RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – WeWork, the coworking space conglomerate with a growing presence in the Triangle and Charlotte, is now looking to raise cash after putting off an initial public offering and replacing its CEO.
“WeWork is seeking a $5 billion debt package led by JPMorgan,” reports venture capital news site PitchBook. It cites Bloomberg as the source for the story.
“The package reportedly may consist of some $3 billion in high-yield bonds, and a formal decision could be made as early as this week. Such efforts represent a rush for cash after the New York-based company shelved its IPO plans. Its $47 billion valuation in January had sunk to estimates as low as $10 billion.”
In other news, WeWork disclosed on Friday that it will close the school it opened last year in New York with the lofty goal of promoting “conscious entrepreneurship” as the office-sharing company retrenches following its botched attempt to sell its stock on Wall Street.
The “WeGrow” elementary and preschool in Manhattan will close at the end of the 2019-2020 school year, the company said Friday.
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It’s WeWork’s first publicly announced cost-cutting step since it scrapped plans last month for an initial public offering of stock. The company abandoned the IPO after it generated tepid interest from investors worried about WeWork’s massive losses and corporate governance problems.
The stock-sale debacle posed an urgent funding problem for WeWork. It had hoped to raise $3 billion in the IPO, which would have unlocked $6 billion in financing raised by a group of banks to fund its aggressive growth strategy.
WeWork said the closure of the WeGrow school is part of its efforts to focus on its core office space leasing business, raising the possibility that it could shed more side businesses. Those include a fitness company called “Rise by We,” the co-living rental company “WeLive” and several tech acquisitions, including social media network Meetup.
WeWork is also in talks with longtime financial backers about new financing, as Bloomberg reported.
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The New York company is burning through about $2.8 billion each year, according to an estimate by Sanford C. Bernstein analysts. At that rate, Bernstein projects WeWork could run out of cash to maintain its current plans by mid-next year. Bernstein estimates that WeWork needs at least at least $6 billion in funding.
As the end of June, WeWork was sitting on $2.5 billion in cash. It has $1.5 billion coming in next year under an earlier deal struck with SoftBank, the Japanese investment firm.
The company’s revenue has more than doubled annually over the last few years, reaching $1.8 billion in 2018, mostly through lease acquisitions. But its losses have mounted almost as quickly, reaching $1.6 billion last year.
WeWork was founded in 2010 and makes money by leasing buildings and dividing them into office spaces to sublet to members. It has locations in 111 cities worldwide and had planned to launch in 169 addition cities, plans that will likely now be pared down.
WeGrow is a for-profit private school that teaches elementary school-aged children and preschoolers starting at age 2. It had been run by Rebekah Neumann, wife of WeWork’s co-founder Adam Neumann who last month stepped down as the company’s CEO.
The school was part of the communal ethos that the Neumanns had promoted as the guiding principle of their company. The program includes yoga, meditation, trips to a Staten Island farm and mentorships with WeWork’s members.
