With the pandemic apparently making private membership clubs more appealing to affluent travelers, Soho House has reportedly finally pulled the trigger on filing for an IPO. Several sources have reported in the past few days that the London-based private membership club and hotel company last week submitted a confidential filing for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange that would value the business at more than US$3 billion.
With 27 locations from Miami to Mumbai, Sky News in the UK reported that some banking insiders believe the IPO could raise as much as US$4 billion for founder and CEO Nick Jones, majority shareholder Ron Burkle and early investor Richard Caring. The company also runs a series of co-working spaces called Soho Works.
Soho House was linked to a public listing in 2018. However, the owners decided to raise capital privately from real estate trust Simon Property Group and Raycliff Capital. The business was then valued at US$2 billion.
The latest bid has been in the works since at least February, when The Times of London reported that Soho House had hired JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley to lead the initiative forward.
Soho House has reportedly held up well through the pandemic with the Financial Times reporting last year that it only lost about 10,000 of its 110,000 members.
Jones, who opened the first location in London’s Soho district in 1995 reportedly owns just under 10% of the business, which could net him US$400 million at the IPO. Burkle, who has a 60% holding, is in line for a US$2.4 billion payout, and British tycoon Caring, who first invested in 2008, could see US$1 billion for his stake.