What happened to the $170m record sale of Sydney’s The Oaks Hotel?

General manager Andrew Thomas told The Australian Financial Review in June and October that settlement was imminent, but a title search shows the two-storey hotel at 118 Military Road (famous for its beer garden and 80-year-old English Oak tree) remains in the hands of his family, who have operated the sprawling venue since 1975.

“We are hoping the deal should be done by mid-January,” Mr Thomas said in late December.

However, there has been no activity on the property title at all. Not even a caveat to indicate that an agreement had been struck with an incoming owner.

The identity of this mystery buyer has been a closely guarded secret in the industry, and even the most well-connected players are unable to divulge any details.

“You’ll never find out who they are,” Ben McDonald of JLL told the Financial Review over a lunch in early March after the sale had been reported.

Mr McDonald negotiated the sale of The Oaks alongside colleague John Musca.

Among the rumours at the time was that British celebrity chef Rick Stein, who owns restaurants at Mollymook on the NSW South Coast and Port Stephens north of Newcastle, was the buyer. However, this was quickly debunked by Stein.

Another baseless rumour involved filmmaker George Miller, after industry chatter suggested the buyer or buyers worked in the film industry.

More likely purchasers such as Sydney hospitality baron Justin Hemmes popped in to The Oaks to have a look in September 2022. But while he declared it “a beautiful place”, the Rich Lister with a $3 billion property portfolio did not make an offer, choosing to spend his money elsewhere.

Sydney’s most powerful pub family, the Laundys, also took a close look, but deemed the asking price too steep for even their deep pockets.

Many in the industry baulked at the sky-high price expectations, noting that the $175 million price implied an earnings multiple out of whack with the rest of the industry.

Others have suggested a figure of $120 million was a more realistic asking price, though the Thomas family and JLL insist initial price expectations have been achieved.

Selling agents JLL were adamant in October that the deal was still on track. “The Oaks sale is still moving forward,” Mr McDonald said, though he added it had “been slow-going”.

Mr McDonald did not respond to a request for a comment in late December.

Were the deal to finally go ahead in January it would eclipse the near $160 million paid in 2022 for large-format Crossroads Hotel at Casula in Sydney’s south-west by former Sydney lord mayor Nelson Meers and his family.

Standing on a 2188-square-metre corner site, The Oaks dates back to 1938, when it was built by brewing company Tooth & Co. The first hotel on the site opened in 1880.

Its popular beer garden opened in the late 1950s after being designed by architects Morrow and Gordon.

The Thomas family acquired the leasehold to The Oaks from Tooth & Co in 1975 for just $250,000, and then acquired the freehold for almost $12 million in 1990 with other investors.

Extensively renovated in 2019, The Oaks includes Taffy’s Sports Bar, Alala’s Cocktail Bar, Bar and Grill Restaurant, the beer garden, a gaming room with 30 poker machines, extensive first-floor function spaces and a bottle shop.

While The Oaks has yet to change hands, these were some of the notable pub sales of 2023:

• Laundy family buys out Fraser Short

In move which signalled his surprise exit from the hospitality industry, high-flyer Fraser Short sold his share in six landmark venues including the Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, Northies at Cronulla and The Farm near Byron Bay to joint-venture partner the Laundys for about $150 million. HTL brokered these deals. In late December administrators were appointed to The Sydney Collective, the hospitality group that had run all Mr Short’s pubs and restaurants, which collapsed owing almost $6 million.

• Endeavour makes its mark on the Mornington Peninsula

Listed hospitality giant Endeavour struck a $50 million deal in June to buy one of the peninsula’s largest venues, the Rye Hotel. However, Endeavour had to wait until December 7 to get the keys from long-term owner Peter Houghton after the acquisition sparked a closer look by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Will Connolly of JLL brokered the deal.

• Redcape sells Mount Annan Hotel to Arthur Laundy’s niece

As part of a $160 million sell-down of assets to improve its balance sheet, frozen pub fund Redcape struck the biggest individual deal of the year when it sold the Mount Annan Hotel near Campbelltown in south-west Sydney for $53 million to Nicole De Angelis-Hood, the niece of pub baron Arthur Laundy. Andrew Jolliffe and Dan Dragicevich of HTL Property brokered the sale.

• Virtical goes on a pub and hotel spending spree

Developer Mart Toma was one of the most active buyers of pubs in 2023. Through his Virtical group, Mr Toma snapped up the four-storey Republic Hotel in the Sydney CBD for $40 million in August from its Singaporean owners. A month later, he headed to Darlinghurst to snap up Kinselas and the Courthouse Hotel on Taylor Square for $61 million.

In May, Virtical acquired one of Melbourne CBD’s best-known boutique accommodation hotels, the Adelphi, for $25 million from prominent businessman Ozzie Kheir and his co-investors.