The story
Founded by Ian Schrager in 1984.1
1984-2006: Ian Schrager's Morgans Hotel Group
In 1984, Studio 54 co-founders and business partners Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell opened their first hotel, Morgans Hotel, named after J. P. Morgan's Morgan Library & Museum next-door. Designed by Andrée Putman, the instant hit introduced the boutique hotel category, becoming a "worldwide phenomenon." It is characterized by its triple-arched entrances that remain today.
Following the success of Morgans Hotel, they opened the well-received Royalton Hotel and Paramount Hotel, both designed by Philippe Starck. With these properties, Schrager introduced "lobby socializing" where the hotel lobby became a new kind of gathering place for hotel guests and New York City residents alike, and "cheap chic" was affordable luxury offered in a stylish, sophisticated environment. Schrager is also credited with inventing the "urban resort" with his Delano Hotel in Miami and Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood, also designed by Starck.
These were followed by the Hudson Hotel in New York, where he fully realized his concept "hotel as lifestyle", which he continued to refine, expanding to cities such as San Francisco with the Clift Hotel and London with the St. Martins Lane Hotel and the Sanderson Hotel, all designed by the prolific Starck.
NASDAQ: $MHG IPO
In June 2005, Schrager sold most of his stake in Morgans Hotel Group to launch the Ian Schrager Company. Despite stepping down as Chair and CEO, he retained $4 million in consultant pay and perks through end of 2007.
On Valentine's Day 2006, $MHG IPO'ed in a $360 million-target raise underwritten by Morgan Stanley, with Schrager cashing in his remaining 450,000 shares for another $9 million. Lance Armstrong served as a Board Member at IPO. Morgans Hotel Group was a publicly traded company on NASDAQ for over a decade.
2013-2014: Ron Burkle vs. Alfred Taubman
2014 saw the end of a legal proxy war for MHG control between two billionaire interests:
Yucaipa, the private equity firm of Ronald Burkle, who loaned MHG $75 million during the recession in 2009,
vs. MHG Chairman and Interim Acting CEO, Jason Taubman Kalisman, representing 13% majority interest of an investment vehicle for his grandfather, Alfred Taubman, owner of Sotheby's and Short Hills Mall, among other real estate interests.
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The two parties agreed to jointly seek a buyer, after all lingering legal proceedings with Burkle were settled. However, it had no permanent CEO to lead the company until 2016.
2016-2017: Sam Nazarian's SBE Entertainment Group M&A
After years-long battle and board-rejected offers to buy MHG, Burkle partnered with Sam Nazarian's SBE Entertainment Group, who agreed to acquire MHG for $805 million, in a take-private transaction completed November 30, 2016.
Burkle converted his existing Morgans equity stake into a SBE ownership stake with a board seat. SBE also received investment from Cain, a global real estate investment company headed by Todd Boehly and Jonathan Goldstein. Nazarian retained majority ownership of SBE, remaining its Founder & CEO, leading day-to-day operations.
The merged company owned and/or operated over 20 hotels, including six properties under SBE's flagship SLS brand.
Since 2020: Accor
In November 2020, all of SBE Entertainment Group's hotel holdings were sold to Accor, after the latter already acquired a 50% stake in 2018. The majority of former MHG hotels is now being operated by Accor's lifestyle subsidiary Ennismore. A few of the former hotels however, including the Morgans Hotel itself, are now closed.
From Wikipedia’s article on Morgans Hotel Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3