The We Company, the co-working service formerly known as WeWork, revealed yesterday it has confidentially filed for an initial public offering that would enable investors including telecommunications firm SoftBank to exit.
The company filed for the IPO in December 2018 but has not revealed which market it intends to list on, a timetable or a targeted size or valuation for the proposed offering.
Founded in 2010, We Company’s core business remains WeWork, the owner of a network of co-working spaces that now spans 35 countries across six continents.
However, the company’s growth plans involve the establishment of a series of interlinking branded ventures including co-living spaces (WeLive), boutique hotels (WeSleep and Vi Sover), coffee shops that double as meeting spaces (WeConnect), financial services (WeBank) and yacht chartering (WeSail).
SoftBank is We Company’s largest shareholder, having initially invested $300m in early 2017 at a $17bn valuation to take its overall funding to $2bn. SoftBank acquired $3bn of primary and secondary shares later in the year, in tandem with its Vision Fund, adding $1.4bn for three subsidiaries in China, Japan and the Asia Pacific region.
SoftBank provided a further $1bn in convertible note financing in August 2018, and an additional $2bn in equity funding at a $47bn valuation in January 2019. It had already pledged $3bn in warrant financing for We Company in the first half of this year.
The company had previously raised $690m from investors including hotel owner Shanghai Jin Jiang International and private equity firm Hony Capital in 2016.
Earlier investors in We Company include Fidelity Management and Research, JP Morgan Investment Management, T. Rowe Price, Harvard Management Company, Goldman Sachs, Benchmark and clients of Wellington Management Company.
The move will be merely the latest in a series of high-profile IPOs this year. Social network operator Pinterest and on-demand ride provider Lyft have already floated while ride hailing service Uber, short-term accommodation marketplace Airbnb and messaging platform Slack are all preparing large-scale offerings.
