A German asset manager has expressed interest in ditching WeWork as a potential tenant in an office building in Amsterdam, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Union Investment, owned by Germany’s DZ Bank AG, is weighing whether to cancel a deal to lease space to WeWork’s parent We Co. in the 5 Keizers complex in favor of an alternative tenant, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. No decision has been made and Union Investment could still lease the space to WeWork, they said.
Representatives of Union Investment and WeWork declined to comment.
Months of turmoil at WeWork came to a head in recent weeks when the company scrapped a planned initial public offering after Adam Neumann stepped down as chief executive officer. The company, until recently one of the most valuable U.S. startups, is on course to run out of cash to fund its operations unless it radically cuts costs in the next few months or raises substantial new capital.
That’s prompted WeWork to pull back on some deals, including one to rent space in a Dublin office block, and to moderate its expansion plans. In a meeting with employees on Thursday, new co-chief executive officers Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham and co-founder Miguel McKelvey said that cost-cutting efforts would include layoffs, according to attendees.
At the same time, some investors have withdrawn from negotiations to buy buildings where WeWork accounts for a large chunk of the rent. For example, Saudi Arabia-based Sidra Capital pulled out of a 90 million-pound ($112 million) deal to purchase a London building leased to WeWork.
To contact the reporters on this story: Gillian Tan in New York at gtan129@bloomberg.net;Jack Sidders in London at jsidders@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shelley Robinson at ssmith118@bloomberg.net, Patrick Henry, Rob Urban
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