Hotel & HospitalityLindsay SaundersWed 08 Jul 26
Pokie Baron Sam Arnaut Offloads $500m Pub Portfolio to Redcape
MA Financial-backed Redcape Hotel Group has acquired Iris Capital’s Hunter Region hospitality portfolio in a transaction worth about $500 million, completing what is believed to be Australia’s largest freehold going-concern hotel deal.
The acquisition includes six Hunter Region hotels, QT Newcastle [pictured above] and two Sydney hotels, expanding Redcape’s portfolio across NSW while giving the group exposure to assets with both hospitality and future development potential.
The portfolio comprises Argenton Hotel, Edgeworth Tavern, Hotel Elermore, Gunyah Hotel, Pedens Hotel, QT Newcastle and its sports bar, Sydney Junction Hotel, Revesby Pacific Hotel and Crown Hotel Revesby.
Several of the assets also have approved residential development opportunities, including approvals for 114 apartments at the Gunyah Hotel site and 272 apartments at the Sydney Junction Hotel.
The transaction ends Iris Capital’s decade-long investment in the Hunter, where it developed the QT Newcastle hotel and played a key role in the revitalisation of Newcastle’s East End precinct.
Iris Capital said the sale would allow it to redeploy capital into its development pipeline and Sydney assets, including the recently acquired St Ives Shopping Centre and the future redevelopment of the Revesby Pacific site.
Redcape managing director Chris Unger said the acquisitions were “diversified, resilient and underpinned by material real estate holdings”.
“They will continue to benefit from growth in the region and our investment in them,” Unger said.
Iris Capital founder and chief executive Sam Arnaout said the divestment completed a strategy that began more than a decade ago.
“This transaction represents the successful completion of a strategy ... to identify exceptional regional opportunities, invest with conviction and unlock long-term value through active ownership and development,” Arnaout said.
“From revitalising iconic hotels to delivering QT Newcastle and the East End precinct, we leave behind assets that have become integral to the region’s future.”
The transaction was brokered by JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group.
JLL executive director John Musca said the sale reflected growing institutional demand for operational hotel assets with underlying real estate value.
The agency said the transaction was the largest freehold going concern hotel sale completed in Australia, distinguishing it from larger portfolio deals involving leased hotel assets held within real estate investment trusts.
