Inside the Soho House IPO
As the once-exclusive members club goes public some argue it’s now over-subscribed, overdone, over-imitated — and over. But perhaps things have only just begun...
The nature of exclusivity is a tricky thing. Especially so when it comes to businesses looking to expand grow while retaining a sheen of discernibility. Case in point: Soho House, which just announced its IPO.
“As Soho House heads toward an IPO, the members’ club for the creative set may see any remaining air of exclusivity go up in flames,” argues Nimrod Kamer in an in-depth piece on the bohemian brand soon to turn public entity in Airmail News.
Kamer has a point. What began as a humble, underground workspace for creatives has become perhaps the most ubiquitous – not to mention most Instagrammed – chain of members clubs in the world. With over 27 locations in 10 countries (plus new openings in Tel Aviv, Austin, Rome, Paris, and Brighton, UK) detractors argue that the chain lost any claims to exclusivity and choosiness years ago.
In April Sky News broke the story that Soho House submitted a filing for an IPO in New York which would see the company valued at $3 billion. The news was confirmed in a June 21st press release in which Membership Collective Group (MCG), which owns Soho House and associated companies, The Ned and Scorpios Beach Club, announced that it has “has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) relating to a proposed initial public offering of shares of its Class A common stock.”
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