IWG, one of the world’s largest coworking operators, has been expanding rapidly in 2023 — adding more than 600 new locations already this year — and has aggressive plans to capitalize on WeWork’s just-announced bankruptcy.
IWG CEO Mark Dixon spoke with CoStar News on Monday, before WeWork officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and said outright what industry insiders have assumed for a long time: IWG will strategically buy-up as many former WeWork locations as it can.
“We have taken over quite a few defunct WeWorks and maybe there will be more of those to come,” Dixon told CoStar News before WeWork’s filing. “It’s early days and let’s see what their actual [bankruptcy] announcement says. We think we know, but we don’t know.”
IWG is the parent company of coworking brands Regus, HQ, Signature, Spaces, and others. The company currently reports having more than 4,000 workspaces globally, with plans to add 1,000 in a one-year period. Of the already added 600 locations this year, 300 were in the U.S., focused largely in suburban and rural areas.
As IWG excitedly eyes WeWork’s portfolio for acquisition opportunities, the company is also feeling the downsides of their rival’s bankruptcy struggle. Dixon lamented last week that IWG stock had fallen more than 20 percent in the last six months despite the company posting record revenue and nearly doubling profits in the first half of 2023.
