IPG Acquires Lasseters' National Hotel and Tavern Portfolio for AUD98 million.
 
On behalf of Lasseters International Holdings Ltd, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels is delighted to announce the sale of their Australian hotel and tavern portfolio to Independent Pub Group Pty Ltd (IPG) for $98 million.  This significant sale follows IPG's recent acquisition of the Munday Hotel Group's South Australian and Queensland hotel assets.

Mr John Musca, Senior Vice President, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, exclusively negotiated transaction and said, "This acquisition represents a significant milestone for IPG as they pursue a selective national quality hotel expansion." The sale is the largest hotel portfolio sale nationally since the ALH/Woolworths acquisition of the Taverner Hotel Group in 2005.

In May 2008, Adelaide-based IPG settled the $61 million acquisition of five leasehold and two freehold hotels in South Australia and Queensland from the Munday Hotel Group.  "With an exceptional record of successful hotel acquisitions and divestments across Australia's eastern seaboard over the past five years, the key executive of IPG have an acute understanding of the most important business drivers in hotel asset selection", said Mr Greg Maitland, IPG Group Managing Director.  He added, "This experience is evidenced in the quality of the hotels we have acquired to date and will continue to manifest itself in further opportunities."

Combined with the recent acquisitions of the Christies Beach Hotel in Adelaide and the Willow Hotel in Brisbane, IPG have quickly amassed a portfolio of 21 hotels incorporating 774 EGM's (Electronic Gaming Machines), 39 retail liquor outlets and over 51,000m2 of freehold site area.

The Lasseters portfolio includes 4 freehold and 8 leasehold hotels, being:

Adelaide:

• Seaford Rise Tavern (freehold going concern)
• Brahma Lodge Hotel (freehold going concern)
• Oriental Hotel (freehold going concern)
• St Francis Winery Hotel (freehold going concern)
• Tower Hotel (leasehold)
• Bremen Hotel (leasehold)
• Ovingham Hotel (leasehold)

Brisbane:

• Dooleys Meadowbrook Hotel (leasehold)
• Norman Hotel (leasehold)
• Central Coast, NSW
• Iron Horse Hotel (leasehold)
• Jewels Tavern (leasehold)
• Mattara Hotel (leasehold)

The hotels and taverns were considered a non-core business for Lasseters in Australia.  "Widely considered as one of the best freehold and leasehold hotel portfolios' in Australia, the assets were keenly contested in a confidential off-market selective-tender process," said Mr Musca.  He added, "The sustainability of EBITDA across the group and growth in trade demonstrated by many venues in a post-smoking environment was central to its attractiveness within the pub asset class."

"The transaction again highlights that, even in a moderating hotel investment climate, hotel businesses benefiting from predominately robust trading conditions will continue to be sought after," said Mr Musca.  He added, "Opportunistic groups are looking to strategically increase their on-premise, retail and gaming revenue shares in key markets." 

The IPG acquisition, which is subject to Lasseters shareholder approval, forms part of a ‘Management Buy In' structure backed by private equity firms Quadrant Private Equity and Next Capital, in Sydney.