US-based WeWork’s proposal to sell its entire 27 percent stake in its Indian unit has been approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). This was first reported by the Economic Times.
The deal is a two-way process where WeWork Inc. and the parent company of WeWork India, Embassy Group, will together sell around a forty percent stake in the Indian unit. Once the agreement is done, WeWork Inc. will be leaving the Indian markets.
The new entities investing in WeWork India were not named by the CCI. Although the parties had made headway, as per Moneycontrol, the deal was delayed with the CCI because regulatory permission was required for such a significant funding infusion in a market leader.
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Now that the approval has been granted, WeWork’s ownership structure in India will change. Currently, the Embassy Group reportedly holds a 72.5 percent majority stake in WeWork India, while the remaining 27.5 percent is owned by 1 Ariel Way Limited, a UK subsidiary of WeWork Global.
Co-founded by Adam Nuemann and Miguel McKelvey, WeWork Inc. filed for bankruptcy in November last year. Despite WeWork Inc.'s struggles in the US, the business has been successful in India. In funding across multiple rounds, WeWork India raised Rs 2,000 crore.
Additionally, in FY23, the company generated revenue of Rs 1,300 crore, which is a growth of around 68 percent. In addition, the company's net losses for the year decreased by 80 percent to Rs 146 crore.
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After the COVID-19 pandemic, co-working spaces have been on the rise in India. Indiqube, CoWorks, 91Springboard, and Bhive are some of the co-working spaces in the industry. One of the first co-working spaces in India, Awfis, was listed recently. The IPO was sold at Rs 264–383 per share from May 22 to May 27, 2024.
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