Lantern Group sells Five Dock pub
So the Lantern Group’s sales of its pubs has continued with the company selling its freehold Five Dock Hotel for $28.75 million.
Lantern sold the pub to former Wallaby Bill Young who will add Five Dock to his portfolio which already includes the Concord West, the Palace Hotel in Mortlake and the Wisemans Ferry Inn Hotel.
Young paid a 38 per cent premium to the pub’s value on June 30.
At its last annual meeting, Lantern shareholders voted to let the company sell its core Sydney hotels in the lead up to its likely delisting and winding up.
The proceeds of the sales are being returned to shareholders in the form of distributions.
After the sell-off, shareholders will meet again to vote on whether to delist the company and wind up the business.
Chairman Graeme Campbell told shareholders at the meeting that Lantern did not have the scale to support its corporate and listed structure. Nor were there enough opportunities to grow as suitable acquisitions were rare.
Other hotels sold by Lantern include Uncle Bucks in Mr Druitt which fetched $25.3 million, representing a 30.5 premium to its valuation on June 30 and Sydney's El Toro at $24 million.
Andrew Jolliffe, Ray White Hotel's Asia Pacific director, said there was strong demand out there for quality hotels and the price tag on Five Dock reflected that standard.
"In effect, the market had been anticipating the sale of this prominent hospitality asset for some time; and the interest generated from the beginning of the sale campaign was commensurately strong," Mr Jolliffe told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"The Five Dock Hotel has performed very well since the recent introduction by Lantern Hotels of some modest capital, and I wholly expect the successful purchaser to unlock the inherent value so patently available with the benefit of time."
by Leon Gettler, November 22nd 2016