The shared office company WeWork is set to go public on Thursday, completing a trip on a listing that included the implosion of its IPO in 2019.
WeWork is going public through a combo with
BowX Acquisition Corp.
, a purpose-built acquisition company.
In 2019, WeWork failed to go public as the company faced questions about its corporate governance and value. Now the company, which is making its debut on the New York Stock Exchange, has been renewed under the leadership of the Chief Executive
Sandeep Mathrani.
It closed locations, renegotiated leases and cut thousands of jobs to cut spending during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The deal with BowX Acquisition earlier this year gave WeWork an equity value of approximately $ 8 billion . The merger will bring WeWork cash proceeds of around 1.3 billion US dollars, the companies said.
The shares will trade on Thursday under the name WeWork Inc. and the ticker symbol WE. On Wednesday, BowX Acquisition shares closed at $ 10.38, up 10.8%.
Founded in 2010, WeWork is a player in the flexible office space market. It signs long-term leases with landlords and, after renovating and furnishing, lets small offices or even entire buildings to renters for just a month.
The company had a valuation of $ 47 billion ahead of its IPO, but its attempt Entering public markets in 2019 failed when investors turned down the money-losing company. His visionary but unpredictable leader, Adam Neumann, resigned as CEO and emailed the staff to inform them that “too much focus has been placed on me”.
SoftBank Group Corp.
9984 -2.06%
, the Japanese tech investor who invested money in WeWork, bailed out the company after the failed IPO. It holds a controlling stake in WeWork even after the SPAC deal. According to a securities filing, Mr. Neumann will have around 11% voting rights after the business combination.
In 2019, WeWork said its mission was to « raise awareness in the world » and that it would be cost compared to a standard lease by 66%. In its most recent attempt to enter the public market, WeWork released a slideshow for investors that included case studies of how companies switching to WeWork could cut real estate costs by around 25% per employee.
Pre-Marketed Mr. Mathrani the company’s offer as so-called Space as a Service. « As companies around the world rethink their workplace, WeWork is uniquely positioned to offer the space and services that enable solutions based on flexibility, » he said on Wednesday.
The Covid-19 pandemic struck when WeWork was trying to recover from its troubles in late 2019 and posed a challenge for a company whose shared offices had employees nearby. The company posted a net loss attributable to the company of $ 888.8 million for the three months ended June 30 in August, compared with a loss of $ 863.8 million the previous year.
In a securities filing said WeWork announced that its occupancy for the 1st.
Mr. Mathrani and Executive Chairman
Marcelo Clare,
who is also the Chief Operating Officer of SoftBank Group, will also lead WeWork on the IPO, the company announced on Wednesday.
SPACs, also known as blank check companies for raising money to find a target, to merge with and go public has grown in popularity as companies look for alternatives to a traditional IPO. Such ventures usually have two years to find a goal. Share prices for publicly traded SPACs have fallen this year, leaving many blank check companies trading below their debut prices.
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