WeWork is about to take a major step toward its long-awaited initial public offering, whose goal will be to raise $3.5B to facilitate further growth for the consistently money-losing shared office space giant.
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Earlier this year, WeWork parent company The We Company got the ball rolling with a confidential filling with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Now the release of the company's IPO prospectus could come as soon as the week of Aug. 12, Bloomberg reports, citing anonymous sources, though the timing isn't certain yet.
The prospectus would represent a new level of transparency for WeWork, since it would provide investors information about its assets, operations, business plan and risk factors facing the company. Presumably WeWork is hoping to impress investors with the information, enough at least to pony up for a stake in the company. A prospectus is a key ingredient in the IPO process, and once the SEC signs off on it, investment banks can market a company's shares.
Thus far WeWork has grown via major cash infusions from deep-pocketed investors, especially Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp., though that company decided early this year not to acquire a majority interest in WeWork. SoftBank's investments value WeWork at $47B, despite its unprofitable history.
Ahead of its IPO, WeWork has also been looking to raise billions in debt financing, a strategy that would cushion it from a lackluster IPO. As an example of that, Uber Technologies' IPO, the largest one of 2019 so far, inspired only a tepid response, and its stock is now reaching toward new lows.
WeWork has also been busy recently acquiring PropTech companies to diversify itself. Its most recent tech deal involved buying SpaceIQ, a company focused on analytics software that makes more efficient use of office space.
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