WeWork, the co-working giant now known as The We Company, has submitted confidential documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering, the company confirmed in a press release Monday.
According to The New York Times, the business initially filed IPO paperwork in December.
WeWork, valued at $47 billion in January, has raised $8.4 billion in a combination of debt and equity funding since it was founded by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey in 2010. WeWork is among several tech unicorns with hundreds of millions, billions actually, in backing from the SoftBank Vision Fund. Recently, the Japanese telecom giant eyed a majority stake in the company worth $16 billion, but cooled their jets at the last minute.
WeWork doubled its revenue from $886 million in 2017 to roughly $1.8 billion in 2018, with net losses hitting a staggering $1.9 billion. These aren’t attractive metrics for a pre-IPO business; then again, Uber’s currently completing a closely watched IPO roadshow despite shrinking growth. Here’s more from Crunchbase Newson WeWork’s top line financials:
WeWork’s 2017 revenue: $886 million
WeWork’s 2017 net loss: $933 million
WeWorks 2018 revenue: $1.82 billion (+105.4 percent)
WeWork’s 2018 net loss: $1.9 billion (+103.6 percent)
On the bright side, per Axios, WeWork established a 90 percent occupancy rate in 2018, with total membership rising 116 percent to 401,000.
WeWork is often referenced as the perfect example of Silicon Valley’s tendency to inflate valuations. WeWork, a real estate business, burns through cash rapidly and will undoubtedly have to work hard to convince public markets investors of its longevity, as well as its status as a tech company.
WeWork is backed by SoftBank, Benchmark, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs and several others.
Press Release:
The We Company Announces Confidential Submission of Draft Registration Statement for Proposed Initial Public Offering
April 29, 2019 02:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The We Company (“WeWork”) announced that it has confidentially submitted an amended draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) relating to an initial public offering of its common stock. WeWork initially submitted its Form S-1 with the SEC in December 2018. This process will enable WeWork to make the decision to become publicly traded, subject to market and other conditions.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Any offers, solicitations of offers to buy, or any sales of securities will be made in accordance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act"). This announcement is being issued in accordance with Rule 135 under the Securities Act.