Iris scoops Newcastle pub portfolio for $30m
In one of the biggest deals seen in the Newcastle area, Sam Arnaout’s Iris Group has acquired Campbell and Clare Rogers’ pub portfolio in a $30 million deal.
The Rogers acquired Hamilton pub the Sydney Junction Hotel in 2014, which went on to win the AHA NSW Award for Best Casual Dining in 2016. The couple went on to buy two more local pubs, the Argenton and the Gunyah.
The Gunyah Hotel holds new drafted plans for a larger gaming room, a beer garden and alfresco dining area, and improvement to the first-floor function area. The Argenton has only recently reopened from its own extensive refurbishment.
Arnaout acquired the Rogers portfolio in an off-market transaction through CBRE’s Ben McDonald, in conjunction with Moore & Moore’s Dean Moore.
McDonald said the acquisition provides Iris with immediate scale and a significant hotel footprint in an area where they have already made a significant investment, through their $700 million East End mall redevelopment.
Arnaout says other than final touches to the Argenton, Iris has no immediate plans for further development at any of the sites.
“What we’ve bought, in the portfolio, is essentially a collection of A-grade assets in the region that are good fundamental pubs we believe take good position in their relative and respective communities. And that’s what we’ll build on,” he said.
“We feel that what we’ve acquired is a collection of hotels that are primed for future earnings, and they’re a good bolt-on to our portfolio.”
Sheridan Randall, 26th November 2018
