Trending
Plans to take Soho House private have reportedly been thrown into doubt after a key backer withdrew a $200m (£149.1m) funding commitment, triggering a sharp fall in the company’s share price, according to the Financial Times.
Shares in the New York-listed members’ club operator fell more than 20% after the company disclosed that MCR Hotels, a lead investor in the proposed transaction, was unable to fully fund its agreed purchase of $200m (£149.1m) worth of shares.
Soho House announced in August that it had agreed to be taken private in a $2.7bn deal led by MCR Hotels, marking a return to private ownership three years after its stock market listing in New York.
Under the terms of the deal, investors had agreed to acquire shares at $9 (£6.71) each, a premium to the company’s share price at the time but below its 2021 flotation price of $14 (£10.4).
In a regulatory filing, Soho House said MCR Hotels had notified the company that it could not meet its full funding obligation, putting the transaction at risk. The disclosure sent shares down as much as 21% in early New York trading, before recovering slightly to trade at around $7.50 (£5.59).
The company has expanded rapidly from its origins as a London members’ club to a global network of venues, although its strategy has drawn criticism from some investors who argue that growth has diluted the brand’s exclusivity. At the end of 2024, the average Soho House venue had around 4,700 members, up 30% compared with 2021.
Despite the setback, Soho House told the FT that it still plans to proceed with a scheduled shareholder meeting to vote on the merger agreement.
It added that it is in discussions with affiliates of MCR Hotels and other parties to secure alternative funding, while cautioning that there is no certainty those efforts will succeed.
The FT reported that Apollo Global Management is one of the other backers of the deal, which is providing more than $800m (£596.6) in debt and equity financing.
The outlet has learnt that MCR Hotels, which owns more than 25,000 hotel rooms across the US, had previously said the investment would support the expansion of Soho House through new locations rather than further increasing membership numbers at existing venues.
MCR Hotels have been contacted for comment.
Plans to take Soho House private have reportedly been thrown into doubt after a key backer withdrew a $200m (£149.1m) funding commitment, triggering a sharp fall in the company’s share price, according to the Financial Times.
Shares in the New York-listed members’ club operator fell more than 20% after the company disclosed that MCR Hotels, a lead investor in the proposed transaction, was unable to fully fund its agreed purchase of $200m (£149.1m) worth of shares.
Soho House announced in August that it had agreed to be taken private in a $2.7bn deal led by MCR Hotels, marking a return to private ownership three years after its stock market listing in New York.
Under the terms of the deal, investors had agreed to acquire shares at $9 (£6.71) each, a premium to the company’s share price at the time but below its 2021 flotation price of $14 (£10.4).
In a regulatory filing, Soho House said MCR Hotels had notified the company that it could not meet its full funding obligation, putting the transaction at risk. The disclosure sent shares down as much as 21% in early New York trading, before recovering slightly to trade at around $7.50 (£5.59).
The company has expanded rapidly from its origins as a London members’ club to a global network of venues, although its strategy has drawn criticism from some investors who argue that growth has diluted the brand’s exclusivity. At the end of 2024, the average Soho House venue had around 4,700 members, up 30% compared with 2021.
Despite the setback, Soho House told the FT that it still plans to proceed with a scheduled shareholder meeting to vote on the merger agreement.
It added that it is in discussions with affiliates of MCR Hotels and other parties to secure alternative funding, while cautioning that there is no certainty those efforts will succeed.
The FT reported that Apollo Global Management is one of the other backers of the deal, which is providing more than $800m (£596.6) in debt and equity financing.
The outlet has learnt that MCR Hotels, which owns more than 25,000 hotel rooms across the US, had previously said the investment would support the expansion of Soho House through new locations rather than further increasing membership numbers at existing venues.
MCR Hotels have been contacted for comment.
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution
Copyright BlazeThemes. 2023
