Soho House, the swanky members-only club beloved by celebrities and jet-setters, is going private in a $2.7 billion deal.
Tyler Morse’s MCR Hotels – owner of the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport, The High Line Hotel and the Gramercy Park Hotel – is leading a group of new investors that will snap up the company’s outstanding public stock for $9 apiece. That’s 18 percent higher than the stock traded for on Friday but far below the $14 initial public offering in 2021.
Billionaire Ron Burkle and his Yucaipa Companies are rolling over their stake and will retain majority control of the new company, according to a press release. Morse will snag a seat on the board as vice chairman. Actor-turned-investor Ashton Kutcher is part of a group chipping in new equity capital and has joined the board.
Apollo Global Management is refinancing roughly $700 million in debt, according to the release.
Soho House, which has 46 locations and more than 200,000 members, led the wave of members-only clubs that have become a staple of the New York City social scene, snapping up buildings and long-term leases in recent years. The company was founded in 1995 and paved the way for clubs like Casa Cipriani, Zero Bond and Aman New York.
The private club trend doesn’t appear to be slowing. Chetrit Organization inked a 19,000-square-foot lease this summer with Lightning Society for a new membership club.
More recently, a wave of family-friendly private clubs has inked large leases in the Big Apple. Little Big Hospitality inked a 45,000-square-foot lease last month at CIM Group’s 50 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn Heights. The firm will use the space to launch The Beginning Clubhouse, set to open next summer.
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