WeWork Aims to Go Public in September, Sooner Than Expected

WeWork Cos. is aiming to go public in September, earlier than many investors had expected, after boosting a loan facility the office-space manager hopes will pave the way for the listing.

WeWork, which filed its IPO paperwork confidentially late last year, is expected to publicly disclose it in August, setting up the company for a stock-market debut the following month, according to people familiar with the matter. That timing, which could still slip, is ahead of what many investors and advisers who had been seeking roles on the deal had previously expected. WeWork hasn’t publicly said when it expects to launch the IPO.

The company is meeting with Wall Street banks this week about an asset-backed loan that could be finalized in the coming weeks and is expected to raise $5 billion to $6 billion, orabout $2 billion more than it had originally sought, the people said. The funds will lessen the amount WeWork needs to raise in the IPO, which could increase the probability of success for a company with ballooning losses.

The IPO would still likely raise several billion dollars, people familiar with the matter have said, potentially making it the second-biggest new issue this year after the May listing ofUber Technologies Inc., which raised roughly $8 billion. Big IPOs have come at a torrid pace lately, setting up 2019 to potentially be the best year ever as measured by money raised.

Indeed, one reason for the September launch target is executives at WeWork are worried that the good times won’t last, with the U.S. stock market trading near records.

It is unclear where public investors might value WeWork, which rebranded itself earlier this year as the We Company, and whether it could garner a valuation anywhere near its latest private round of funding. It was last valued at $47 billion when it raised capital fromSoftBank Group Corp. earlier this year. However, at that time, SoftBank also bought shares from WeWork employees and investors at a valuation of around $23 billion, giving the company a blended valuation of around $36 billion.