Laundys sell pub on NSW’s Central Coast for $18.5 million

The three are part of a syndicate with another partner, which has shared ownership interests in three other venues, including the Hotel Illawong in Evans Head in NSW’s Northern Rivers region, The Oaks Hotel in Sydney’s south-west, and the Railway Hotel in Bundaberg, Queensland.

Laundy Hotels’ Nick Tindall said the focus was now on renovations at the Hotel Illawong and The Oaks Hotel.

“There’s a lot of money going out for two of the other pubs, and it was an opportune time to just have some additional cash,” he told The Australian Financial Review.

“We are very happy with the sale. I think that we achieved a fair price, excited about the opportunities for the new owner.

“It’s been a really good pub for us, and we’ve loved being part of the West Gosford community.”

The Tindalls and Arthur Laundy are also involved separately in the operation of Fairy Meadow’s Cabbage Tree Hotel in NSW’s Illawarra region, with another pub family, the Molloys. Overall, the extended Laundy family owns and operates more than 90 hotels and pubs across Australia’s eastern seaboard.

For Kelly, the deal represents a return to the pub trade after his Pub Invest fund unravelled following a dispute with its major shareholders over management fees four years ago.

He was also a director of NSW pub sales at commercial real estate agency CBRE for about 18 months from July 2022.

Kelly said his purchase of The Settler’s Tavern was on his own and not through his firm, Pub Invest Group, which had since been deregistered.

“[The Settler’s Tavern] seemed like a good opportunity in the growing area. Only an hour from Sydney, so it made sense,” he said.

“There’s not a lot of quality stock on the market. [It] has good zoning for the gaming, so I was happy to transact on it.

“We will definitely make some upgrades to it – just give it a birthday. So we’ll try and refresh the gaming room and just refresh the whole offer.”

In 2021, administrators were appointed to sell four venues on behalf of the Pub Invest fund’s investors. They were sold for a combined $127 million.

HTL Property’s Dan Dragicevich, who managed the sales campaign for The Settler’s Tavern with agent Blake Edwards, said the deal highlighted the strong trading conditions across NSW in the pubs sector.

“[This is] highlighted by The Settler’s transaction between clearly an industry stalwart in the Laundy family, and an experienced hotel investor buying back into the market,” he said.

Laundy Hotels is headed by Arthur Laundy, who ranks 94 in this year’s Financial Review Rich List with a fortune worth $1.75 billion and is responsible for some of the nation’s biggest pub transactions.

All four of his children and four of his 13 grandchildren are involved in the family business.