A group of investors led by the owner of several boutique New York hotels agreed to take Soho House & Co. private in a $2.7 billion deal for the members’ club operator that’s struggled since its initial public offering.
Hotel owner MCR and its chairman and chief executive officer, Tyler Morse, will buy the outstanding shares not held by certain shareholders for about $9 each in cash, Soho House said Monday. That’s a premium of about 83% over the closing stock price of Dec. 18, the last trading day before Soho House first said it had received an offer.
Morse will join the board but billionaire Ron Burkle, Soho House’s executive chairman, and Yucaipa Cos. will retain majority control. A consortium led by Ashton Kutcher will inject new equity, with the actor-turned-technology investor also joining the board upon completion, the company said.
Soho House shares rose as much as 16% in early New York trading on Monday. The stock has gained more than 50% in the last 12 months as investors bet on a buyout.
Burkle championed the effort to go private following a disappointing share performance by Soho House, which listed in 2021 at $14 a share. Since the IPO, Soho House has faced questions over service and whether it was expanding too rapidly.
The take-private bid had been criticized by Third Point Investors Ltd., the hedge fund led by Dan Loeb, who called the process “opaque” and pushed Soho House to seek higher offers.
Founded by entrepreneur Nick Jones, Soho House started out as a members-only club in London in 1995, but has since expanded significantly with venues all over the world including in New York, Bangkok and Rome.
Instead of catering for people working in finance or politics, the venues target the creative classes — those in media, advertising and music. Suits, ties and “corporate attire” are discouraged.
During its time on the stock market, the company has also had to contend with a short-seller attack. GlassHouse Research last year suggested Soho House would meet the same fate as the collapsed co-working group WeWork Inc. The company said at the time that the report contained “factual inaccuracies, analytical errors, and false and misleading statements.”
MCR owns and operates 150 hotels including the High Line and Gramercy Park hotels in New York City. The group last year began a push outside the US when it agreed to buy the BT Tower in London, with a plan to turn the city landmark into a hotel.
Funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management Inc. are supporting the Soho House transaction. They will contribute more than $700 million in financing, according to the newspaper.
The $2.7 billion price tag is an enterprise value, including the assumption of debt.
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