Peak Investments snaps up Corrimal Hotel
It’s the season for pub sales.
So far this year, some $200 million worth of pubs have changed hands, everywhere from the outer suburbs of Sydney to the inner city and parts of the CBD.
And now in the latest piece of news, the Corrimal Hotel in Wollongong has new owners.
The pub, which had been owned by Illawarra’s Denmeade family for nearly 20 years, has been acquired by Peak Investments for just under $10 million.
Run by ex-Citigroup banker Damian Kelly, Peak Investments is a newly formed private equity consortium now in the market looking for acquisitions.
The Corrimal Hotel is the second pub for the company. Last year, it acquired Parramatta’s Rose and Crown Hotel.
Owner Andrew Denmeade told the Sydney Morning Herald the family was selling the hotel because it was the right time to leave the asset “which has proved a great hotel and investment for us over nearly the last two decades".
That said, the Denmeades who are long term hoteliers have no intention of getting out of the business.
Andrew Denmeade still owns the Unanderra Hotel and 2013 AHA Hotel of the year, Central Hotel in Shellharbour.
He said the capital raised from the sale would be redeployed, probably in Illawarra when there a suitable opportunity emerged.
The hotel was sold on behalf of the family by CBRE Hotels, in conjunction with Ray White Hotels.
CBRE Hotels national director, Daniel Dragicevich, said Sydney gaming assets were now tightly held. As a result, traditionally metro purchasers were now looking further afield.
"The Corrimal Hotel has experienced a period of sustained growth following recent improvements and presented all the key ingredients for a continually successful operation, large retail site with car parking, solid business mix and in a high growth area," Mr Dragicevich told the Sydney Morning Herald.
By Leon Gettler, 2nd May 2016
