Mingtiandi

Asia real estate and outbound investment news

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Sign Up / Login Logout

Lost your password?
Register
Forgotten Password
Cancel

Register For This Site

A password will be e-mailed to you.

  • Capital Markets
  • Events
    • Mingtiandi 2023 Event Calendar
    • Mingtiandi APAC Residential Forum 2023
    • Mingtiandi Asia Logistics Forum 2023
    • Mingtiandi Hong Kong Focus Forum 2023
    • Mingtiandi APAC Data Centre Forum 2023
    • Mingtiandi Asia Office Strategies Forum 2023
    • Mingtiandi Singapore Focus Forum 2023
    • More Events
  • MTD TV
  • People
  • Logistics
  • Data Centres
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail
  • Research & Policy
  • Advertise

Temasek Said in Talks to Buy Majority Stake in WeWork China at $1B Valuation

2020/01/17 by Michael Cole 1 Comment

wework china

WeWork China’s Shanghai locations are said to be 35% vacant

Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, together with Shanghai-based investment manager Trustbridge Partners, has offered to buy up a majority stake in the China operations of troubled flexible office operator Wework, according to a report by Reuters today.

The Singapore government fund and its mainland partner submitted a proposal for the buyout of WeWork China to Softbank at the end of last year, according to Reuters, which based its report on information from three sources familiar with the discussions.

In early November WeWork began surrendering leased spaces in Hong Kong amid reports of low occupancy across the company’s Greater China operation, while globally the company has been selling off ancillary businesses and announced layoffs of around 20 percent of its work force in late November.

Investing at an 80% Discount

The proposal by Temasek and Trustbridge values WeWork China at around $1 billion, according to the Reuters report, which did not specify the size of the stake that the Singaporean fund and its partner intend to acquire. The discussions are said to still be in the early stages, with no certainty of a deal being reached.

Christian-Lee WeWork

WeWork Asia vice-chair Christian Lee may be selling shares at an 80% discount

Both Temasek and Trustbridge had participated in a $500 million fund raising round for WeWork China in 2018 which valued the company at $5 billion. That financing came after the mainland operation was spun off as a separate entity in a $500 million investment exercise led by Hony Capital and Softbank in 2017.

At present, WeWork owns 59 percent of its China business, with Softbank, Hony and Trustbridge, along with other investors, owning the remaining 41 percent, according to the prospectus filed as part of WeWork’s failed IPO attempt last year.

In response to inquiries from Mingtiandi, representatives of both WeWork and Temasek Holdings declined to comment, while Trustbridge had not yet replied by the time of publication.

Bailing Out a Struggling Mainland Operation

While Softbank bailed out WeWork in October with a $9.5 billion financing package after investors shunned the company’s IPO attempt, the co-working pioneer is still struggling to achieve profitability. At the same time WeWork’s Softbank stablemate Oyo Hotels, has already been forced to curtail its loss-making China operation.

Softbank’s efforts on behalf of WeWork also hit an obstacle in late December when three of Japan’s largest banks declined to extend further credit to the Japanese tech investor.

In October a report in the Financial Times found that WeWork’s Shanghai locations were over 35 percent empty, while vacancy rates in Xi’an reached as high as 78.5 percent.

At the time, WeWork was said to be looking for opportunities to close China locations, while in recent weeks competing flexible office providers having indicated to Mingtiandi that WeWork centres on the mainland have been made available for takeover.

Share this now

  • LinkedIn
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email

Filed Under: Flexible Office Tagged With: daily-sp, Featured, fl-China, flexible office, Softbank, Temasek Holdings, Trustbridge Partners, weekly-sp, WeWork

Comments

  1. Desperate Dan says

    2020/01/21 at 11:44 am

    I always thought Singaporeans had more sense. Deal desperation.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get Mingtiandi Delivered

MTD TV

MTD TV Greater China Resi
China Could Become World’s Largest Rental Housing Market: MTD TV
ESR, JLL, BW and Logos See Logistics Pivot to Developing Markets: MTD TV

More MTD TV Videos>>

People in the News

Johnny Shao CPE
Asia Real Estate People in the News 2023-03-27
Jonathan Yap CapitaLand
Jonathan Yap Named CapitaLand Development CEO as Leow Retires Early
Grace Woo Chia-ching, executive director of CK Asset (Getty Images)
Asia Real Estate People in the News 2023-03-20
Eugene Kohn KPF
Asia Real Estate People in the News 2023-03-13

More Industry Professionals>>

People in the News

Asia Real Estate People in the News 2023-03-27

Johnny Shao CPE

Top level moves at European and Asian fund managers lead this week’s list of personnel changes from around Asia Pacific … Read More>>

Jonathan Yap Named CapitaLand Development CEO as Leow Retires Early

Jonathan Yap CapitaLand

Singapore property giant CapitaLand on Thursday announced the upcoming retirement of CapitaLand Development CEO Jason … Read More>>

Asia Real Estate People in the News 2023-03-20

Grace Woo Chia-ching, executive director of CK Asset (Getty Images)

Senior changes at developers in Hong Kong and mainland China lead this week’s review of personnel changes in Asia, with … Read More>>

Asia Real Estate People in the News 2023-03-13

Eugene Kohn KPF

The passing of a global architecture giant leads this week’s round of personnel updates on Mingtiandi, as KPF mourns the … Read More>>

More Industry Professionals>>

Latest Stories

Ren Letian of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding
Viva Land Selling Singapore Office Tower at 20% Mark-Down After Vietnam Arrests
Kathy Lee Colliers Hong Kong
Reopening Buoys Market as Hong Kong Home Prices Rise for Second Straight Month
Cross Street Exchange
Singapore Central Business District Office Rent Growth Slowed to 1% in Q1

Sponsored Features

TE Capital's Solitaire on Cecil
Pair of Floors Sold as TE Capital, LaSalle Launch Cecil Street Office Tower in Singapore
What Do Real Estate Investors Really Want?
Douglas Wu of Fairland
Fairland Creates Spark City Lifestyle Hub to Energise Hong Kong’s Cheung Sha Wan

More Sponsored Features>>

Connect with Mingtiandi

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Real Estate News

  • Capital Markets
  • 2022 Event Calendar
  • MTD TV Archives
  • People
  • Logistics
  • Data Centres
  • Asia Outbound
  • Retail

More Mingtiandi

  • About Mingtiandi
  • Contact Mingtiandi
  • Mingtiandi Membership
  • Newsletter Subscription
  • Advertise
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Join the Mingtiandi Team


© 2007-2023 China Advertising Media Ltd (Samoa). All rights reserved.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.