With a future valuation of $47 billion, The We Company is crystallizing its diversification through rebranding. The start-up is becoming an umbrella brand operating businesses in office rental, residential space, education and more in the future.
The Japanese bank SoftBank has announced that it will invest $2 billion in WeWork, bringing its value to $47 billion.
Although this investment surprised many by its small amount - SoftBank had initially planned to invest $16 billion - this should not stop the American group. It thus continues to diversify its operations, allowing it to become more and more involved in different aspects of our daily lives.
As a result of this new movement, SoftBank will have injected a total of $10.4 billion into WeWork in just two years. This is not the first time, and certainly not the last time, that Japanese has invested in entities related to the hospitality sector. In 2018, it is worth mentioning its $200 million investment in OYO, a hybrid hotel chain from India.
Also read: OYO, a new challenger in the UK hotel market?
Ainsi, comme l'atteste son récent rebranding en « The We Company », la nouvelle marque ombrelle se compose de trois unités :
- WeWork, the primary office activity
- WeGrow, which includes a primary school and coding academy
- WeLive, a growing residential unit
The company, which hopes to recruit 1,000 engineers, has announced through its CEO, Adam Neumann, that it could expand into banking activities via a new service called WeBank. Other developments have been discussed in the past, such as WeSleep and WeSail. This development strategy also involves acquisitions such as Teem - $100 million - a workplace management software.
Founded in 2010, WeWork currently operates 335 sites in 24 countries.
The coworking industry is moving quickly and saw new actors enter this market recently such as Wellio par Covivio and Nextdoor by AccorHotels and Bouygues Immobilier.
To identify the opportunities for this sector, join us at HIRE our new event in Cannes, on Wednesday March 13. Le Hospitality Investment Real Estate will examine these new dynamics throughout the course of an evening starting at 5 pm at the Novotel Montfleury.
