Real Estate

WeWork sells stake in women-only office business


WeWork has sold its stake in The Wing, a women-only office space provider, to a group of investors including Google’s venture capital business, as it seeks to boost its balance sheet and refocus on its core office leasing business.

WeWork, which owned a 21 per cent stake in The Wing, sold the majority of its holding to GV, Google’s venture business. Existing investors including Sequoia Capital and venture capital firm NEA also purchased parts of WeWork’s stake.

WeWork and The Wing did not disclose the price of the sale. WeWork invested $52m in the business in 2017 and 2018 and valued its stake at $59m in June last year, according to filings with US securities regulators. The Wing was valued at $300m in 2018, before it raised $75m of capital in a funding round that year, according to data provider PitchBook.

The Wing is the latest business WeWork has withdraw from as its top management attempts to revive the group after a cash crunch late last year that tested its solvency.

The company has sold other businesses it bought under its co-founder and former chief executive Adam Neumann, including online scheduling business Teem and search engine optimisation company Conductor. Since Mr Neumann’s departure following WeWork’s failed attempt to list its shares last year, the group has cut thousands of jobs and drastically slowed its global expansion plans.

“Last quarter, we articulated a long-term plan for disciplined growth and a clear path to profitability, and we continue to execute on this plan,” said WeWork co-chief executive Artie Minson.

The company is finalising a $1.75bn credit facility from Goldman Sachs and is working to secure $3.3bn of borrowing that will be guaranteed by its largest investor, SoftBank.

Google Ventures partner Jessica Verrilli will join the board of The Wing, replacing WeWork chief legal officer Jennifer Berrent. Ms Berrent had missed a number of The Wing’s board meetings over the past year as she focused on WeWork’s listing plans, according to people briefed on the matter.

The Wing, which has 11 locations in six cities, has 12,000 members. The group said on Wednesday that actor and producer Mindy Kaling would also invest in the round.



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