SBE Wants to Become the Ultimate Lifestyle Hospitality Group

Los Angeles-based SBE got its start with the opening of a nightclub, Hyde, and in the 14 years since, the company has come to encompass not only nightclubs but restaurants, hotels, and residences whose brands include Umami Burger, SLS Hotels, and Katsuya. Last year, SBE dramatically grew its hotel portfolio with the $82-million acquisition of the long-struggling Morgans Hotel Group. That acquisition, which took more than two years to complete, finally closed in December 2016 and in the months since, SBE has been integrating its 13 Morgans properties into its portfolio. At the time of the deal close, Bjorn Hanson, a clinical professor at the NYU Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism, called it a "great acquisition" and that the awareness of Morgans Hotels Group's iconic brand portfolio would be especially attractive for SBE. "Many people know the Mondrian name, and each of these Morgans hotels, in its own way, is its own brand. I don't know what [SBE CEO] Sam Nazarian is planning to do — there could be cities where there