Japanese global tech investor, SoftBank Group, has pulled out of a $3 billion deal to buy WeWork shares it entered into last year.
In a statement, SoftBank pointed out that the buyout was subject to a number of conditions, which were not met by 1st April 2020, when the deal was expected to close.
These unfulfilled conditions include the existence of multiple, new, and significant pending criminal and civil investigations surrounding WeWork and its co-founder Adam Neumann, as well as the recapitalization of WeWork’s struggling joint venture in China.
Despite all this, the tech investor argued that the decision to end the buyout will not affect WeWork’s operations, customers, five-year business and strategic plan, or the vast majority of WeWork’s current employees.
However, SoftBank will still give a $5 billion assistance to help with syndicated debt payments.
In October last year, SoftBank agreed to bail out WeWork after the latter’s fiscal free-fall due to a botched initial public offering (IPO). Softbank agreed to buy up to $3 billion WeWork shares from existing investors through a tender offer, as part of a larger bailout worth almost $10 billion.
WeWork is an American commercial real estate company that provides shared workspaces for technology startups and services for other enterprises. Its headquarters are in New York City.
See Also:
