Hip hotelier SBE is in talks to merge with restaurant and nightclub outfit Hakkasan Group, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The deal is expected to be finalized within 60 days and would reportedly give the combined company a valuation of $1 billion, according to a WSJ source.
Founded by CEO Sam Nazarian, SBE encompasses eight hotel brands, including SLS and the Redbury, as well as restaurants and nightclubs. Last December the company acquired the Morgans Hotel Group for $805 million, adding Delano and Mondrian into the fold and growing its hotel count from nine to 22. An ambitious expansion is set to bring SBE hotels to New York, Seattle, Miami, Doha and Baha Mar in the Bahamas this year, with future properties slated for Atlanta, Washington, Philadelphia, Dubai, Colombia, Argentina and five locations across Mexico.
Based in London and Las Vegas, the Hakkasan Group's portfolio includes more than 50 restaurants and nightlife venues in the U.S., Europe, India, Asia and the Middle East. New outposts are planned to open this year in Bali and Jakarta, Indonesia; Hawaii; and Houston.
Both companies have strong ties to Las Vegas. SBE opened the SLS Las Vegas in 2014, and though it sold its stake in the resort in 2015, SBE restaurant brands like Umami Burger, Bazaar Meat, Cleo and Katsuya are still in place at the resort. The company also operates the Hyde Bellagio and the Hyde Lounge at the T-Mobile Arena. The Hakkasan Group, meanwhile, has more than 20 venues on the Strip, including its eponymous Hakkasan restaurant and nightclub at MGM Grand, the Omnia nightclub at Caesars Palace and the Jewel nightclub at Aria.
Combining the companies will give SBE a far deeper well of restaurants and nightclubs to tap for its hotels and will allow the Hakkasan Group wider distribution of its brands in forthcoming SBE properties.
Terms of the deal haven't been disclosed, but Nazarian told the WSJ that the merger will result in "the most dynamic hospitality, residential, restaurant and entertainment company in the industry."