GemLife boss Adrian Puljich ready to ring ASX bell as family company emerges as IPO of 2025

When GemLife boss Adrian Puljich rings the bell at the ASX next Thursday it will herald the arrival of the Gold Coast family’s business as a $1.58bn public company – but that’s not all it will mean.

Adrian Pujlich.

When GemLife boss Adrian Puljich rings the bell at the ASX next Thursday, alongside wife Jessica and their three children, it will herald the arrival of the Gold Coast family’s business as a $1.58bn public company – but that’s not all it will mean.

For the Puljich family, whose Australian story began with a spell in a migration hostel, it marks a new chapter made possible by pure determination.

The oversubscribed GemLife IPO is on track to be the biggest of the year, but the company began in a Gold Coast caravan park, where Adrian’s father Peter Puljich noticed a gap in the over-50s housing market and set about fixing it.

His TSS-alumni son then set about building the family business into an empire which is now the third largest in the land lease sector.

GemLife chief executive Adrian Puljich.

Joining the Puljiches on listing day will be residents of some of GemLife’s 1804 existing homes. Another 10,000 are in the pipeline for development.

“It’s a proud and exciting moment for all of us – both professionally and personally,” Adrian Puljich told Citybeat.

“The listing marks a major milestone for GemLife and reflects the hard work and dedication that’s gone into building this business over the past eight years.

“This process has been both humbling and energising. While we’ll take a moment to celebrate, our focus remains firmly on our residents.”

Puljich said his parents’ decision to move from Sydney to the Gold Coast in the 1970s, where high-rise construction was a boon for his father’s work as a renderer and plasterer, was fortuitous.

“The lifestyle, the weather, and the sense of community have made it a fantastic place to call home,” he said.

“It’s where I was born and raised, and it’s where the foundations of our first family business, Living Gems, were laid.”

The IPO has given GemLife the funds it needed to clear around $400m in debt and $270m to buy Aliria Resorts – which was also owned by Puljich and has 10 proposed over-50s communities in NSW and Qld.

The Puljich family will retain around 30 per cent ownership of GemLife post-listing and the company “has ambitions to grow well beyond our current footprint”.

Vlad Puljich, Peter Puljich and Branko Puljich in their earlier days at Living Gems.

Fizzing

Celebrity-backed booze brand Hard Fizz is on track to crack $12m in revenue, according to its CEO Wade Tiller (pictured), who reckons its success is down to sellout concerts and high-profile “shoeys".

The Gold Coast brand was founded four years ago by Paul Fisher, aka DJ Fisher, with investors including professional surfer Laura Enever, retired AFL player Rory Sloane and TV chef Hayden Quinn.

Citybeat Artwork – Cartoon – Hard Fizz CEO Wade Tiller – Artwork supplied Brett Lethbridge

The brand sold $500,000 worth of Hard Fizz to punters at Fisher’s sold-out Out 2 Lunch festival at Southport earlier this year, while golfers Cameron Smith, Ian Poulter and Joaquín Niemann joined the DJ in performing ‘shoeys’ on stage at the LIV Golf tournament in Adelaide.

Tinny winnings

Legendary Gold Coast boat builder Alf Stessl is sailing into a new chapter, retiring from the family business Makocraft as it celebrates it 20th anniversary.

The voyage continues with Alf’s son Tim Stessl and wife Sally at the helm.

Tim has helped steer Makocraft from a small family venture to one of Australia’s best-known aluminium boat brands.

Tim, Alf and Max Stessl of boat building company Makocraft.

As they chart a course for the future, the Stessl family remains anchored in their dedication to local manufacturing and fostering a loyal fleet of boat owners.

Bon voyage Alf.

Originally published as GemLife boss Adrian Puljich ready to ring ASX bell as family company emerges as IPO of 2025