Justin Hemmes is looking to expand his pub empire in Sydney.
Hospitality mogul Justin Hemmes is looking to add The Sackville Hotel in the inner city suburb of Rozelle to his burgeoning pub portfolio, but the competition watchdog is investigating his proposed acquisition.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is assessing Mr Hemmes plans to acquire the popular hotel because he also controls the nearby The Three Weeds Hotel fronting 197 Evans Street, Rozelle, which is the home of his popular Totti’s Rozelle restaurant.
Mr Hemmes, who controls 90 pubs, restaurants and bars in NSW and Victoria, told The Australian he could not comment on the prospective acquisition on Wednesday.
The Sackville Hotel in Rozelle.
The Sackville Hotel owner, the Fairfax family’s Amalgamated Hotels, tipped the property along with two other inner city pubs on the market in May through JLL Hotels & Hospitality. The Fairfax family separately sold the Regent Hotel in Sydney’s eastern suburbs to Thomas Hotels for about $42m in May.
The ACCC said it was assessing the impact of Mr Hemmes proposed acquisition on competition and is seeking submissions closing August 12.
The ACCC said it is calling for interested parties to outline any concerns regarding the impact of the acquisition of the pub fronting 599 Darling Street on competition, including if The Three Weeds Hotel and The Sackville Hotel are close competitors and there are not many alternatives.
The Sackville Hotel offers on-premises dining and liquor services, gaming facilities, and a drive- through retail bottle shop.
Amalgamated Hotels is also selling The Clock in Surry Hills and The Bank in Newtown with JLL Hotels saying the three hotels generate a combined revenue of about $40m per year with 11 per cent year on year growth.
JLL Hotels agents Ben McDonald, Kate MacDonald and John Musca are handling the marketing of the hotels which have been under the same freehold ownership for 25 years. Solotel has managed all three hotels for the past quarter of a century.
Mr Hemmes purchased the historic Three Weeds Hotel in Rozelle in 2019, paying a reported $5m. The 130 year old hotel was reopened in 2021.
Merivale has been active in Sydney and in June secured the last property for his ambitious Kings Green hospitality precinct to take off. But his $19m move to buy a former Tattersalls Club building in Sydney’s CBD is in limbo after RSL members have blocked the sale from closing.
The billionaire is also no longer part of a project in which two of Sydney’s biggest ever office blocks will be built above a new Metro station following court action over the NSW government’s site purchase.