WeWork, known for the concept of shared workspace is all set up for its first initial public offering this year.
Adding India to its asset portfolio may benefit WeWork as it prepares for its initial public offering
- The New York-based company is in talks to buy around 70% of WeWork India at a valuation of about $2.75 billion
- WeWork India is a brand franchisee controlled by Buildcon LLP, which is owned by real estate billionaire Jitu Virwani and his son Karan Virwani
- Jitu Virwani is chairman and managing director of Bangalore-based Indian real estate developer Embassy Group while Karan Virwani is WeWork India CEO.
It is now being speculated that the cash and stock deal would be at $1.9 Bn and may close as soon as August. However, since the transaction hasn’t yet finalized, the terms may change or the deal may fall down
The company confidentially filed for an IPO in April-end. However, its losses continue to create questions on its future
More about WeWork India
The member base at WeWork India has grown to over 25K members in 21 open locations across Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai within 18 months of its launch. It hosts companies such as Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. in Bengaluru and Spotify Technology SA and Bumble in Mumbai.
The India unit projects to grow to 90K seats by March next year. The company is also gearing up to expand in Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune in the second half of 2019.
Background of WeCompany
In January 2019, WeWork announced it would be rebranding to The We Company
WeWork, founded in 2010 and last valued at $47 billion, pioneered the concept of shared workspaces, expanding to 425 office locations in 36 countries. With trendy work areas, colorful phone booth-like conversation areas and lively community hangouts serving beer on tap, the startup have reshaped office practices around the world.
Adam Neumann, co-founder believes in elevate the world’s consciousness
WeWork has yet to prove it can make money, with losses more than doubling last year to $1.93 billion, while revenue also more than doubled to $1.82 billion.
Still, the company has managed to win backing from deep-pocketed investors, including SoftBank Group Corp.
