NEW YORK (AP) – WeWork’s parent company put its stock market debut on the backburner Tuesday, struggling to drum up investor enthusiasm for a fast-growing enterprise that spread trendy communal office spaces across the globe while piling up massive losses.
The We Company dropped plans to begin a so-called road show this week to market its shares for an initial public offering that had been widely expected this month. The company said it still plans to launch its IPO by the end of the year, but it was unclear what steps the company might take in the months ahead to dispel concerns that led to the delay.
“The We Company is looking forward to our upcoming IPO, which we expect to be completed by the end of the year,” the company said in a brief statement. “We want to thank all of our employees, members and partners for their ongoing commitment.”
Already, the We Company had announced sweeping corporate governance changes intended to address conflict of interest and commitment concerns surrounding CEO Adam Neumann. And it had been considering pricing its shares in the IPO at a valuation of less than half the estimated $47 billion that private investors have assigned to it.
The delay was striking in a year marked by healthy investor appetite for IPOs. WeWork had filed confidentially for an IPO in December of 2018 and gave investors a detailed look at its finances in a public regulatory filing last month. Last week, it announced plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq.