Artemus Group purchases Hugos Manly for $20m

Just eight months after acquiring Sydney's Manly Wharf, the Artemus Group has made waves once again by adding the iconic waterfront dining destination Hugos Manly to its portfolio in a deal reported to be worth $20 million.

The Artemus Group has bought the restaurant in a deal that will see the current Hugos team remain on board, while the venue will continue to be operated by Dave Evans and David Corsi.

The news comes after the group purchased Manly Wharf and Wharf Bar for $110 million earlier this year, renovating and rebranding the Wharf Bar to become casual pub and seafood destination Felons, while also lodging plans with the council to transform a local abandoned Aldi into a microbrewery.

HTL Property managing director Andrew Jolliffe spent months negotiating the sale of Hugos Manly. According to a report by the AFR, the site for Hugos Manly and the hospitality business sold for a combined figure of about $20 million.

“Call us biased, but we respectfully believe there are very few, only a handful internationally maybe, of truly world-class waterfront hospitality destinations - and this most certainly is one of them” Jolliffe said.

“What makes this transaction so appropriately unique, is the genuine desire for the two leading hospitality groups to contemplate new ventures together in the future, such is the level of reciprocal respect one another commands.

“As such, it brings us great pleasure to announce the sale of the iconic Hugo’s at Manly Wharf after 16 years of continuous ownership and on behalf of our outstanding clients Dave Evans, Dave Corsi and Daniel Vaughan.”

The deal will see Artemus Group, which was founded by Adam Flaskas, Paul Henry and Luke Fraser, take control of all the venues on the wharf with the exception of one - Merivale’s Queen Chow.

“Hugo’s is a Manly institution and will remain the same as it is and we’re excited to be working with Dave and David who will continue to operate the business day to day,” Fraser said.

The Artemus Group has already poured significant capital into revitalising Brisbane's Howard Smith Wharves, with plans for a $500 million development that includes a 77-room boutique hotel, riverside pool, retail space and a theatre hall.