Reports have surfaced that SoftBank may walk away from the US$3 billion tender offer it committed to co-working startup WeWork following its aborted IPO plans.
According to CNBC, WeWork directors have publicly attacked SoftBank for attempting to walk away from the promised $3bn investment, describing the Japanese company’s plan to pull out of the deal as “inappropriate and dishonest”.
The Japanese telecoms-to-technology group appears to be pushing back, stating that “SoftBank has informed stockholders that all of the agreed upon closing conditions must be satisfied before the tender offer can be completed,” the company said. “As of now, they are not.” SoftBank notified WeWork investors on March 17 that regulatory investigations into the company could allow it back out of the planned share purchases, which included a buyout of as much as $970m worth of shares from WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann.
Meanwhile, the New York Post is reporting that WeWork employees at three offices in New York located at 575 Fifth Ave. in Midtown, 524 Broadway in Soho and 85 Broad Street in the Financial District, were warned that individuals at their locations were infected with COVID-19. The news follows recent reports of similar infections at one of the startup’s offices in London.