Soft inside

8 January 2019 By Liam Proud, Karen Kwok Follow @liamwardproud

Masa Son’s main partners have balked at pouring more cash into the office-space provider, according to the FT. That undermines the idea of him as a visionary tech investor. It also makes it harder for the $97 bln vehicle to negotiate future deals – or set up a second fund.

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SoftBank Group will inject another $2 billion into WeWork, Reuters reported on Jan. 7. That would bring the Japanese conglomerate's total investment in the office sublessor to more than $10 billion, said Reuters citing two people familiar with the matter.

The latest investment values WeWork at $47 billion. SoftBank will separately convert previously purchased warrants into equity at a valuation of $20 billion. The new investment extending its minority stake, which could be announced as early as Tuesday, will not include any money from SoftBank's Vision Fund.

The Financial Times reported on Jan. 7 that SoftBank previously discussed investing money alongside the Vision Fund at a $16 billion valuation. Vision Fund investors, who include Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company, balked at that plan according to the FT.

SoftBank shares closed up 5.7 percent in Tokyo on Jan. 8. WeWork’s junk-rated bonds were trading at less than 86 cents to the dollar at 1000 GMT on Jan. 8. They were trading at more than 88 cents on Jan. 7.

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