WeWork’s IPO Filing Details Steep Revenue, Loss Growth

With its next step toward a high-profile debut that could come as early as September, the parent company of WeWork unveiled its papers for an initial public offering (IPO). The filing illustrates a company that has sharp revenue growth but has losses that have been expanding at almost the same rate, The Wall Street Journal reported.

We Co. brought in revenue of $1.54 billion for the first half of 2019 but noted a $689.7 million net loss. (The firm increased its revenue more than fourfold between 2016 and 2018.) The company’s public filing would enable a September debut, but the report noted that the timing could fall behind.

Executives, however, had been targeting September in recent months as they were concerned that good times in the U.S. stock market may not continue with big indexes near or at record highs.

We reportedly intends to list with the symbol of WE, and it has been valued at as much as $47 billion in private markets. According to the report, the company has not noted the exchange where it foresees making a listing. It operates in 111 cities globally with 528 locations and 527,000 memberships.

The real estate firm mainly renovates long-term space, splits it and subleases them to other firms over a short term. It has often reportedly noted that it should be more akin to tech firms than traditional real estate companies. The second page of its filing notes, “We dedicate this to the energy of We — greater than any one of us but inside of each of us.”

In separate news, reports surfaced last month that IPO talks continued for co-working company WeWork as it moves to acquire SpaceIQ, a software startup. The Silicon Valley-based company develops management and analytics software for making efficient use of office space and could aid WeWork in looking more like a technology company as it gears up for its IPO. SpaceIQ has notched $11.5 million in venture funding per earlier reports.