US: Soho House plans to float on the New York Stock Exchange and has offered its members the opportunity to purchase shares in the company.
Soho House currently operates 28 houses worldwide. The company also operates a number of other businesses such as Soho Works, Soho Home, The Ned, and Scorpios Beach Club. Soho House has over 100,000 members who pay more than £1,000 per year in retention fees.
The company is planned to float under the name Membership Collective Group, and each member will be offered a fixed number of shares that they can purchase. This number is yet to be revealed.
This week, members received an email from the club that said: “As a member, you’ve been an essential part of our journey so far. If the initial public offering proceeds, we’d like to offer you the opportunity to take part in this next chapter.”
According to Reuters, J.P.Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and HSBC are joint book runners for the offering. Citibank and William Blair will serve as co-managers.
News of the flotation first surfaced in February this year with an estimated $3 billion valuation.
Ron Burkle, a billionaire who backs the club, currently has 60 per cent stake in the company, while restaurateur Richard Caring owns about 30 per cent. The final 10 per cent stake is held by the company’s founder Nick Jones.
Jones said: “This move will enable us to accelerate our investment in improving both the physical and digital elements of your membership.”
The company was valued at $2 billion last year after a $100 million financing round. During 2020 and as a result of the pandemic, Soho House also recorded massive losses.
Revenue was cut from $642 million down to $384 million, a $235 million loss. In the first quarter of the new financial year, revenues were still down for the group. Losses widened from $45 million to $93 million. With the group unable to open its UK sites due to restrictions, revenues for the quarter were $72 million, while they were $142 million last year.
Despite revenue losses, the company retained 92 per cent of its members throughout the pandemic, and, at the beginning of the year, the group had 48,000 applicants on a waitlist.
Soho House hopes to use the money generated through its NYSE listing to expand to 46 houses by 2023.
