The Laundy and Karedis families have emerged victorious in the AU$192-million competition to purchase the popular Gold Coast-based Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort from Star Entertainment and Far East Consortium.
The two Rich List families formed a consortium, which already owns several popular beachfront hotels, including Crown Plaza and Manly Pacific in Terrigal, New South Wales, and agreed to acquire the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort for a price that is AU$52 million superior to the AU$140 million paid by the Australian casino giant in 2017.
In an official statement issued at the beginning of the week, Star Entertainment noted that although the overall price of the purchase is lower than the price that the vendors were originally asking for (more than AU$200 million), the sale is estimated to be a multiple of 21 times the estimated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) for the calendar 2023 year. It also represents a price of approximately AU$650,000 per key, making it a really good price.
The property was marketed by selling agents Dan and Sam McVay from McVay Real Estate, Taylor O’Brien and Adam Bury of JLL, and Steven King and Karen Wales of Colliers.
Australia’s Gold Coast Attract Off-Shore Investors with Strong Performance Bounce-Back
The consortium formed by the Laundy and Karedis families was bidding for the 295-room resort situated on 3.45 hectares of leasehold land against Outrigger Hospitality Group, a Hawaii-based company. The iconic resort, which coasts 214 metres of beachfront, was originally developed by the late businessman Christopher Skase along with another Mirage resort before his business empire collapsed and Skase was exiled to Spain.
The Laundy and Karedis families, whose worth is AU$1.5 billion and AU$972 million, respectively, have been willing to expand their hotel portfolios after they were unable to win the acquisition deal for the Sofitel Brisbane, and the property was eventually sold to Singapore’s CDL in March 2023 at the price of AU$178 million. Apart from that, the Laundy family has been lately purchasing accommodation hotels on its own, such as the Port Macquarie-based Mercure Centro Hotel that it acquired for AU$25 million in 2022.
Millionaire businessmen Arthur Laundy and Theo Karedis, who are both on the country’s Rich List and have significant holdings in the Liquor and hospitality industries, are set to acquire Star Entertainment’s 50% stake in the 295-room Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort for AU$192 million.
The Gold Coast has been one of the best-performing markets in Australia after the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. According to a new report from Savills, the reported occupancy rates and average daily rates in the region in the twelve months to March 2023 exceeded the ones registered in the 2019 calendar year. The strong performance bounce-back has attracted more off-shore investors to the country’s hotel sector in the last few months.
- Author
Olivia Cole
