Anthony and Julian Vedelago sell Redcliffe Tavern to EG Funds Management for $19.29m

Two brothers have plenty to celebrate after selling their popular Redcliffe pub and bottle shop for almost $5m more than they paid for it just three years ago.

Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirit Co co-founder Carl Hartmann.

The pub sector continues to recover well from a potential Covid-19 hangover with the much bought and sold Redcliffe Tavern and its First Choice Liquor Superstore being sold for a tidy 25 per cent profit.

EG Funds Management on behalf of its Private Wealth division purchased the property at 34 Anzac Ave for $19.29m in an off-market deal struck by Jon Tyson of Savills Australia.

It was developed in 2009 by the Anthony John Group on a prominent a 2500sq m corner site immediately adjoining the Bluewater Square Shopping Centre.

The vendor, Anthony and Julian Vedelago’s Wuvulu Property Investments, bought it for $14.5m in January, 2019.

The brothers purchased it from a group of investors headed by former Yellow Brick Road owner David Carr which bought it in 2016 for $15m from Somerset Properties which in turn bought it from Alceon Group two years earlier for $11.5m.

The property is leased to Liquorland (Qld) Pty Ltd, a division of Coles Group Ltd on a 20-year net lease to 2029 and is one of about 88 hotels operated by Queensland Venue Co in joint venture with Coles Liquor. The sale price reflected a yield of 5.5 per cent a year.

Mr Tyson said demand for single tenant retail assets with quality tenant covenants like the Redcliffe Tavern remained “very robust” with a continued dearth of supply.

The sale follows other very recent retail investment sales negotiated by Savills including the Pottsville IGA for $10.2m reflecting 4.6 per cent yield, as well as Goodna IGA for $10.1m on a 6 per cent yield.

The Redlciffe Tavern and bottleshop has sold for $19.29m.

HERE’S CHEERS

Since pouring their first drink less than three years ago an Australian non-alcoholic beverage company is set to be valued at $1bn in 2022 as the world wakes up from its Covid-19 hangover and embraces healthier drinking alternatives.

Serial entrepreneurs Carl Hartmann and Mark Livings have raised more than $63m to ensure the expansion of Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirit Co which currently has a presence in 63 countries and current revenue of about $50m.

Mr Hartmann, who is based on the Sunshine Coast, expects Lyre’s to be valued at $1bn by the middle of 2022.

“We made our millionth bottle last year and we sell one every 30 seconds,” he said.

“We are at $500m (valuation) now and by extrapolating that growth and using current market multiples it’s inevitable.”

Lyre's non-alcoholic RTD range of drinks

For Mr Hartmann, who previously co-founded successful logistics software business Temando and recruitment software company Compono, Lyre’s was a change in direction.

It all started when he worked with Mr Livings at a JB Hi-Fi store while they were both studying at the University of Queensland.

Mr Hartmann said they have had “intersecting careers for the better part of 20 years”.

“We actually came to the same conclusion separately — from Mark’s case he came from a career in the beverage industry — there is this wave of people or Millennials were looking for healthy alternatives,” he said.

“From my perspective I’ve lived abroad for a number of years and wished there was a drink that looked like a real drink, tasted like a real drink and but ideally I had the freedom to choose whether it had alcohol or not and ideally a lot less calories.

“We thought there was a big opportunity there and certainly what we’ve seen over the last couple of years demand is off the charts.”

Lyre's Absinthe Lemonade.

Lyre’s, which takes its name from the lyrebird because the company set out to mimic a full range of “true-to-taste” non alcoholic spirits, was established in April 2019.

Since launching, it has won more than 200 awards in the non-alcoholic spirit category. It has more than 100 staff around the world, with its headquarters in London and production plants in Melbourne, the UK, Germany and the US.

In Australia Lyre’s products are sold in Woolworths, Coles, Dan Murphy’s, IGA and major hospital operators. Mr Livings is Lyre’s chief executive and lives in Amsterdam.

Mr Hartmann said the Covid-19 pandemic marked a shift in people’s attitudes.

“One of the things we’ve noticed through the pandemic is that people are getting through to the other side of this way more health conscious and they are more mindful of what they put into their bodies,” he said.

“And people have time to reflect and start changing their preferences. In some cases they rediscover fitness and one way to keep it there is to consider their alcohol consumption.

“The vast majority of people who do drink Lyre’s are people who drink alcohol but have a training goal and don’t want to be hungover or someone who is a designated driver.

“They like to alternate by having an alcoholic beverage and then a Lyre’s non-alcoholic drink so they can extend the social experience.”

CANNABIS DIVIDEND

Australia’s first fully licensed medicinal cannabis company was able to give its shareholders a Christmas present.

In an Australia’s first for a similar company, Medcan Australia paid out $100,000 in dividends after a strong year.

Established in 2016, the Queensland-based Medcan is a full service operation including medicinal cannabis cultivation, manufacture, import, export, wholesaling and distribution.

Medcan Australia chief executive Craig Cochran attributes the company’s ability to produce a dividend to its business model and patient-first philosophy.

“Medcan Australia’s approach is health-based and clinician-led,” he said.

“Our focus is to provide best-in-market medicinal cannabis, make it accessible and affordable and ensure locally grown and imported products are consistently effective.”

For the record the company said revenue increased by 493 per cent in 2020/21, exceeding forecasts by 26 per cent.

They are forecasting a revenue increase of 265 per cent in the 2021/22 fiscal year, with the company’s first state-of-the-art vertical cultivation facility now underway,

Mr Cochran is confident the company will continue to return strong results for its investors

into the future.

“We are pleased shareholders will see a return, with some more than tripling their

investment in just 12 months,” he said.

Medcan chief executive Craig Cochran.

FITSTOP EXPANSION

Peter Hull’s Fitstop has cracked the West Australian market and launched four new functional fitness franchises.

Following investment by US-based global fitness and wellness company Lift Brands last year, the total number of Fitstop franchises nationally is 68, with 50 of these in Queensland following their recent opening in North Ipswich.

Launched in a Brisbane garage in 2017 by founder and former motocross athlete, Peter Hull, Fitstop’s success is built on performance based athlete-inspired training and has grown its membership from 3500 to a staggering 14,000 members over 18 months.

Dane Haylett-Petty, who played 38 tests for the Wallabies was is one of the first in WA to get on board the popular functional fitness program as co-owner of the stores in Jolimont, after being forced into retirement last year because of concussion issues.

He said he decided to buy in after trying out the training format which he described as “unique”.

Fitstop is poised to open its 69th store and generated $10m of revenue across the network in 2022. It’s on track to record $15m in revenue for the 2021/22.

Dane Haylett-Petty has became a Fitstop franchisee in Western Australia