By Clyde Mooney – editor Australian Hotelier
High-end pub assets continue to change hands, with a Top 10 gaming venue the latest chip in play between two well-established players.
The sale by Waugh Hotel Consultancy (WHC) of its Greenfield Tavern in Greenfield Park’s to former Sydney Lord Mayor Nelson Meers has transpired, in a deal believed to be close to $30 million.
Meers now governs the Meers Group, operating several significant Sydney freehold gaming hotels, including the Ashfield Hotel, the Ermington Hotel and the recently purchased Guildford Hotel.
This sale comes after the Meers Group divested the non-gaming-centric Vic on the Park to Riversdale Group in June 2012, and Petersham’s Oxford Tavern in July to up-and-coming operators Drink n’ Dine.
The off-market sale was managed by Andrew Jolliffe, NSW managing director for Ray White Hotels, and is the fourth sale Jolliffe has concluded this year in excess of $20 million.
"Asset sales in excess of 20m are seldom seen, and we are happy to have represented the majority of them in NSW this year,” said Jolliffe.
"Our sense is that the compelling cost of funding will continue to drive both transactional activity and yield contraction."
WHC’s sale of the Greenfield comes shortly after the launch of the group’s new hotel, the impressive 3- gaming machine multi-faceted Marrickville Ritz, as a relocated incarnation of the former Henson Park Hotel.
Ray White is reporting almost weekly transactional activity in a year punctuated by record-breaking sales in many States.
"2013 has seen the heady combination of experienced hoteliers returning to the market at the same time that 4 or 5 sophisticated corporate entities have begun jockeying for strategic market share,” observes Jolliffe.
“Things are undoubtedly heating up."