WeWork gets $3 billion in new funding from SoftBank

U.S. shared office space provider WeWork Cos has secured an additional $3 billion in funding from Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp, according to an investor presentation seen by Reuters.

The latest funding was in the form of a warrant, under which SoftBank will pay WeWork $1.5 billion on Jan. 15 and the remaining on April 15.

WeWork in July said it had raised $500 million from investors, including Temasek Holdings and SoftBank Group Corp.

SoftBank, which runs the world’s biggest private equity fund was in discussions to buy a majority stake in WeWork, a source told Reuters in October.

New York-based WeWork leases office spaces and rents them out to individuals and startups, and has said it hopes to boost its membership in China to one million by 2021.

In its first ever release of financial results in August, the privately held firm said its net losses jumped to $723 million over the first half of 2018 from $154 million a year earlier.

The SoftBank Vision Fund has investments in several startups that include U.S. ride-services firm Uber Technologies.

The loss-making startup WeWork and the Japanese company are closely entwined, with hundreds of SoftBank staff using space at the two companies’ Japanese joint venture.

Photo: A logo of U.S. co-working firm WeWork is pictured during a signing ceremony in Shanghai, China April 12, 2018. Jackal Pan via REUTERS

Source: Reuters.com