WeWork parent expected to delay IPO: WSJ


WeWork parent expected to delay IPO: WSJ

WeWork owner The We Company is expected to postpone its initial public offering, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

FILE PHOTO: The WeWork logo is displayed on the entrance of a co-working space in New York

FILE PHOTO: The WeWork logo is displayed on the entrance of a co-working space in New York City, New York U.S., January 8, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

REUTERS: WeWork owner The We Company is expected to postpone its initial public offering, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The We Company is likely to shelve the offering until at least next month, according to the WSJ report.

The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

In the run-up to its IPO, WeWork has faced concerns over its corporate governance standards, as well as the sustainability of its business model, which relies on a mix of long-term liabilities and short-term revenue, and how such a model would weather an economic downturn.

Reuters reported last week, citing people familiar with the matter, that the company may seek a valuation of between US$10 billion and US$12 billion, a dramatic discount to the US$47 billion valuation it achieved in January.

It is under pressure to proceed with the IPO, despite the big valuation drop, to secure funding for its operations. It rents out workspace to clients under short-term contracts, even though it pays rent for them itself under long-term leases.

(Reporting by Debroop Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)


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