SoftBank is reportedly discussing an investment of $15- $20 billion for a majority stake in the co-working space company WeWork, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday.
Founded in 2010 by Israeli-American Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, WeWork has expanded to 22 countries, with more than 268,000 members in 287 locations, and is going to generate a huge $2 billion in revenue in 2018.
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The company has raised nearly $5 billion to date in debt and equity funding.
SoftBank already invested $4.4 billion in WeWork in 2017, and owns about 20 percent of the company while $1.4 billion was set to expand WeWork in Japan, China, and Southeast Asia.
Business Insider citing skeptics who say they are worried that WeWork’s core proposition of taking on long leases, doing up office spaces, then subleasing them doesn’t justify its huge valuation.
If the deal is done SoftBank’s investment would be through its Vision Fund, a $92 billion fund which is backed by Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia and wealth funds as well as SoftBank’s own capital, the Journal reported.
According to the WSJ report, the discussion between the two companies are ongoing and a deal is not guaranteed.
