Israeli entrepreneur Adam Neumann has reportedly offered $500 million to buy WeWork, the shared workspace company that he founded and from which he was ousted five years ago. WeWork is now in the midst of insolvency procedures. The offer could rise to $900 million, depending on the results of a due diligence examination. The company has extensive activity in Israel.
Neumann’s lawyers claimed that Dan Loeb’s investment firm Third Point was backing Neumann’s offer, but Third Point has denied this.
The lack of clarity about Neumann’s sources of finance, and his previous record at WeWork, are likely to dampen the company’s willingness to accept the offer. Neumann, his family office Nazare, and his real estate company Flow, which is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, filed a notice of appearance, essentially a request to receive documents pertaining to the case, in WeWork’s bankruptcy proceedings on Monday.
A spokesperson for Flow said that, two weeks ago, "a coalition of half a dozen financing partners whose identities are known to WeWork and its advisors" submitted an offer of considerably more than the $500 million initially reported.
WeWork filed for bankruptcy in 2023 after years of financial struggles. "As we’ve said previously, WeWork is an extraordinary company and it’s no surprise we receive expressions of interest from third parties on a regular basis. Our board and our advisors review those approaches in the ordinary course, to ensure we always act in the best long-term interests of the company," a spokesperson for the company said in a statement yesterday.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 26, 2024.
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