Money is fleeing China. Not all of China, though: the right investment idea can still attract cash. Late on Wednesday WeWork, the New York-based office space start-up, said it had received $430m in funding from investors including two China-based private equity funds, Hony Capital and Legend Holdings (they are affiliates). The deal values the company at $16bn.
WeWork takes long-term leases on buildings, fitting them out and renting desks and offices to start-ups. The deal marks the two Chinese fund houses’ largest investment in a US company, according to Dealogic data. In the past three years, Hony and Legend have been involved in at least $8bn worth of transactions. Until now, only two of the top 20 — Hony’s buyout of the UK’s PizzaExpress and its recent purchase of a stake in Australian energy company Santos — have been in China. Still, Hony and Legend are not straying from familiar territory with WeWork: the funds raised will be used to help the company expand in Asia, with China a focus.
In keeping with the bubbly trend for unlisted start-ups, the pricing is frothy. Regus, a UK-listed flexible workplace provider, is valued at just $4bn. That company claims 3,000 centres in 120 countries with 1.5m members. For a valuation four times as large, WeWork — still mainly US-focused — has 77 spaces in 23 cities to service its 50,000 customers.