Perpetual eyeing pub play with city hotelier

FUNDS manager Perpetual is making a surprise push into the pub sector by targeting a tie-up with Sydney publican George Thomas.

The group’s move into the recovering sector would expand its holdings beyond its traditional focus on equities, but it has already launched property debt funds.

The Thomas Hotel portfolio is estimated to be worth about $300 million and includes fashionable pubs such as the Aurora Rooftop Hotel, Madison Hotel and GT’s Hotel, all in inner-city Surry Hills.

But it is the group’s gaming pubs across western Sydney that would likely have the greatest appeal to prospective investors, who have toured select properties.

The move comes as sentiment picks up in the pub sector, although listed investors remain cautious about the asset class.

The Australian Pub Fund, backed by the MH Carnegie & Co private equity fund and businessman John Singleton, has been touted as the main potential float slated this year.

But it must overcome investor caution about taking on operational risk. Pub landlord Hotel Property Investments, which consists of 48 freehold properties occupied by Coles, was successfully spun out of Redcape Property Group last year and reported a solid first-half result yesterday.

While they keep a low public profile, the Thomas family are well known publicans who began 50 years ago by taking over a 12-month lease at the Kurrajong Hotel, Erskineville.

The Thomas portfolio includes The Bradbury in Campbelltown, the Campsie Hotel and the Canterbury Hotel, all in Sydney’s western suburbs. It also includes the Commercial Hotel and the Tollgate Hotel in Parramatta and the Kingsgrove Hotel in the city’s southwest. The group also owns the Chatswood Monkey Bar, Randwick’s Coach and Horses Hotel, and other venues, including the Verandah Bar and hotels in Kingsgrove and Rosebery.

Source:  The Australian - 27 February 2014