Woolworths Buys 31 Pubs for $500 Million

Australian supermarket giant Woolsworths (ASX: WOW) bought 31 pubs worth $500 million across New South Wales.

ALG Group, Woolworths' hospitality arm, inked long-term leases and bought businesses and associated assets of Laundy, Waugh and De Angelis groups' 31 hotels and one detached bottleshop.

With the deal, the number of pubs under Woolworths' control would more than double to 58 from 27. It also makes Woolworths Australia's biggest owner and operator of poker machines as the number of such machines under its control rose to 13,480.

ALH Chief Executive Bruce Mathieson Jr said the hotels under the company's helm would have the capacity to achieve good trading growth as the firm adds more capital into its new purchase. ALH said it had advised the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission of its buy-in.

Of the 31 hotels, 24 are from the Laundy family, five from the Waugh family and two from the De Angelis family.

The De Angelis hotels sold were the Green Valley Hotel and Toongabbie Hotel, while the Waugh family hotels purchased by ALH were the Blue Cattle Dog Hotel, Lockies Hotel Leppington, Billabong Hotel Merrylands, Summer Hill Hotel and Gymea Hotel.

The Laundy family hotels sold include the Albion Park Hotel, The Family Inn at Rydalmere, The High Flyer Hotel at Bankstown, the Horse and Jockey Hotel at Homebush and the North Wollongong Hotel.