Beach Hotel sells for $140m

BYRON Bay’s Beach Hotel has sold for $140 million, making it one of the biggest pub deals in Australian history.

Melbourne businessman Scott Didier, CEO of Johns Lyng Group, secured full ownership after buying out other investors in an MA Financial-managed fund. He had previously held a minority stake.

The deal includes both the business and the beachfront property, with operations to be handed over to Coleman Management Group from July 1.

Built in the 1990s by Crocodile Dundee producer John “Strop” Cornell and his wife, TV presenter Delvene Delaney, the Beachy has become a Byron institution.

It sold for $44 million in 2007, then again for $70 million in 2017 to Impact Investment Group. In 2019, the venue was placed into the MA Financial fund in a deal worth just over $100 million.

Didier said his family was proud to take on the Beachy and planned to hold it long term.

The $140 million sale is second only to Sydney’s Crossroads Hotel, which sold for $160 million in 2022.