Rich Lister's Sydney pub deal probed over stamp duty

This sale was broken into a $9.45 million payment for the freehold site, $2.7 million for the hotel business and $1.35 million for the attached accommodation offering known as Bert’s Backpackers, according to sales contracts seen by The Australian Financial Review.

However, NSW Land Registry documents show just $1.95 million was transferred by BLM Group to vendor FHT Nominees to acquire the hotel freehold – or $7.5 million less than BLM Group agreed to pay.

The $1.95 million purchase price generated a stamp duty bill of $91,470 according to settlement documents, about $400,000 less that what would have been owed had BLM transferred $9.45 million for the property, according to calculations made by The Australian Financial Review using the Revenue NSW Stamp Duty calculator.

While a Revenue NSW spokesman said it could not comment on individuals or company tax and duties due to privacy reasons, the Financial Review has seen emails confirming an investigation is under way following concerns raised by a whistleblower.

“I can confirm that the matter has been allocated to an assessor for review. The transaction will be examined in its entirety and all aspects of the sale investigated thoroughly,” an email sent to the whistleblower by Revenue NSW’s Duties Investigation Unit said.

Mr Blair-Holt said BLM Group had “nothing to add” when contacted for comment by The Australian Financial Review.

When pushed on the discrepancies between the agreed purchase price and the $1.95 million transferred, Mr Blair-Holt fired back: “I will just say if you did your work properly, you would know the value of gaming entitlements is not stamp dutiable, but that would spoil your headline I guess.”

When asked if this meant the 15 gaming machine entitlements included in the sale were worth $7.5 million, Mr Blair-Holt did not respond. Mr Mathieson has also been contacted for comment.

A $1.95 million valuation for the freehold hotel would represent just a fraction of what the hotel was last valued at and what it traded for in 2021.

The hotel last changed hands for $10.5 million when it was acquired by FHT Nominees, an investment syndicate headed by Peter Scott, a director at Sydney chartered accounting firm Talbots.

A draft independent valuation report carried out in April 2021 by Hymans Valuers & Auctioneers before the sale to FHT Nominees valued the Captain Cook freehold property including gaming entitlements at $20 million.

Values soared

Since then, pub freehold values, especially in Sydney, have soared.

The contract for the $9.45 million freehold sale lists the vendor as Billericay Nominees Pty Ltd, trustee of the Captain Cook Hotel Property Trust, not FHT Nominees as per the NSW Land Registry Document.

Billericay Nominees is directed by Sydney lawyer Ben Horne. Mr Horne also owns all the shares in the company.

He is the director of Aqua Law, which acted on behalf of Billericay Nominees in the sale of the hotel. Mr Horne and Mr Scott have been contacted for comment.

FHT Nominees, Billericay Nominees and BBARC Pty Ltd are defendants in a NSW Supreme Court claim brought by Stuart Crabb, Mr Horne’s former business partner.

According to a statement of claim filed in April, Mr Horne is seeking orders that Mr Horne return 50 shares in BBARC to him as well as 850,000 shares in Ace Strategic Mining Solutions.

The sale of the Captain Cook Hotel last year was part of a record period of trading in the sector. More than $2.2 billion of pubs changed hands in 2022.

The Mathiesons are among the country’s most prominent and successful publicans. Most of their wealth comes from a 15 per cent stake in ASX-listed $12 billion liquor, gaming and hotel giant Endeavour.