WeWork has withdrawn the registration of its initial public offering, originally filed to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 14 August. Co-CEOs Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham said they are postponing the IPO to focus on the company’s core business, the fundamentals of which “remain strong.” The co-CEOs added that they still intend to operate WeWork as a public company and look forward to revisiting the public equity markets in the future.
The company, which provides shared workspaces for tech startups and service providers, was set for a trading debut from end September after a roadshow. Some investors, including SoftBank, have pushed the company to wait until next year to launch its IPO. WeWork was valued at USD 47 billion during a fundraising exercise this year led by SoftBank, but this has been reduced to USD 15-20 billion and possibly lower, sources said earlier.
Aside from the state of its finances, the company has also experienced some turbulency its leadership team, with founder and ex-CEO Adam Neumann resigning earlier this month on reports of erratic behaviour, TechCrunch and the Wall Street Journal reported.
