In shocking news, Tao Group has confirmed it has acquired Hakkasan Group.
Well, the news is shocking for people who don’t read this blog, because we told you this would happen four months before anyone else. “Boom,” as the kids say.
While not surprising to those with good taste in Las Vegas blogs, this news is still huge as it involves two of the biggest nightlife companies in the world, as well as some of the most successful venues in the history of nightlife.
We are your sweeping generalizations headquarters.
The scope of this acquisition is staggering. The newly-combined company operates 61 entertainment, dining and nightlife venues in 22 markets across five continents.
And, yes, we knew that off the top of our head and most definitely didn’t just copy and paste it from the official news release.
Sorry Greenland and South America, no vibe dining for you.
Some of the company’s brands include Tao at Venetian, Marquee at Cosmo, Lavo Italian restaurant at Venetian, Beauty & Essex at Cosmo, Hakkasan at MGM Grand, Omnia at Caesars Palace, Jewel Nightclub at Aria and others.
As with anything related to Las Vegas, there was tons of behind-the-scenes drama leading up to the Tao Group acquisition of Hakkasan Group, and were are confident our local Las Vegas journalists are feverishly digging into the story right now.
Just kidding. But the Wall Street Journal, Business Insider or The Guardian might take a stab at it, eventually.
Now seems like a great time to watch the overhead light thingy at Hakkasan nightclub.
Suffice to say, this acquisition changes everything in Las Vegas. Tao Group now has undisputed dominance in the Las Vegas nightlife scene, a scene we tend to stay as far away from as possible, but a lot of people seem to like it.
Nightlife has been devastated by the pandemic, and only after a year have some venues begun to open up, often with capacity limits and other restrictions that make them unable to even break even.
Nightlife venues will get a big boost in the next month or two as capacities and restrictions are lifted, but some entities, like Hakkasan, weren’t able to navigate the financial challenges of a once-bulletproof business model.
It sounds like the Hakkasan name isn’t going anywhere, so there’s that.
There remain a lot of questions about that business model in post-pandemic Las Vegas.
Resorts World made a splash with the announcement (sorry, confirmation, because we ruin everything with our scoop) of headliners Zedd and Tiesto. High-priced talent is what doomed Kaos at Palms (now being purchased by the San Manuel tribe), but Resorts World is confident the landscape hasn’t changed, that Kaos was just a matter of poor management and a
challenging location.
Prior to the implosion of Kaos, several other nightlife venues closed, including Intrigue at Wynn, Hyde at Bellagio and 1OAK at Mirage, among others.
With the acquisiton of Hakkasan, Tao Group (majority owned by Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp.) is positioned for success if anyone is.
The world is ready to eat, drink, dance and fornicate in Las Vegas again! Please pass along video of that last thing for our official review and verification. Just saying.
