(New York) The American shared office giant WeWork plans to exit the safeguard procedure in the United States in mid-June, thanks to the validation by a bankruptcy court of its reorganization plan.
“The company expects to emerge from “Chapter 11” protection (bankruptcy law, editor’s note) in mid-June, once the last routine administrative operations have been completed,” she said in a press release. specifying that its reorganization plan had been approved Thursday by a New Jersey court.
The boss David Trolley, quoted in the press release, welcomed a “success well beyond initial expectations”.
“Over the past year, we have seen strong demand across the WeWork network,” he continued.
The group had been in great difficulty for several years – undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic –, accumulating financial losses, liquidity needs and a drop in the number of tenants, when it filed for bankruptcy in November.
In April, WeWork announced that it had successfully renegotiated dozens of commercial leases and terminated others, a step seen as a turning point toward the company’s sustainability. He claimed to have thus reduced his future rent commitments by more than 40%.
By announcing the validation of its reorganization plan, the company specifies that it has ultimately achieved a reduction of more than 50%, or approximately $12 billion.
It also indicates that it has zero debt, after erasing the more than 4 billion in debt that it had before its bankruptcy.
The group, which recovered $400 million in fresh capital, is now owned by its former creditors.
Formerly a star of start-up, WeWork has raised billions of dollars from the Japanese group SoftBank Group. At its peak in early 2019, it was valued at up to $47 billion.
But the controversial management of its co-founder, Adam Neumann, worried investors, who ended up ousting him in 2019.
Several media outlets claimed at the end of March that the latter had submitted a buyout offer for $500 million. On Tuesday, he told New York Times abandon the operation.
Founded in 2010, WeWork currently has a portfolio of approximately 600 locations in 37 countries and 120 cities.