Soho House marked the end of its four-year spell on the Nasdaq this week after it reached an agreement to be taken private by US hotel giant MCR in a $2.7bn (£2bn) deal.

The swish members’ club, which was founded in Soho’s Greek Street by restauranteur Nick Jones in 1995, has grown into a sprawling hospitality empire over the past three decades, with dozens of venues and hotels across the UK, US and further afield, fuelled by investment from serial entrepreneur Richard Caring and American investor Ron Burkle.

In truth, the company’s stint on the Nasdaq has not been an altogether happy one – it has been loss-making for all of that time and, until the MCR takeover offer, its shares had been trading at barely more than a third of where they were following a 2021 IPO. 

“Investors will have their work cut out to put Soho House back onto a more stable footing given concerns about the viability of its business model,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Its rapid expansion in recent years has sparked concerns that its ‘exclusive’ label was wearing thin.”

But now, new life can be breathed into the group by a US billionaire intent on following in the footsteps of his former boss by building a huge London property portfolio.

Billion-pound property collection

Last year, a flurry of midsize dealmaking in the London hotel property market was dwarfed by two massive deals worth a combined £1.1bn. 

The first came in January, when Florida-based Starwood Capital acquired a portfolio of ten high-end venues, including in Kensington, Covent Garden and Oxford Street, from Edwardian Hotels for £800m.

The second followed soon after in February when MCR struck an agreement with BT to turn its iconic Soho communications tower into what would become central London’s tallest hotel.

While the transactions involved two separate US companies, there is more that links them than that meets the eye. That’s because MCR’s founder Tyler Morse was once the assistant to Barry Sternlicht, the billionaire behind Starwood.

Morse and Sternlicht

A former ski instructor, Morse began his career as an accountant at EY before moving to become an investment banker at Morgan Stanley. He then jumped ship into the hospitality world, working for Sternlicht.