Jon Adgemis’ Public Hospitality Group has lost control of five Sydney pubs after private credit investor Muzinich & Co pulled out of a deal to refinance the company’s debt.
Muzinich has called in Vaughan Strawbridge and Joseph Hansell of FTI Consulting to take over four of PHG’s trading venues (The Strand Hotel, Camelia Grove Hotel, Norfolk Hotel, Oxford House), and one development site, the Exchange Hotel.
According to a press release by FTI Consulting, they will work “with existing management and staff teams to continue to trade the venues in the ordinary course of business while they commence a sale of business campaign.”
This latest development is a fresh blow for Adgemis who struck a $400 million refinancing deal in May 2024 with Deutsche Bank, Gemi Investments, Archibald Capital and Muzinich & Co, to save his PHG from collapse.
Adgemis’ project started to fray after he took on hundreds of millions in debt at high interest rates from a variety of lenders just before financing costs rose. Some lenders started trying to sell off his properties, staff were left out of pocket, and suppliers were unpaid. The Australian Taxation Office also visited the pub group’s offices in early May 2024.
In June this year, operations at the Hellenic Club of Sydney’s Alpha restaurant and Beta Events were taken over by Con Dedes of Dedes Waterfront Group after PHG made a swift exit.
Other properties of Adgemis’ have also been seized by lenders. In Sydney’s Potts Point, Bank of Queensland has taken charge of one of his properties in Ward Avenue.
Source: The Australian Financial Review.
