Onex And Brookfield Drop IWG Offer

Published on February 1, 2018 - By Jo Meunier (née Disney)

• Onex Corp and Brookfield Asset Management have decided not to make an offer for IWG Plc.
• The news comes after IWG rejected the Canadian consortium’s initial offer of £2.5bn last month.
• As a result, IWG’s shares have reportedly fallen more than 20 percent.

Last week, speculation was rife over the potential purchase of IWG Plc by Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp and Brookfield Asset Management. Despite the rejection of their initial £2.5bn offer, both firms reportedly remained in discussion with IWG and obtained an extension to submit a formal bid, set for February 2nd.

Today however, it has emerged that Onex and Brookfield do not intend to make a new offer for IWG.

According to Reuters, “The Canadian consortium said that following discussions with the board and management of IWG it had decided not to make an offer”, a decision that sent “shares of the British serviced office provider down more than 20 percent.”

“IWG confirmed that discussions had ended and said it remained confident in its prospects as an independent company.”

Details of Onex and Brookfield Asset Management’s offer first emerged in December 2017. The bid was rejected in January 2018 and, based on today’s information, it appears any deal between Onex, Brookfield and IWG is now off the table.

However, this is not the first private equity firm to approach a flexible workspace operator — and based on recent activity, it certainly won’t be the last.

Brookfield is no stranger to the flexible space industry, having partnered with Convene last year to “elevate and amplify” their 8.6 million sq ft Los Angeles portfolio. In the same year, Blackstone bought a majority share in The Office Group and asset manager group, The Carlyle Group, acquired coworking company Uncommon. 

This week, coworking brand CoCo — now Fueled Collective — announced a partnership with TPG, one of the largest private equity companies in the U.S. Other examples include Gaw Capital’s investment of $33 million in Naked Hub, and Brockton Capital bankrolling the establishment of coworking operator, Fora.