The parent company of office space provider WeWork says it expects to complete its stock market listing by the end of the year, in a move that suggests investor worries over its corporate governance set-up have delayed the deal.
Although the We Company had not committed to a date for its stock market debut, it had been expected to push the listing through as early as this month, following the publication of IPO documents in mid-August.
In a statement on 16 September, however, the company said: “The We Company is looking forward to our upcoming IPO, which we expect to be completed by the end of the year.”
A London-based spokeswoman for the company declined to comment further on the timing of the listing.
WeWork’s IPO papers were met with surprise from many analysts due to revelations about governance practices and the role of co-founder and chief executive Adam Neumann.
Those included fresh details about Neumann leasing office space he owned to the company, his control of the company through voting rights even after the listing, as well as the fact that he does not have an employment contract.
The company has reportedly offered to address some of those issues during meetings with investors since the papers were published.
Property consultant Antony Slumbers told EG at the time the IPO documents were issued that WeWork’s governance structure was “a horror show for a prospective public company”, adding: “To many it is uninvestable with this corporate set-up.”
See also: Inside WeWork’s IPO
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