Lantern sells last pub for big premium
The Lantern Hotel Group has sold its last remaining pub, the Crown Hotel in Sydney’s Surry Hills, to Damian Kelly’s Peak Investments for $26.1 million.
Well-known Sydney publican Jason Marlow is taking over the management of the landmark Top-200 gaming hotel.
The purchase takes Peak Investments’ portfolio to three assets, adding to their recent acquisitions the Rose & Crown Hotel, Parramatta, and the Corrimal Hotel.
The deal, expected to be completed in March, will be the last sale in the Lantern portfolio, taking total sales across the portfolio to more than $200 million since Lantern began selling non-core pubs. This sell-off commenced with the sale of the Dolphin Hotel in Surry Hills in December 2015.
Pub values have soared across the board. Last year, shareholders backed the board’s decision to sell all of its pubs after assessing this to be the best outcome. Lantern is next expected to announce details of a payout to shareholders from the proceeds of the pub sales and seek a delisting.
Massive premium
As with previous sales, the Crown Hotel sold at a massive premium – 51 per cent – to its June 2016 book value. The imposing multi-level venue is in a prime position on the busy corner of Cleveland and Crown streets and is a popular eastern suburbs drinking spot.
The Crown Hotel had pre-sale market expectations of between $25 million and $30 million. It sold through Andrew Jolliffe of Ray White and Daniel Dragicevich of CBRE.
The sale follows Lantern offloading the General Gordon Hotel in Sydney’s inner west last week for $18.1 million to a local hotelier at a 69 per cent premium to its June 2016 book value.
More than $500 million worth of Sydney pubs, including some of the city’s best-known venues, have been sold in the past 12 months.
