Soho House rejects takeover bid to take the company private

Soho House has rejected a takeover bid that would have taken the company off the New York Stock Exchange.

 

In a sign of confidence in its future, the private members’ club said it believed the offer from an unnamed party had undervalued the company.

 

Soho House said that while the offer was “a substantial premium over the current trading price” it had decided it “did not adequately reflect the value of the company and was not in the best interests of its public stockholders”.

 

A special committee to assess the offer has been dissolved and the group plans to hold an investor day later this year to update shareholders on its long-term growth plans.

 

It comes after a turbulent period for Soho House, which faced questions over its future after analyst Glasshouse Research published a scathing report in February claiming it had a “broken" business model and was effectively worthless.

 

Soho House has always strongly denied the claims but last year said it would slow down expansion plans and temporarily stop accepting new members in some cities to prevent overcrowding.

 

Its membership rose 10% to 198,000 in the first quarter of the year, while the waitlist to join passed 100,000 for the first time.

 

Soho House posted underlying earnings of £15m in the quarter, down just over £600,000 on the previous quarter.

 

Group chief executive Andrew Carnie said members were spending less in its houses, but the company was protected by its ongoing membership revenue.

 

Soho House was founded by Nick Jones in London in 1995 to act as a hub for people working in the creative industries.

 

It runs 13 houses in the UK, where global membership costs over £2,900 a year, and more than 50 locations including hotels and co-working spaces worldwide.

 

Soho House’s first clubs in Manchester and Glasgow are expected to open this year along with a relaunch of the former Hush Mayfair site in London.

 

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