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Rental platform Rentberry is throwing its hat into the ring with “plans to explore” making an offer to buy bankrupt coworking company WeWork.
Rentberry said it intends to make an offer this week, backed by venture capital firm Berkeley Hills Capital. Rentberry didn't share details about how much it would offer, and it hasn't responded to Bisnow's request for comment.
WeWork's coworking model complements Rentberry's model, which lets residents rent furnished properties without security deposits for up to a year, the company said in a press release. The merger would cater to the lifestyle of busy professionals, Rentberry CEO Oleksiy Lubinsky said.
This news comes on the heels of Adam Neumann, WeWork's founder, detailing his plans to buy back the company he was forced out of in 2019. Neumann's new gig, real estate company Flow Global, and hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb have been pushing to buy WeWork out of bankruptcy for months, according to The New York Times.
The holdup, according to Neumann's advisers, is WeWork not providing the information needed for Flow and Loeb to purchase the company or provide debtor-in-possession financing during the bankruptcy process. Loeb's Third Point LLC manages $12B in assets and proposed a $200M DIP facility to WeWork.
WeWork said on Feb. 6 it has no plans to sell regardless of interested parties.
The company is trying to raise funds to wrap up reorganization and make rent, according to a court filing last week.
The filing is in response to 27 landlord creditors asking the bankruptcy judge to force WeWork to pay rent they argue the company is withholding. Since then, more than half have dropped their claims.
WeWork owes more than $33M in unpaid January rent and said the landlords should accept letters of credit in lieu of rent. Failure to pay key bills like rent during Chapter 11 puts the company's restructuring plans at risk of falling apart.
Since declaring bankruptcy in November, WeWork has been rejecting and renegotiating leases around the world. It has reached favorable terms with landlords so far and has a clear line of sight to a profitable and sustainable future, a spokesperson told Bisnow last week.
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