Coworking space provider WeWork India gets SEBI approval to launch IPO

WeWork India Management Ltd. has secured regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its much-anticipated initial public offering.

The IPO, structured entirely as an Offer for Sale (OFS), will see the divestment of up to 43,753,952 equity shares. Embassy Buildcon LLP, the principal promoter and majority stakeholder in WeWork India, is poised to offload as many as 33,458,659 shares. Additionally, 1 Ariel Way Tenant Limited will offer up to 10,295,293 shares.

Notably, the IPO will not involve any fresh issuance of shares, indicating that the proceeds will go directly to the selling shareholders rather than to WeWork India itself.

A consortium of investment banks, JM Financial, ICICI Securities, Jefferies India, Kotak Mahindra Capital, and 360 ONE WAM, has been appointed as the book-running lead managers for the offering.

According to property consultancy CBRE, WeWork India has held the top position in India’s premium flexible workspace segment by total revenue for three consecutive fiscal years. In India, the firm has built long-term relationships with multinational clients such as Amazon Web Services, JP Morgan, Warner Bros. Discovery, Deutsche Telekom, and Grant Thornton.

WeWork India operates under an exclusive licensing arrangement with its global parent and is majority-owned by Embassy Group, one of India’s largest real estate developers. Embassy has developed over 85 million square feet of commercial real estate and is also the sponsor of Embassy Office Parks REIT, Asia’s largest office REIT by leasable area.

As of September 30, 2024, WeWork India’s operational footprint included 94,440 desks across 59 centers with a combined leasable area of 6.48 million square feet, mostly in Grade A properties. Nearly 93% of its portfolio is concentrated in premium buildings located in Tier 1 cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Pune, Hyderabad, and Chennai.