In an effort to retain a U.S. bankruptcy judge to help in his bid to reacquire a former business, WeWork founder Adam Neumann stated that WeWork’s management should be forced to engage in talks or cede control of its restructuring.
Recently, Flow Global, Neumann’s new real estate company, sought to purchase WeWork out of bankruptcy with an offer of more than $500 million. However, a late Monday court filing shows Neumann stating that WeWork has refused to engage in talks and is using its bankruptcy court case to “rubber-stamp” a deal that grants control of the company to its own “hand-picked buyers.”
Regarding Neumann’s request, he reportedly asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood to consider ordering WeWork’s management to provide information to Flow Group as a condition to remain in control of the company. According to Neumann, the company’s “inexplicable” refusal is “fundamentally at odds with its obligation to maximize value” under current U.S. bankruptcy law.
On Tuesday, WeWork said that its focus is on finalizing a deal with its existing lenders to permit the company to exit from bankruptcy, a move they anticipate in “the coming weeks.” WeWork did not respond to any specific questions concerning Neumann or his bid.
WeWork officially entered into bankruptcy in November 2023, following a restructuring agreement with SoftBank, its equity backer, and its lenders. SoftBank and the company’s lenders agreed to cancel $3 billion in debt in exchange for an equity stake in the company.
Attorney for WeWork, Ciara Foster, said in a court hearing on Tuesday that no bidder had offered a better deal than the $3 billion debt restructuring. At a hearing in Newark, New Jersey, she told Sherwood, “We do not have an actual path to a sale here.”
At this time, Neumann and Flow Group have not responded to any requests for comment regarding how they intend to gain the support of WeWork’s lenders.
According to its junior creditors, which include a group of bondholders and a court-appointed creditors committee, the company is rushing to gain approval for the restructuring before the deal between WeWork and its lenders is even finalized.
In recent court filings, WeWork has attempted to address some of these concerns by providing additional details concerning its business plans and stating that it will effectively save $8 billion in future rent costs after negotiations with numerous landlords. A new valuation statement that was included in WeWork’s most recent filings shows the company is worth approximately $750 million.
Once valued at $47 billion, WeWork expanded, growing at nearly unprecedented speed initially. However, the company also racked up steep losses before finally filing for bankruptcy protection. The bulk of the company’s losses have been attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in a steady growth of remote, work-from-home trends and ultimately soured the demand for WeWork’s shared office spaces.
The case is In re WeWork Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, No. 23-19865.
For WeWork: Ciara Foster and Steven Serajeddini of Kirkland & Ellis.
For Neumann and Flow: Alex Spiro and Susheel Kirpalani of Quinn Emanuel.
