Moelis Australia has announced acquisition of Bendigo’s All Seasons Resort Hotel for $54.5 million, expanding into regional Victoria with a property previously sold by Redcape.
MA Financial Group (ASX:MAF) reports it has exchanged contracts on the purchase, set on a massive 3.56-Ha lot on the McIvor Highway, around 150 kilometres north of the Melbourne CBD.
The resort-style All Seasons provides bar and dining areas, wedding and function facilities, and 77 four-star hotel rooms. The gaming operation counts 100 EGMs, and while ranked #51 out of 490 gaming venues in Victoria by overall takings, it drops to #155 by machine average, leaving room for improvement.
Moelis says the buy represents a “timely and deliberate move” into the Victorian market and quality regional assets, and reverses the divestment made by Redcape in 2017, where the operator sold the All Seasons freehold for around $24 million, representing a 6.5 per cent yield, during the period where Moelis was completing its purchase of Redcape.
The All Seasons continued to be operated under lease to an experienced hotelier, with over 30 years remaining including options, and rental income for the unnamed private investor of $1.56 million.
The pub, now called the All Seasons Resort Hotel, is now being acquired by the new MA Bendigo Hotel Fund, being a standalone unlisted fund, which will combine ownership of the property and business. The re-stapled FGC will be managed by MA Hotel Management (MAHM).
MAHM says the move is representative of a core tenement of its model to drive value for stakeholders. It further has a clear focus on driving high staff satisfaction, and in turn, customer engagement, citing operational plans to “deliver an optimised locally authentic experience” by learning about the people and community of Bendigo, developing a vision and applying capital.
“Located in a strong growth area of regional Victoria with a clearly visible culture and vibrancy that aligns to our hospitality values, the hotel sits on a large footprint offering multipurpose social, entertainment and accommodation facilities, driving its presence as a community hub for the local and destinational domestic tourist markets,” offers MAHM CEO Dan Brady.
This continues acquisitions by MAHM, highlighted by purchase of the Beach Hotel Byron Bay for $104 million in February 2020, and creation of the Moelis Courthouse Hotel Fund in late 2020 for purchase of the Courthouse Hotel for $22 million then the adjacent Kinselas Hotel for $45 million.
MAHM speaks of its expertise in capital management, property, governance and operations, offering investors unique access to the thriving and tightly-held pubs sector through resilient businesses backed by real estate.
Settlement on the All Seasons Resort Hotel is expected for August 2021.
