Iris has taken another big step in the red centre, acquiring three pubs and two accommodation hotels in Alice Springs.
Sam Arnaout’s expansive group already owns the award-winning Lasseters Casino in Alice Springs, purchased early 2021.
Iris’ portfolio in the Northern Territory now expands with purchase of the independently owned Gap Tavern, Todd Tavern, Diplomat Hotel, Mercure Hotel and Aurora Hotel, which will aid its plans for dominance and performance in the region.
“In addition to our Casino and Crown Plaza accommodation operation, the five asset roll-up provides additional scale, and a clear platform to leverage human resource strategies and other synergies required,” says Arnaout.
The largest of the three pubs, the Diplomat, was sold by Darren Baker’s Waratah Fund, which recently sold its Victoria Hotel in Wagga Wagga to Harvest, in a regional record $28 million deal.
Also included is the large-format Todd Tavern, which takes its name from the adjacent Todd River and lays claim to being the oldest hotel pub in Alice Springs. It was built in 1959 under direction of local legend Mona Minahan, who ran it until 1974.
Iris’ focus into the Territory mirrors the Government’s own strategy to invest money into arts and other community projects in tourism hotspot Alice Springs, and Endeavour Group’s initiatives, recently including purchase of Darwin’s Beachfront Hotel.
This bundle deal by Iris closely follows news last week of its purchase of the institutional Strathfield Hotel for around $80 million, and the group’s ongoing expansion where it sees opportunities.
“We have worked closely with Sam and his team over a number of years to deliver upon these growth strategy objectives, and feel confident the five hotel assets acquired will benefit from both the expertise and strategic capital he plans to deploy,” reports HTL Property’s Brent McCarthy, who brokered the deal with colleague Glenn Price.
