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Justin Hemmes snaps up Enmore's Vic on the Park hotel

Callan Boys
Callan Boys

Merivale has added to its expanding pub portfolio with the purchase of Enmore's Vic on the Park hotel, a spokesperson for the Justin Hemmes-led hospitality group confirmed.

Business partners and good mates, John Singleton and Geoff Dixon, announced an expression of interest campaign for the Addison Road hotel in August. The Vic was a key part of Singleton and Dixon's Australian Pub Fund portfolio, a private equity group currently exiting strategic hotel investments to recycle equity.

The APF also sold Newtown's Marlborough Hotel to Matt Moran and Bruce Solomon's Solotel group in April.

A spokesperson for Merivale wouldn't be drawn on a sales figure for the Vic on the Park, however similar large format pubs have sold for $20 million.

Justin Hemmes at Queens Hotel, Enmore. The pub baron is expanding his inner-west portfolio.
Justin Hemmes at Queens Hotel, Enmore. The pub baron is expanding his inner-west portfolio.Jessica Hromas
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The Vic is a hugely popular venue for live music, sports, family-friendly bistro dining and a carpark that hosts outdoor gigs, record fairs and even the odd basketball game. The multi-storey 1247-square-metre hotel holds much potential for Merivale.

Its acquisition is consistent with Hemmes' strategy to expand Merivale's portfolio with more venues outside of the CBD, the hospitality group's traditional focus. The Merivale CEO bought Northern Beaches pub, the Collaroy, for a reported $21 million in August and snapped up Mascot's Tennyson Hotel for $37.5 million at auction in December.

The Vic on the Park is Merivale's second pub in the area after Hemmes' purchase of the Queen Victoria hotel on Enmore Road in 2015. It rebranded to Queens Hotel in December with two shiny new bars and a Cantonese restaurant serving mud crab, roast duck and dim sum platters.

Merivale will receive the keys to the Vic on November 13. The pub will trade as per usual for the forseeable future.

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Callan BoysCallan Boys is editor of SMH Good Food Guide, restaurant critic for Good Weekend and Good Food writer.

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