$41M sale dispute over Airlie Beach Hotel set for trial
Owners of the Airlie Beach Hotel will head to court next month after legal proceedings were launched against it.
The owners of the Whitsundays hotel are being sued after the 2020 $41.5 million sale of the 80-room resort to Brisbane fund manager Sentinel went sour.
Sentinel Chief Investment Officer Warren Ebert launched legal proceedings in the Queensland Supreme Court in December last year in a bid to push the sale through.
It followed ABH Hotel Trust’s termination of a “heads of agreement” contract in November.
Sentinel oversees $1.2 billion in assets.
The sale would have added a four-star hotel overlooking Airlie Beach to its portfolio, which already the Port of Airlie Cruise and Ferry Terminal, purchased in 2015.
Mr Ebert told The Australian Financial Review, that he could not comment on the dispute as it was in the court, however he said the Sentinel was keen to add the hotel to its diversified portfolio of assets.
“We own the ferry terminal [at Airlie Beach] but also need to be able to offer accommodation,” he said.
The Airlie Beach Hotel is owned by ABH Hotel Trust, a subsidiary of Raging Bull Holdings, directed by Bonnie McFie, (wife of Queensland publican Mick McFie).
ABH Hotel Trust purchased the Airlie Beach Hotel for $22 million in 2019 from the O’Neill family, following a $10 million refurbishment following Cyclone Debbie.
ABH, along with Gold Coast solicitor John Ramsden, will defend the claim and counter-sue Sentinel.
It is claimed ABH had given Sentinel termination notice, however Sentinel rejected the termination.
The four-day trial will start on 5 October.
Irit Jackson, 16th September 2021
