WeWork Drops Plans to Rent Dublin Office Space 

(Bloomberg) -- WeWork pulled out of a deal to rent space in a Dublin office block, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company had been in talks to take space at Central Quay, an office block in Dublin’s docklands controlled by Hibernia REIT, but that deal won’t take place now, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The negotiations fell apart because of specific factors about the building, and other deals in Dublin are still going ahead, one of the people said.

“We’re committed to Dublin and excited to continue growing such a strong community here in the city,” according to an emailed statement from a WeWork spokeswoman. “We consider many buildings in the markets in which we’re located but, of course, may not decide to proceed with all of them. We look forward to continuing to work with the Dublin real estate community to bring great office space, design and amenities to market.’

A representative for Hibernia REIT declined to comment.

The collapse of the negotiations over Central Quay comes as WeWork grapples with the fallout from parent company We Co.’s decision to withdraw its initial public offering, a process that cost Chief Executive Officer Adam Neumann his job. Deals for other office buildings largely leased to WeWork also are on the line.

The rental office company took another hit this week when its credit grade was cut by Fitch Ratings to reflect its “uncertain liquidity profile in the absence of its earlier plan to raise at least $3 billion in an IPO.”

Saudi Arabia-based Sidra Capital pulled out of a 90 million-pound ($110 million) deal to purchase a building leased to WeWork, separate people familiar with the matter said last month. Talks have also stalled on the sale of WeWork Waterloo, which the company describes as the largest co-working facility in the world.

WeWork has about 400,000 square feet of office space across five sites in Dublin. While the firm counts small businesses and individuals among its clients, companies such as Amazon Inc. and Facebook Inc. are also reported to have taken space in their buildings in Ireland’s capital.

--With assistance from Gillian Tan and Patrick Henry.

To contact the reporters on this story: Peter Flanagan in Dublin at pflanagan23@bloomberg.net;Jack Sidders in London at jsidders@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shelley Robinson at ssmith118@bloomberg.net, Rob Urban

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