Part of The Keystone Group, Sydney’s Cargo Bar & Lounge, is being sold to allow the hospitality group to pursue other avenues of growth, including interstate expansion.
The news comes just weeks after Keystone announced it had sold the Newtown Hotel to Colonial Hotel Group.
Executive chairman, Richard Facioni said, “As a result of our recent strategic review, the decision was made by the board of The Keystone Group to release some of the significant capital we have invested in the King Street Wharf precinct and to reinvest that capital into new growth opportunities.”
While Newtown Hotel was sold as a result of an “unsolicited approach”, Facioni said it was in-line the group’s decision to focus on its core growth businesses, including its wine bar and restaurant brands.
“The group is being presented with a number of exciting opportunities across the country, including Melbourne where we currently have no presence. The sale of Cargo would allow us to accelerate some of those growth plans,” Facioni said.
He added that Keystone has received a number of approaches in relation to Cargo Bar, which was the group’s first asset and has been in operation since August 2000. Other venues operating under the Keystone Group umbrella include Bungalow8, the Sugarmill, Gazebo at Elizabeth Bay, The Winery at Surry Hills and The Rook on York Street. In 2014, it acquired Pacific Restaurant Group, which included Kingsley’s restaurants, Chophouse Restaurant and Jamie’s Italian, bringing the total number of Keystone venues to 20.
The Cargo Bar & Lounge sale will be managed by Andrew Jolliffe of Ray White through formal expressions of interest.