RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – WeWork, the coworking space giant with a growing presence across the Triangle, reportedly will delay its IPO.
Both the Wall Street Journal and venture news site PitchBook says the IPO will be delayed.
PitchBook says WeWork also is expected to delay its “road show” pitch to investors that was scheduled for this week.
WeWork had expected an IPO based on a valuation of $47 billion. That has dropped considerably since then.
“On Friday, the New York-based workspace provider released an amended S-1 revealing investor-centric concessions that limit CEO Adam Neumann’s corporate power and personal real estate profits,” PitchBook reports.
“Additionally, Reuters reported an estimated company valuation between $10 billion and $12 billion, while The Wall Street Journal reported an estimate of $15 billion to $20 billion with chief investor SoftBank buying about $750 million in IPO shares.”
Asked last week by WRAL TechWire about the status of the IPO, a company spokesperson declined comment.
“Whether WeWork ultimately goes public at a $20 billion valuation, a $10 billion or not at all, its turbulent road to Wall Street — and the flurry of changes announced in recent weeks — could prove to be a reality check for the wider startup industry,” CNN rports.
“For years, Silicon Valley has enabled, if not outright encouraged, startups to seek stratospheric valuations, bleed eye-popping amounts of money and institute little to no checks on a founder’s power. Now, the public market is signaling that yes, in fact, there are limits to what they’ll back.”
WeWork reports nearly doubling of client count but massive losses ahead of IPO
