Jan 22, 2020 - Economy

WeWork sells minority stake in The Wing

Dan Primack

Photo: Alex Tai/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

WeWork said that it has sold its minority stake in women co-working space operator The Wing to a group of new and existing investors, including Google Ventures. No terms were disclosed.

Why it matters: This is a reminder that WeWork isn't just a cautionary tale to be shoehorned into every scattered critique of the venture capital and startup ecosystem. It's still a commercial real estate giant that's trying to right the ship by refocusing on its core, slower-growth business.

Other investors in today's deal include actress Mindy Kaling and existing Wing backers NEA and Sequoia Capital.

Flashback: WeWork and The Wing originally discussed a deal in mid-2017 whereby The Wing's two co-founders would each receive $250k "advisor cash awards," $10 million in secondary sales, and $1 million in new shares. After that term sheet got leaked by disgruntled Wing shareholders, the final deal became smaller ($32m total) and much more vanilla.

The bottom line: WeWork expects to get more runway within the "coming weeks," when it's able to access a new $1.75 billion, zero-cash collateral credit facility from Goldman Sachs, as part of last fall's SoftBank-led bailout.

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WeWork sells minority stake in The Wing

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