Odell Girton Siegel LLC partners Robert Odell, left, and Josh Kalish in their Spaces office, which is located in New York’s Hudson Yards neighborhood, earlier this year.
PHOTO: ANDREW MITCHELL FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Investors and analysts are looking at the rocky experience of a WeWork rival that went public nearly 20 years ago for insight into what could lie ahead for the New York-based co-working company.

WeWork’s parent, We Co., last week released papers for its initial public offering, which could price by next month. Unlike Lyft Inc., Snap Inc. and a number of other startups that have gone public recently, We Co. already has a public competitor with a similar business model in IWG PLC.

The Zug, Switzerland-based company offers a similar business model and has roughly the same-size footprint as WeWork.

Some think that IWG’s travails during the economic downturn in the early 2000s, when its U.S. unit filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, is an ominous sign for WeWork when the U.S. bond market and slowing global growth may be signaling the possibility of a U.S. recession ahead. WeWork has said its flexible space model would have an appeal during uncertain times.

The IWG comparison is also raising questions about whether We is worth what its backers say: IWG has been profitable for years and has a market capitalization roughly one-tenth of We’s $47 billion private valuation, despite reporting big losses.

“I’m going to watch WeWork’s numbers very carefully and then probably be buying them short,” said Frank Cottle, chairman and chief executive officer of the Alliance Business Centers Group, another office-management company. He added that he considers IWG’s stock “hugely” undervalued relative to WeWork.

Like WeWork, IWG operates furnished, serviced offices around the globe that it rents out to companies and individuals under short-term deals and is best known for its Regus brand.