WeWork IPO full speed ahead of roadshow to start Monday
WeWork CEO Adam Neumann
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WeWork's first public offering is moving forward, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC's David Faber, despite a number of setbacks including a dramatic cut in the valuation and the largest outsider investor urging the controversial real estate company to shrink the offer.
The IPO roadshow will start as soon as Monday, the sources said.
WeWork's roadshow flies in the face of reported advice from investor SoftBank, which is likely to face a multi-billion dollar write-down if WeWork debuts at a valuation of between $ 1[ads1]5 and $ 20 billion. SoftBank had invested $ 2 billion in WeWork in January at a reported valuation of $ 47 billion. But the valuation of WeWork was dramatically reduced, sources told Faber last week, as demand for IPOs was not there.
The We Co. is the formal parent company of WeWork. Founded in 2010 by CEO Adam Neumann, the company leases jobs to start-ups and other businesses.
WeWork's planned stock exchange listing has drawn many questions from Wall Street, especially because of a controversial transfer to Neumann. In July, We paid Co. Neumann $ 5.9 million in a stock transaction for the "We." After the payment drew attention from critics, Neumann returned the stock last week, with the company explaining that the change was "in Adam's direction." The trademark belongs to We Holdings LLC, which is an investment vehicle for Neumann and co-founder Miguel McKelvey.
The company has over 500 locations, with plans to open nearly 170 new locations. The We Co. states that half of the membership is based outside the United States