Millinium Capital Managers has furthered its push into pubs, purchasing the stately Empire Hotel in Annandale out of the now defunct Public Hospitality portfolio.
Bankrupt banker turned publican Jon Adgemis bought the pub from Oscars for $12 million, as he began amassing a collection that came to count 22 venues.
Set on a very prominent 803sqm corner site with large frontages to both Parramatta Road and Johnston Street, the Empire was established in 1890.
But fate turned for Adgemis’ plans as debtors and interest rates post-pandemic took their toll. After months of speculation, in October Deutsche Bank took back control of a large portion of the Public pack, including the Empire, appointing receivers and managers McGrath Nicol to oversee immediate divestment.
In November the receivers listed the multi-level pub, reporting annual revenues of around $3.5 million and looking at price expectations north of $20 million.
Its appeal included scope in additional revenue sources, which counted the 21 well-appointed accommodation rooms, with ensuites, refurbished and reactivated on the upper levels by Public. The accommodation is said to have swiftly found consistent weekly revenue, as agents describe its level of finish to be “as good as we have seen from the asset class”.
The buyer was not officially revealed, but is understood to be fresh entrant to the pub development game, institutional investor Millinium Capital Managers (MCM). MD Tom Wallace was previously involved tangentially with the former ASX-listed Lantern Group.
Sources say MCM has paid around $21 million for the Empire.
This furthers their recent, also undisclosed accumulation of Public Hospitality distressed assets, starting with acquisition of Balmain’s Town Hall in July 2025, quickly followed by El Primo Sanchez, the former Rose Shamrock Thistle – aka 3 Weeds, in Paddington.
In September MCM quietly picked up Adgemis’ vacant, incomplete Kurrajong Hotel in Erskineville.
The on-market public campaign on The Empire was managed by HTL Property’s Sam Handy and Andrew Jolliffe, attracting “significant market interest” and numerous offers to purchase. Jolliffe points to the level of activity and says they have more “sale disclosures to be made this month”.
“We are very familiar with multi-level, multi-revenue generating pub businesses in established Sydney suburbs, and the Empire Hotel represented everything the investor market seeks from this genre of hospitality freehold business,” added Handy.
