After weeks of rumors circulating, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has officially pulled its $3 billion tender offer for WeWork shares.
The buyback deal negotiated last year would have given founder and former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann nearly $1 billion for his shares in the company. In its press release, SoftBank noted that the deal would largely benefit Neumann and large stakeholders, such as Benchmark Capital, while employees would receive less than 10% of the total.
SoftBank cited unfulfilled conditions that led to the termination of its offer, including “the failure to obtain the necessary antitrust approvals by April 1, 2020; The failure to sign and close the roll up of the China joint venture by April 1, 2020; The failure to close the roll up of the Asia (ex-China and ex-Japan) joint venture by April 1, 2020.”
The company also cited multiple new criminal and civil investigations into WeWork’s finances and business dealings since the Material Transfer Agreement was signed in October of last year, as well as government actions around the world relating to the coronavirus outbreak that have led to restrictions against WeWork.
Although a spokeswoman for the coworking firm declined to comment in the wake of this news, reports have stated that WeWork’s board is considering “all of its legal options, including litigation.”
