WeWork may have been pulled back from the edge of insolvency by its biggest investor, but many of its landlords are still preparing for a worst-case scenario.
SoftBank Group, which led the funding that valued WeWork at $47B in January, officially took over the company last week by providing a financial lifeline in the form of billions more in cash.
In a $9.5B deal, the Japanese conglomerate now owns more than an 80% share and provided WeWork $5B in new financing, including a $1.5B wire transfer last week to ensure it has enough cash to maintain its operations.
But skepticism about WeWork’s future and its sizable portfolio remain, even as the company, the largest private occupier of office space in both New York City and London, scrambles to right the ship.
One national landlord that has been negotiating two office deals with WeWork said conversations with the company have gone from “business as usual," even during the tumultuous initial public offering process, to being fully stalled.
“Now, the latest thing they told us after the SoftBank bailout was announced, [was] ‘we are still on hold, and we could be back to you in two days, two weeks — or never,'” the person said, who requested anonymity to discuss negotiations.
Landlords say events of the last two months have led to a heightened level of caution with the company. Multiple potential WeWork lease deals in New York City are said to be canceled or halted, and scores of possible deals in London are now in jeopardy as WeWork reviews its expansion there, Bloomberg reports.
For landlords with WeWork commitments already in place, there is a growing acknowledgement that they may need to consider a Plan B.