adam neumann
WeWork and CEO Adam Neumann have reportedly struggled to win over investors for its planned public offering. Jackal Pan/Getty Images

 

  • WeWork is leaning toward delaying its initial public offering, The Wall Street Journal reported.
  • The company won’t start its roadshow — its series of meetings with potential investors — this week as planned, The Journal reported.
  • It will likely postpone the offering until at least October, according to the report.
  • The company has been getting pushback from potential investors over its $47 billion private valuation, its business model, and its corporate governance.

WeWork will likely delay its planned public offering until at least October, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing unnamed sources.

The company will not begin its planned roadshow this week, according to The Journal. A roadshow is the name for the series of meetings that startups have with potential investors immediately before a public offering.

WeWork representatives did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Representatives for SoftBank, which is the biggest investor in the commercial-real-estate company, also did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

But the company saw significant pushback from investors, who were reportedly concerned about its valuation, business model, governance, and potential resilience in a recession. Last week, the company was considering going public with a market capitalization of as little as $10 billion, less than a quarter the $47 billion valuation SoftBank conferred on it as part of an investment in January.

WeWork’s struggles to go public have reverberated back on SoftBank. Two of the biggest backers of the Japanese conglomerate’s $100 billion Vision Fund are considering taking much smaller stakes in its planned follow-on fund, Bloomberg reported.

As reported by Business Insider