By Vanessa Cavasinni, editor Australian Hotelier
The Australian Pub Fund (APF) has sold another venue, this time offloading Kinselas for more than $20 million.
Kinselas, located in Taylor Square just off Oxford Street, the major thoroughfare connecting Sydney’s CBD and eastern suburbs, has been sold by John Singleton, Geoff Dixon and Mark Carnegie’s APF.
The pub was purchased off-market for roughly $23 million by Universal Hotels, the group run by Jim Kospetas and his sons Harris and Steven. It is the latest sale in the planned divestment of the entire APF portfolio.
"The sale of Kinselas is consistent with the fund's previously announced strategic objectives to sell our pubs at cap rates that reflect their market value, as well as illustrating our desire to deal at market value with experienced buyers," explained APF director Matthew Beach.
Kinselas is located in an area just outside the CBD that has seen a resurgence in hospitality offerings and late-night offerings over the last eighteen months, as noted by Ray White’s Andrew Joliffe, who negotiated the sale.
“Kinselas, since its inception as a hotel in 1910, has been a very popular entertainment magnet and a mainstay upon the Sydney hospitality landscape," advised Jolliffe.
"The multi-level and two street fronted nature of the hotel, complete with a full suite of gaming machines and a deliberate connection to music as a revenue lever, means the business' multi-faceted appeal ensures strong patron support across the breadth of licensing hours available to it."
Andrew Gibbs, CEO of Riversdale – APF’s pub group – agreed that the venue was fortunate to capitalise on discrete revenue streams.
"Kinselas attracts patronage from numerous sources, and given its expansive three level layout, often has three distinct patron base complexions at a given point in time; which provides it with great income diversity. In a competitive market, the ability to run a business with such flexibility in terms of patron reach has been a key factor in terms of the strong results we have been able to consistently deliver.”
With the sale of Kinsela, four pubs remain in the APF portfolio: in Sydney, Unity Hall and Vic on the Park; and in Brisbane the Stock Exchange and Elephant Arms.