Embassy aims to take WeWork India public after acquisition

Bengaluru: Embassy Group is looking to list coworking office platform WeWork India in the domestic bourses within 18 months after acquiring US-based WeWork's 27% stakeholding in the Indian entity for about ₹700 crore, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Post the acquisition, the Bengaluru-based property developer will own 100% of WeWork India. Of the total, Embassy will sell 40% stake to Enam Group, A91 Partners, CaratLane founder Mithun Sacheti, and others for ₹1,200 crore, said the people cited above.

Following the divestment, Embassy will retain a 60% stake, inclusive of 5% as Esops, before proceeding with an initial public offering, the people said.

"WeWork India is performing exceptionally well in terms of revenue and profitability. The company will continue to grow its business, and it will start the IPO (initial public offering) process by the end of this year," the people said. One of the persons said both transactions require approvals from Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

"WeWork is currently in process of executing these transactions and anticipate their completion shortly. While WeWork will be making a complete exit through this transaction, WeWork India will retain the brand by paying a franchise fee of about 2% to the global coworking major," the person said.

WeWork India declined to comment to ET's queries.

ET first reported on November 14 about WeWork India being in the process of buying back the stake held by WeWork after the US company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October.

WeWork India is one of WeWork's fastest-growing affiliates outside the US. WeWork India had earlier said it has pegged a revenue target of ₹1,800 crore for the financial year ended March 31.

For the first six months of FY24, the company reported a 40% on-year growth in revenue at ₹831 crore. Ebitda surged 90% to ₹532 crore during the period, according to its latest available data.

WeWork India plans to add about 1.5-2 million sq ft of office space annually across seven cities and 54 locations where it operates currently. The company has a member base of over 70,000, with more than 90,000 desks, totalling 8 million sq ft. About 80% of its member base comprises enterprises, while the remainder includes clients from SMBs, entrepreneurs, and startups.