WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann has submitted a bid to purchase back the bankrupt office-sharing company for greater than $500 million, an individual acquainted with the matter told Reuters.
It shouldn’t be clear how Neumann is planning to line up financing for his bid, the source said, requesting anonymity because the discussions were confidential.
Last month, Reuters reported founder Neumann was attempting to buy back the flexible workspace provider which had filed for bankruptcy in November.
Ex-WeWork CEO and co-founder Adam Neumann submitted a bid for the corporate for greater than $500 million. AP
“As we’ve said previously, WeWork is a rare company and it’s no surprise we receive expressions of interest from third parties regularly,” WeWork said in a press release.
“Our board and our advisors review those approaches within the peculiar course, to make sure we at all times act in the very best long-term interests of the corporate,” it added.
WeWork said it stays focused on its restructuring efforts to “emerge from Chapter 11 within the second quarter as a financially strong and profitable company.”
Under Neumann, WeWork grew to be the Most worthy US startup value $47 billion. But his pursuit of growth on the expense of profit and revelations about his eccentric behavior led to his ouster and derailed an initial public offering in 2019.
Last month, Neumann’s lawyers had sent a letter to WeWork, saying he was exploring a joint bid for the corporate with Daniel Loeb’s hedge fund Third Point and other investors.
WeWork filed for bankruptcy in November. Christopher Sadowski
Nonetheless, Third Point later told Reuters it had held “only preliminary conversations” with Neumann and his property company Flow and had not made any financial commitments.
The SoftBank-backed company racked up losses on its long-term lease obligations as more people began working from home throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and demand for office space plunged.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on Neumann’s bid earlier on Monday.
