Cuba Street's Hotel Bristol has been bought out by DB Breweries, along with dozens of other bars and restaurants across the North Island.
Cuba Street's Hotel Bristol has been bought out by DB Breweries, along with dozens of other bars and restaurants across the North Island.
A hospitality group operating over 40 bars and restaurants across Wellington, the Hutt Valley, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty has been acquired by liquor giant DB Breweries.
Kāpura directors and shareholders Jamie and Andrew Williams have operated the likes of Hotel Bristol, Mac’s Brew Bar, Dillinger’s and Foxglove in Wellington’s CBD.
The Williams are both directors and shareholders of several Wellington businesses that make up Kāpura’s network.
On the sale of Kāpura, chief executive Jamie Williams said a challenging couple of years in hospitality had affected their outlets differently.
“Our objective was to make it through to when the economy started putting Covid in the rearview mirror, which we have done,” Williams said.
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Kāpura’s network has over 20 different companies spanning Wellington, Hamilton and Mount Maunganui.
The group’s Wellington Central bars include brewpub Fortune Flavours, Gorilla Pub, Green Man, Cuba St haunt Hotel Bristol, Huxley’s on Bowen St’s NZ Defence Force building, and Southern Cross bar on Abel Smith St.
Kāpura’s ventures extend to the Wellington waterfront, Wellington Airport, and suburbs including Tawa, Island Bay, Whitby, Karori and Miramar.
Hutt Valley venues include the Sin Bin, Brew’d, Gear Street Union and Rizzo’s Pizzeria.
Madame Sunset, Master Kong, Roxie’s Cantina and Latitude 37 make up the company’s Bay of Plenty joints, while Hamilton houses the Roaming Giant and Wayward Pigeon bars.
Williams said Star Hospitality will help the group grow and give “a level of stability at a time of economic uncertainty... regardless of what’s around the corner”.
DB managing director Matthew Wilson said the decision to acquire Kāpura came after the Wellington-based hospitality group was looking for funding.
“Kāpura was running a capital raising process so there was a unique opportunity to combine these businesses with their complementary geographic coverage and model,” Wilson said.
Kāpura CEO and incoming Star Hospitality CEO Jamie Williams.
He added: “DB is always actively looking to invest in and grow the hospitality sector and grow our brands within that.”
DB is currently a majority shareholder in the Auckland-based hospitality group Joylab, which runs more than a dozen Auckland hospitality venues including Sweat Shop Brew Kitchen and the Merchant Pub.
Turners Automotive Group director Matthew Harrison is also a director at Kāpura, alongside Liberato Petagna.
They will merge Kāpura and Joylab to form Star Hospitality, which will be headed by Jamie Williams as the group’s chief executive.
DB Breweries is based in Ōtāhuhu, Auckland and owned by Heineken Asia Pacific.
DB said the company will acquire the remaining shares in Joylab, while Kāpura founders Jamie and Andrew Williams will continue as shareholders in Star Hospitality Group.
Joylab managing director John Hellebrekers will join the Star Hospitality board. The board will include senior executives from Kāpura and Joylab.
The transaction is expected to close in April 2023 with Forsyth Barr acting as the financial advisor to DB Breweries and Cameron Partners acting as the financial advisor to Kāpura.
Last week, the Restaurant Association released a set of expectations they had for the hospitality industry ahead of this year’s general election.
The guidelines included better regulation to ensure owners and operators were financially protected through emergencies like the pandemic.
The Restaurant Association is also calling for better regulation for owners and operators and streamlined liquor licencing for bars and restaurants.
DB’s Wilson said “there will no doubt be a contraction” in hospitality this year but that “good operators will survive and even thrive, whereas others who are struggling will find it hard to stay viable”.
“Businesses like ours are at the centre of good times, and hospitality-related businesses have a really important role to play in bringing people together,” he said.
