Salter Brothers pays over $100m for three Bannisters resorts, home to Rick Stein restaurants

The $2bn Melbourne-based funds manager has paid more than $100m to purchase three Bannisters resorts which house two chic seafood restaurants operated by the world-famous British chef.

One of the resorts on the NSW coast.

The $2bn Melbourne-based funds manager and advisory house Salter Brothers has paid more than $100m to purchase three Bannisters resorts on the NSW north and south coasts which house two chic seafood restaurants operated by world-famous British chef Rick Stein.

The purchase includes the 34-room Bannisters by the Sea and 33-room Bannisters Pavilion, both in the NSW south coast township of Mollymook, as well as the 78-room Bannisters Port Stephens north of Sydney.

Salter Brothers Hospitality will take on the management of the hotels and the existing 150 staff once the acquisition of the properties is completed later this year.

Capitalising on the uninterrupted ocean views, the interiors of Bannisters by the Sea were designed by fashion designer Collette Dinnigan using wide oak floorboards, wooden shutters and deep white linen sofas – which was one of her first forays into interior design.

Explaining the acquisition, Salter Brothers managing director Paul Salter said the current supply of new hotel accommodation was being hampered by rising construction costs, particularly for luxury venues in regional locations.
“These are distinct assets positioned in unrepeatable ocean-view settings and boast a reputation of consistently achieving high occupancy levels,” Mr Salter said.

It is understood the Rick Stein seafood restaurants would continue to operate under the new Salter Brothers ownership.

Meanwhile, as recently foreshadowed by The Australian, Salter Brothers continues to work on a float of most of its CBD hotels. The fund manager is Australia’s second largest hotel owner with 4921 hotel rooms. Many of them are IHG-managed properties, including The Rialto InterContinental in Melbourne and in Sydney, the Holiday Inn in Potts Point and the Crowne Plaza in Coogee.

Salter Brothers’ internal equity capital markets advisory team is understood to be working on plans for the initial public offering of the hotel assets, and the plans are thought to focus on an ASX listing over the short to medium term. The amount of capital to be raised is yet to be determined.

The company previously considered listing a hotel fund before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and then put those plans on hold.

Apart from Bannisters, Salter Brothers has been actively amassing hotel assets particularly in regional areas as it increasingly relies on the domestic tourism market.

Last year it purchased the landmark Hydro Majestic Hotel in Sydney’s Blue Mountains as well as Lilianfels Resort in NSW, while a year earlier it picked up luxury chain Spicers Retreats from the Turner family – owners of global travel behemoth Flight Centre.

That came after Salter Brothers partnered with Singapore’s sovereign fund, GIC, in 2021 to buy the TraveLodge portfolio for $620m, while in 2015 it completed the acquisition of the IHG Hotel portfolio from Eureka Funds Management.

One of the attractions of the Bannisters properties was their views.

The vendor of the Bannisters Mollymook property was former media entrepreneur Peter Cosgrove, while Mr Cosgrove and two Sydney real estate agents were the vendors of the Port Stephens hotel.

Mr Cosgrove could not be reached for comment.