The Indian franchisee of U.S. shared office space manager WeWork has filed for an initial public offering in Mumbai, draft papers filed by the company showed.
The offer will consist of the sale of 33 million equity shares by Indian real estate firm Embassy Group and 10.3 million equity shares by 1 Ariel Way Tenant. It will not issue new shares.
“The company will not receive any proceeds from the offer for sale,” WeWork India Management said in the papers filed on Saturday, which did not detail expected pricing or time frame.
WeWork India has an aggregate leaseable area of 602,012 square metres (6.48 million square feet).
The flexible workspace sector in India is booming, driven by hybrid work models and demand from startups. WeWork India leads the market with 94,440 desks across 59 centres in major cities.
Its U.S. franchisor filed for bankruptcy in November 2023, ending a months-long restructuring process involving a strategy revamp and exits from several locations.
Once the most valuable U.S. startup, WeWork expanded at breakneck pace which resulted in significant loss due to expensive leases and a pandemic-driven slump in demand.
WeWork India is controlled by real estate tycoon Jitu Virwani and son Karan Virwani who own Bengaluru-based developer Embassy Group. Karan Virwani is CEO of WeWork India.
(Reporting by Sarita Chaganti Singh; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
