Staggering $1 billion hotel sales boost markets
This week, Charter Hall Group, a diversified real estate investment trust, has struck a deal with super fund HostPlus to buy a $603 million portfolio of properties from the Woolworths-owned ALH Group.
ALH Group is offloading 54 pubs under a sale and lease-back agreement. They include the Croxton Park Hotel and Manhattan Hotel in Victoria, the Villa Noosa Hotel and Parkwood Tavern in Queensland, the Hyde Park Hotel in Western Australia, and others in Ballina and Coffs Harbour in NSW.
Under the deal, the pubs will be owned by a newly created vehicle, the Long Wale Investment Partnership.
ALH will remain the tenant as the portfolio has lease terms of 20 years. ALH is considered the market leader in the pub sector with 329 venues in Australia and is owned 75 per cent by Woolworths and 25 per cent by the private Bruce Mathieson Group. ALH also leases 86 pubs from listed landlord ALE Property, which ran its ruler over the ALH portfolio.
Meanwhile Sydney pub operators the Laundy family and Fraser Short have joined forces to buy the Mona Vale and Northies pubs for $57 million to further expand their seaside portfolios.
The Laundys and Mr Short bought the latest pubs from Peter Beaumont’s Fernwood group, which has been slowly reducing its exposure to the pub sector to take advantage of the current hot market.
Owner, the Fernwood Group, engaged Mike Wheatley of Knight Frank and Andrew Jolliffe of Ray White Hotels to sell the hotels.
Mr Laundy is Australia’s largest hotel owner outside of Woolworths.
