidance of the Didier family.”
Scott Didier AM is the managing director and CEO of the ASX-listed Johns Lyng Group, one if Australia’s largest building services providers. He is also a prolific philanthropist, focused on the health and wellbeing of children. Didier founded ‘The Star Ball’ in 1998, which raises funds for the EB Reach Foundation and Starlight Children’s Foundation annually across Australia. Under Didier’s guidance as chairman, this prestigious event has become the Starlight Children’s Foundation’s largest income generator, raising over $1.5 million each year to brighten the lives of seriously ill children.
Didier also owns the Beach Suites Byron Bay, a mix of apartment accommodation. The Didier family also owns and operates the East Brunswick Hotel in Melbourne, which they acquired in 2017.
The sale is the latest market activity from Redcape, which has spent the last year rebalancing its portfolio, with a focus on acquisitions in Queensland. In April, the group announced that it had acquired Maeva Hospitality’s portfolio of four pubs on the Sunshine Coast, with several other pub acquisitions in the state announced earlier in the year, including the Flagstone Tavern and the Prince Consort Hotel.