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Chinese investors lead WeWork’s new $430M funding round
Co-working giant now said to be valued at $16B
UPDATED, 11:08 p.m., March 9: Co-working space giant WeWork has raised $430 million in its latest funding round, giving the company a valuation of $16 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Beijing-based private-equity firm Hony Capital Ltd. and Legend Holdings, its parent company, led the financing round, WeWork CEO Adam Neumann said in a blog post Wednesday.
“Not only does WeWork have one of the largest addressable markets I have ever seen, but the quality of its execution and fit for the Chinese culture is unparalleled,” Hony Capital CEO John Zhao said in the same post. “Our investment in WeWork is both strategic and obvious.”
As part of the round, WeWork[TRData] has authorized the sale of up to $780 million in two series of convertible preferred shares, both of which are priced at just over $50.19 a piece, Fortune reported.
That share price represents a nearly 53 percent jump from the company’s previous sale of convertible preferred stock last summer, at which time the company was valued at $10 billion.
Last month, it emerged that WeWork’s valuation had jumped to $15 billion after Fidelity Investments reported that its shares in the company had appreciated significantly over the fourth quarter of 2015.
If WeWork were a publicly-traded company, the $16 billion valuation would make it the third-most-valuable publicly traded office landlord, the Journal noted. Boston Properties chair Mort Zuckerman happens to be a major investor in WeWork. [Fortune and WSJ]– Rey Mashayekhi and Hiten Samtani
Correction: Due to conflicting news reports, a previous version of this story incorrectly stated WeWork’s valuation. It is $16 billion.