WeWork’s parent company has chosen to list its shares on Nasdaq and plans sweeping changes in its governance as the shared workspace provider speeds up preparations for its hotly anticipated initial public offering in the face of tepid interest from investors.
The moves are part of a plan by We Co., as the company is officially known, to begin officially marketing the shares to investors next week ahead of a trading debut the week of Sept. 23, people familiar with the matter said.
The company is expected to set a preliminary price range by next week and We and its advisers are targeting a valuation that could slip below $20 billion, as The Wall Street Journal has previously reported. That’s significantly lower than the $47 billion valuation set in a funding round earlier this year, reflecting skepticism over the company’s governance and its ability to reverse steep losses.
We Co-founder and Chief Executive Adam Neumann controls a majority of the company’s voting rights through special shares whose potency was recently enhanced.
An expanded version of this report can be found on WSJ.com.
Also popular on WSJ.com
Five cities: Living on $50K a year
Wall Street flips bonds, towns and schools pay price
Add Comment