Soho House Goes Private, Hotel Investment Stalls and Long-Haul Climate Impact
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, August 19. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Soho House has agreed to be taken private in a deal that values the company at $2.7 billion, including debt, reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill.
Soho House CEO Andrew Carnie said returning to private ownership will allow the members-only club operator to build on recent business momentum. O’Neill notes Soho House just recorded its third straight profitable quarter after decades of being in the red.
An investor group led by MCR Hotels and its CEO Tyler Morse will acquire most of Soho House’s outstanding shares not owned by billionaire Ron Burkle. Burkle will remain Soho House’s controlling shareholder. Soho House operates over 46 members’ clubs, restaurants, hotels, and workspaces designed for the creative industries in cities like London, New York, Los Angeles, and Miami.
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Next, the global hotel investment market has stalled as heavy debt has deterred large deals, writes Hospitality Reporter Luke Martin.
Total transactions fell roughly 16% in the first half of this year to 600 deals, according to JLL’s latest Global Hotel Investment Trends report. Martin adds that deals over $200 million were largely missing in the first half, with 77% of global hotel liquidity coming from smaller deals.
Select-service and extended-stay models will continue to dominate deal volume by property count.
Finally, Climate Reporter Darin Graham explains that most people are unaware of the true climate impact of their actions. For example, skipping a long-haul flight does far more to reduce emissions than other choices, such as recycling, but most people don’t realize it.
That’s one takeaway from a new paper from NYU researchers that included a survey of roughly 4,000 U.S. adults.
For airlines, customers may not yet understand the environmental cost of long-haul flights, but studies suggest they change their behavior once they see the numbers.
That opens a role for airlines in educating travelers, by offering clear carbon-impact data per route, highlighting offset programs, or designating lower-emission routes or classes.
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