Mantle Group Moves Ahead with Sydney Pipeline, Eyes IPO

IPO-hopeful the Mantle Group, led by Brisbane “hospitality king” Godfrey Mantle, is expanding interstate – opening its third Sydney restaurant and flagging plans for at least four more by 2020.

The hospitality giant’s pub portfolio will be familiar to Brisbane residents – the group owns brands the Pig ‘n’ Whistle, Jimmy’s and The Charming Squire – and Godfrey Mantle has been on the food scene since 1979.

The Queensland-based company has five restaurant and pub tenancies under construction, recently committing to the long-empty level 7 tenancies at Scentre Group’s $1.2 billion Westfield Pitt Street.

Mantle Group’s Squire’s Landing venue – its second in partnership with Lion Nathan’s James Squire brand – officially opened in Sydney’s Circular Quay in May.

The $15 million-plus fit out comprises an 800-seat, two-storey restaurant and freestanding microbrewery smack bang in the middle of the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge.

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Brisbane-based architecture firm Hogg and Lamb designed Mantle Group’s two restaurants at the impressive Westfield Sydney rooftop space on Australia’s busiest mall. Mantle Group committed to the 2,000sq m Pitt Street rooftop tenancy after more than six years of vacancy.

The prestigious restaurant space, which boasts 360-degree views of Sydney, has long remained empty, with Matt Moran and Sydney publican Bruce Solomon among a string of high-profile operators rumoured to have signed up to the massive tenancy.

The two Pitt Street tenancies fit neatly with the Mantle Group modus operandi for venues: large format sites of more than 1000sq m and with significant outdoor space.

Mantle Group chief executive Arj Rupesinghe confirmed that the group was on the lookout for more venues in New South Wales.

“We’re looking to grow up to four venues a year in New South Wales,” Rupesinghe told The Urban Developer.

The Pitt Street tenancies join three other Mantle Group venues under construction including a Cantonese-style venue in South Bank, a two-storey, James Squire-branded Broadbeach venue on the Gold Coast and an 800-plus capacity companion venue to Scott Hutchinson’s Fortitude Valley Music Hall.

‘Farm to table’: Mantle Group’s model of vertical integration

The Mantle Group boasts a unique “backward integration” business model – a hospitality company with businesses upstream of its core restaurant and venue offerings.

The group owns a cattle farm in northern NSW, a cocoa plantation in Papua New Guinea and a fruit, vegetable and herb farm in Pullenvale, west of Brisbane.

“We also have a central production kitchen complete with our own butcher, pastry chef and coffee roaster,” Rupesinghe said.

Rupesinghe says the vertical integration of the group resonates with the consumer.

“It is more efficient but also aligns with our core values. And using local ingredients from our own properties usually results in a superior product.”

As for the public listing, Rupesinghe wouldn’t be drawn on an announcement, but confirmed the group is “working toward a mid-2019 IPO”.

Mantle Group has enlisted Brisbane stockbroking and advisory firm Morgans for its initial public offering.

Main image: Jimmy's on the Mall, Queen Street Mall, Brisbane.