James Dolan on Monday agreed to sell the Tao Group to PokerStars co-founder Mark Scheinberg in a deal that values the high-end restaurant business at $550 million.
Dolan’s Madison Square Garden Entertainment bought Tao in 2017 for $181 million and can receive $300 million of net proceeds within the sale, MSGE said in a press release.
MSGE owns a 67% stake in Tao, which has an impressive $90 million loan that will likely be reduced from Dolan’s share of the proceeds.
The Tao founders — Marc Packer, Wealthy Wolf, Noah Tepperberg and Jason Strauss — are keeping their stakes within the business.
Tao’s pricey clubs have long been playgrounds for Wall Street financiers and celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Bella Hadid and Justin Bieber.
A Morgan Stanley analyst calculated in December that Tao — which operates 32 Latest York City restaurants and clubs like Beauty & Essex, Lavo and Bar Moxy, in addition to dozens of other venues in London, Singapore and Dubai — was value $524 million.
The Post broke the news in January that Dolan, who also owns the Knicks and Rangers, was selling Tao and hopes to make use of the proceeds to complete the constructing of the Las Vegas Sphere Arena on the Venetian. The Sphere’s budget has ballooned from $1.2 billion to $2.2 billion. It is anticipated to open this fall.
Dolan is making a fairly good return from his sale of Tao.Nati Harnik
MSGE doesn’t have the funds to run recent Tao restaurants or night clubs and secures management contracts for brand spanking new venues, a source who’s near the chain said.
That ought to now change with Scheinberg, owner of the realty-focused investment firm Mohari Hospitality, the source added.
“For the Tao founders, they now have a partner who desires to expand so that is great for them,” the source said.
Mark Scheinberg will likely be a recent player on the Latest York party scene after buying Tao.WireImage
The move comes as MSG Entertainment completes a re-organization plan, which can see it split off its live entertainment business right into a recent entity.
As per the plan, which is anticipated to be formally accomplished by Thursday, the present company will likely be renamed Sphere Entertainment Co and can comprise its Las Vegas music arena Sphere and TV unit MSG Networks.
The brand new company, which can retain the name Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp, will include venues reminiscent of Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre and the Chicago Theatre together with the entertainment and sports bookings business.
Scheinberg and his father in 2014 sold online gambling company PokerStars to Amaya Gaming for $4.9 billion.
