Laundy Hotels has purchased the Bidwill Hotel in western Sydney in a competitive off-market tender process.
The Top 100 gaming pub – ranked 94 in NSW – was sold by the Secheny family after over a decade of ownership, which saw the suburban pub grow its business substantially. The large-format pub sits on a 4300sqm site, possesses a 2am liquor licence and a large beer garden. It also operates 30 EGMs in a Paul Kelly-designed gaming room. The sale was negotiated by HTL Property’s Sam Handy, Dan Dragicevich and Andrew Jolliffe. While none of the parties involved would disclose the sale price, reports suggest it was around the $35m mark.
“We’re super proud of what we have been able to achieve at Bidwill Hotel and congratulate the Laundy Group on their acquisition,” stated Marty Secheny.
“The Bidwill Hotel is a highly reliable performer that has achieved strong growth across all trading departments for 14 consecutive years now and we are proud to be handing the asset over to another family-operated company.
“The Laundy Group already has a strong presence in the area and I wish them all the best, particularly with their exciting new Western Sydney development sites.”
Laundy Hotels indeed has plenty of insight into Sydney’s north-west, with ownership of the nearby Plumpton Hotel and the Marsden Brewhouse. The latter was a $45m greenfields project for the Laundys that opened in April last year. The north-west corridor is set for significant development over the next decade, with an estimated influx of more than 250,000 residents.
The sale of the Bidwill Hotel is the latest in a trend that has emerged over the last few months, of vendors pursuing a select group of potential investors and operators through a competitive off-market tender process.
“The asset was keenly contested with the final price reflective of the current under supply of quality freehold suburban gaming pubs, and the high level of competition experienced over the course of the concise campaign,” stated Dragicevich.
“Our client designed with us a strategy to excise fair market value, and in doing so a paragon of this industry in the form of the Laundy family, moved with an amalgam of deliberacy and acumen in order to access balance sheet firepower to grow out its portfolio of A grade assets.”
The Bidwill Hotel follows other significant gaming purchases of late, including Iris Capital’s acquisition of the Narwee Hotel, and Redcape’s purchase of a pair of high-performing pubs in Brisbane.