Guardant Health May Be Unlikely Victim of WeWork Valuation Woes

(Bloomberg) -- WeWork’s contentious initial public offering may be hitting another key SoftBank investment: Guardant Health Inc.

Guardant’s stock dropped as much as 7.8% Wednesday amid reports that SoftBank is seeking to postpone WeWork’s IPO on concerns over falling valuations. With Guardant returning more than three times its 2018 offering price of $19, it may be the best bet for SoftBank’s Vision Fund to raise cash.

WeWork needs to raise at least $3 billion through an IPO to tap into an additional $6 billion credit line that bankers have been setting up in recent weeks. According to a Financial Times report in May, the Softbank Vision Fund was looking to use stakes in Guardant, Uber Technologies Inc. and Slack Technologies Inc. as collateral for a $4 billion loan.

The fund is Guardant’s largest holder with a nearly 30% stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The companies are in a joint venture to speed up commercialization of Guardant’s cancer tests across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Guardant and SoftBank did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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