US: SoftBank is reportedly seeking to take control of WeWork

Softbank has readied a financing package to take control of WeWork and further sideline the company’s founder Adam Neumann, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Softbank already owns one-third of WeWork, but is aiming to invest several billion dollars in additional equity and debt in the company, sources told The Journal. The potential deal would shift Neumann’s already diminished voting power to the Japanese conglomerate, according to the Journal.

One potential solution is the SoftBank package. Another possibility: The board has tapped JPMorgan Chase & Co. to look at ways for the company to raise billions in debt, and the bank is in the middle of meetings with investors about participating in a multibillion-dollar debt deal, people familiar with the company’s plans said.

“WeWork has retained a major Wall Street financial institution to arrange a financing,” a company spokesman said. “Approximately 60 financing sources have signed confidentiality agreements and are meeting with the company’s management and its bankers over the course of this past week and this coming week.”

Full Content: Wall Street Journal

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