Soho House take-private deal at risk

Plans for Soho House to be taken private could be in jeopardy after a major investor in the £2b deal pulled out of a $200m (£149m) funding commitment.

In August last year, the London-based members’ club announced it would move back to private ownership after four years on the New York Stock Exchange in a multi-billion-pound deal with a group of investors including MCR Hotels and actor Ashton Kutcher.

MCR Hotels, the third-largest hotel owner-operator in the US and the owner of London’s BT Tower, had agreed to pay $9 a share to acquire Soho House, which the company said represented an 83% premium to the price before the expression of investor interest in December 2024.

However, in a notice filed yesterday (8 January), MCR Hotels disclosed to existing shareholders Yucaipa, founded by Soho House executive chairman Ron Burkle, that it was unable to fund its closing commitment by the expected closing date.

The Financial Times reported shares in Soho House sank more than 20% following the announcement.

Soho House’s board of directors said it would engage with affiliates of MCR to secure the payment, though the notice acknowledged “there can be no assurance that such efforts will be successful”.

The private members’ club said it will proceed with its shareholder meeting on 9 January and that parties to the merger agreement intended to close the deal “as soon as possible”.

Soho House was founded by Nick Jones in London in 1995 to act as a hub for people working in the creative industries. It now runs close to 50 physical clubs globally.

MCR operates 150 hotels across the United States, including the TWA hotel at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York.