WeWork Raises New Financing

Shared office-space startup WeWork Cos. has raised about $430 million in a new round of financing meant to clear the way for a major push into Asia.

Chinese investment companies Legend Holdings and Hony Capital Ltd. led the round, WeWork executives said, in a deal that gives WeWork a valuation of about $16 billion.That would make it one of the world's most valuable startups.

WeWork filed a document with Delaware's Division of Corporations on Tuesday night that said the company is selling $430 million of stock, but didn't name the investors.

WeWork leases office space from landlords and subleases it to individuals and companies, offering a hip, communal environment with plush couches, snacks and games.

It has expanded from a single Manhattan location in 2010 to 65 locations, mostly in major U.S. cities as well as a handful of cities in Europe and Israel.

Now, company executives said, it is planning to push into Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul and other major cities from India to Japan.

In a statement, Hony Capital's chief executive, John Zhao, said of WeWork that "the quality of its execution and fit for the Chinese culture is unparalleled."

New York-based WeWork's valuation has swelled from $10 billion last summer and $5 billion at the end of 2014. That makes it nearly as valuable as the country's largest publicly traded office landlord, Boston Properties Inc., which owned about 10 times the amount of space that WeWork was leasing early this year.

Write to Eliot Brown at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 09, 2016 16:55 ET (21:55 GMT)

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