WeWork lost $ 3.2 billion in 2020 because the pandemic had to close its workspaces, compared to $ 3.5 billion the previous year, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
These losses come despite the fact that WeWork reduced its capital expenditure to just $ 49 million, almost 98% lower than $ 2.2 billion in 2019, as occupancy rates at its properties fell from 72% to 47%, according to the Times.
But WeWork is still paying attention to a public offering, now through a potential merger with BowX, a special-purpose acquisition company (
SPACE
), who counts former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal among his advisers, the report reads.
WeWork declined to comment.
According to the Times, WeWork is seeking $ 1 billion in new financing, and hopes to release a $ 9 billion valuation, including debt. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier in January that WeWork intends to sign a $ 10 billion deal with the SPAC.
The new valuation would be less than a fifth of the $ 47 billion that WeWork was looking for when it initially announced its plans for an initial public offering in 2019. fueled by founder and then CEO, Adam Neumann.
But one investor offered by WeWork doubts the latest forecasts, which include $ 7 billion by 2024, $ 485 million in adjusted earnings next year and a 90% occupancy rate by the end of 2022, according to the Financial Times.
Since its demise, WeWork has been caught in legal and financial trouble. SoftBank, the company’s largest stakeholder, has injected billions of additional funding into the company to help keep it going, even as other investors try to backtrack.
Neumann, after stepping down as CEO, also sued SoftBank for not buying more than $ 1 billion of its WeWork shares. In addition, as part of a proposed settlement, Neumann will pay out $ 500 million of $ 500 million for the purchase of his shares in SoftBank, and he will leave the board of WeWork for a year, Bloomberg reported last month, helping the door to open for a public offering.