Pub sales to reach $1 billion mark as investors and operators vie for assets

HTL Property managing director, Andrew Jolliffe, said the recent number of assets being offered and the swiftness of the sales indicate the strong appetite for pubs from both seasoned operators and private family investors.

“We think $1 billion worth of assets nationally will change hands this June quarter alone,” Jolliffe said.

The popular Shoalhaven-based North Nowra Tavern was the last of the four Pub Invest portfolio assets that agents HTL Property were appointed to sell on behalf of Wexted Advisors and illustrates the market interest in NSW South Coast assets.

HTL also recently sold Wollongong’s Corrimal Hotel for $32.5 million.

The buyer of the North Nowra Tavern was not disclosed while the Crown Hotel in Surry Hills has been acquired by experienced Sydney pub group, Universal Hotels.

The Caves Beach on Newcastle’s waterfront was bought by Oscars Hotels which is headed by brothers Bill and Mario Gravanis.

“Large format suburban and regional hotels are hugely popular with investors, and have been so at an increased level since the beginning of the COVID-19 enforced travel restrictions” HTL Property director, Sam Handy said.

“The scale and revenue diversification suburban hotels enjoy, is seen as a robust barrier to entry to new participants seeking to usurp market share.”

Another large pub, the Five Islands in the Wollongong Suburb of Cringila, is being sold by Ludlow Hospitality through HTL Property.

Five Islands Hotel is a full-service hotel operation that has undergone a renovation and has an accommodation offering.

“We saw last week with our firm’s record regional hotel sale in the form of the Victoria Hotel in Wagga Wagga for $29 million to Harvest Hospitality that investors have begun recognising the value proposition offered by high-quality suburban hotels in sub metro locations,” HTL Property director, Dan Dragicevich said.

“Until recently, we think the market has mispriced these sub-metro hotels, but things have changed demonstrably in this respect over the past six months.”

Following last year’s record number of hotel transactions, HTL Property suggests that things are on track for an even stronger year in 2022, with the leading national agency confirming it sold seven hotel assets last week.

He said pubs that generate $10 million-plus in annual revenues and also have significant land holdings in coastal locations such as the Caves Beach site are what attract the prime investors in the industry.

“However the reality is that there are very few of these unique business and coastal property plays existing generally, let alone able to be acquired,” Jolliffe said.