It’s been a busy week in hotel sales with SA group Matthews Hospitality buying a country pub in its home state, while two regional NSW pubs and a Sydney hotel have also changed hands.
Matthews Hospitality has announced the purchase of The Bentleys Hotel in the heart of the Clare Valley.
According to the family-owned group, plans are underway to improve the accommodation offering and function packages at The Bentleys Hotel and create tourism experiences for visitors to the well-known wine region.
Matthews Hospitality CEO Andrew Kemp said The Bentleys Hotel acquisition was a demonstration of the group’s commitment to helping build regional South Australia.
“We look forward to bringing our customer-first hospitality approach to the beautiful Clare Valley.
“We want to maintain everything the locals enjoy about The Bentleys Hotel while enhancing its accommodation, function packages and strengthening links to local tourism.
“With state and international borders now open we are pleased to be part of driving the visitor economy in the regions through showcasing local produce and tourism experiences.”
Rose & Crown and the Corrimal Hotel
Two out of four of Damian Kelly’s pubs have been sold following the appointment of administrators on the back of legal action instigated by investors in his Pub Invest entity.
Parramatta’s Rose & Crown and the Corrimal Hotel in Wollongong were the first of the four pubs in the portfolio to have been sold by administrators Wexted Advisory’s Andrew McCabe and Joseph who appointed HTL Property to manage the sale.
HTL Property announced a $74.5 million combined sale of both of both hotels. The Rose & Crown was sold to Sydney-based Highclere Hospitality for $42m and the Corrimal Hotel sold to “a highly experienced and second-generation hotelier with multiple existing hotel assets” for $32.5m.
“The five-week sale process generated multiple offers to purchase given the quality of the two freehold hotel assets, and the determined characteristics of the pool of interested and participating parties underwrites our view that the industry is well positioned for another strong year,” HTL Property director Sam Handy said.
Crown Hotel in Surry Hills and the large format North Nowra Tavern on the NSW South Coast are the two remaining Pub Invest portfolio assets to be brought to market.
Thomas Blamey Tavern, Wagga Wagga
The large format Thomas Blamey Tavern in the NSW regional town of Wagga Wagga has sold to a consortium led by Lee Green from the South Dubbo Tavern, with the ownership group including Sean O’Hara, Arthur Laundy and his son Stu Laundy, according to The Australian Financial Review.
The off-market transaction, which reportedly reached a price of around $27m, set a new record price for a NSW regional hotel, according to HTL Property director Blake Edwards who managed the sale.
“Sales of this magnitude in leading regional centres are becoming increasingly frequent, and are representative of a marketplace that still enjoys prosperous consolidation opportunities,” he said.
“We often field discreet requests from our clients to secure for them strategically identified properties, and that was the case with the transaction we curated on behalf of both the buyer and seller entities regarding the Thomas Blamey.”
The large format hotel sits on a 6,110sqm site and has multiple revenue streams and large car parking facilities.