Quitting gaming: Zagame family selling $300m portfolio of hotels
Melbourne’s wealthy Zagame family are quitting the gaming industry and selling a $300 million portfolio of six hotels in Melbourne, Ballarat and Vanuatu.
Up for sale are five Zagame-branded venues in Caulfield, Berwick, Reservoir and Boronia and Ballarat as well as the previously listed Grand Hotel & Casino resort in Vanuatu.
The five Victorian freehold going-concern hotels generate more than $94 million in combined revenues and have almost 500 gaming machines. The 74-room Grand Hotel has 136 gaming machines and 16 gambling tables.
Interest is expected from the likes of Charter Hall, the Moelis-run Redcape Hotel Group and Woolworths-backed operator ALH Group, as well as offshore groups.
Their listing follows the death in October last year of family patriarch Victor Zagame, who established the family’s hospitality business in 1971 with the opening of the Albion Charles Hotel in Northcote, in Melbourne’s north east.
The Zagame Corporation is now run by his sons Bobby and Victor jnr and includes luxury car dealership Zagame Automotive, commercial property investments as well as restaurants and hotels.
“Our [hotel] venues are exceptionally well presented, our staff are leaders in the industry, and our product is second to none. These successful businesses are well placed to continue to deliver substantial growth,” Victor Zagame said.
The six hotels are available to be purchased in one line, individually or in any combinations with CBRE’s Mark Wizel and Cropley Commercials’ George Iliopulos appointed to handle the international expressions of interest campaign.
Mr Wizel said all hotels within the portfolio were strategically located on large landholdings within central suburban locations.
“These sites offer future mixed-use development options adding significantly to the potential upside available within a portfolio of quality and scale that very rarely comes to market.
“We are very confident of attracting a high level of interest from international buyers, particularly from Asia and North America,” Mr Wizel said.
