Public Hospitality Group, owner of some of Sydney’s and Melbourne’s best venues including Maybe Sammy, has announced that it has procured a $400 million refinancing deal with a consortium led by Deutsche Bank.
According to the Australian Financial Review, this deal was necessary to save the debt-stricken hospitality group from the brink of collapse. In addition to the refinancing, Public Hospitality’s owner Jon Adgemis will also be required to sell off a number of key assets. All accumulated funds “will be used to pay staff, suppliers, and creditors… [and] will not cover all the existing debt attached to his properties.
“Properties likely to be sold include the Town Hall Hotel in Sydney’s Balmain.”
According to an article published in The Australian, Public Hospitality will likely be forced to cull around eight brands from its portfolio. These will be placed in an equity fund controlled by Archibald Capital worth between $70-$80 million, in which Adjemis will remain a shareholder. A separate fund will also be installed to control Public Hospitality’s former Melbourne pub assets.
The news also follows on from a reported raid of one of its venues by the Australian Taxation Office earlier this month. According to a Public Hospitality Group spokesperson, the search was not a full raid as “there was no search warrant executed, no AFP present, and no documents were allowed to be taken offsite.
“ATO staff were freely allowed into the property and were facilitated to complete their visit. However, Public did have the right to refuse entry, which they did not invoke,” continued the spokesperson at the time.
The Public Hospitality Group successfully acquired the Maybe Group in April of last year and includes bars such as Maybe Sammy, Maybe Frank, Sammy Junior, El Primo Sanchez, Lady Hampshire, and Puttanesca. It also recently hosted the second instalment of the Maybe Cocktail Festival, the biggest international cocktail festival in Australia’s calendar.
Last month, both El Primo Sanchez and Maybe Sammy were named among the world’s top 37 bars in the world’s first ever Pinnacle Guide awards.
