The Public Hospitality empire continues to fracture, with the announcement today that the Maybe Group has ended its partnership with Jon Adgemis’s troubled business.

The Maybe Group, co-founded by Vince Lombardo and Stefano Catino, will now oversee its world-renowned CBD cocktail bar Maybe Sammy and Randwick pizzeria Maybe Frank, and add Public’s El Primo Sanchez, the Oxford Street joint for tequila and tacos, to the fold. As of today, Friday July 12, the duo has cut ties with Public.

“Stef and I believe we can best serve our venues by bringing them back under The Maybe Group’s wing, and Jon has supported us in this decision,” Lombardo said in a statement.

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Both Maybe Frank and Maybe Sammy were opened and operated by the Maybe team until April 2023, when the group was acquired by a version of Public Hospitality, then still in its rapid upward trajectory.

That relationship saw the Maybe team continue to operate its venues, plus consult on and create drinks lists across the Public stable – think Redfern’s Ricos Tacos and The Strand in Darlinghurst.

When it comes to the Maybes and El Primo, Lombardo says punters won’t notice a difference. “Although Maybe Sammy and Maybe Frank have been under the Public umbrella for the last year or so, we have continued to operate them as our own so there will be no change to the guest experience.”

The loss of the group is the latest in a litany of issues for Public, which in June ceased operations of CBD Greek restaurant Alpha just six months after taking over, and three months after announcing former Masterchef judge George Calombaris would be stepping in as “creative partner”. Public's creative culinary director Clayton Wells quietly stepped away in May.

Public’s cracks first appeared just over a year ago, when the Australian Financial Review published an article detailing the extent of the group’s debt (just a few months after acquiring the Maybe Group).

The story continued with a reported $450 million debt-refinancing mission and plans to carve the group up, before November brought the announcement that the Love Tilly Group (Fabbrica, Dear Saint Eloise, Ragazzi) would be ending its relationship with Public.

“For the benefit of the staff and the suppliers, we can no longer, in good faith, continue to run our venues together with Public Hospitality,” Love Tilly director Matt Swieboda said in a statement at the time.

In June we asked whether Public Hospitality would survive 2024 in one piece – and the Maybe Group has given us our answer.