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WeWork Is Said to Seek Credit Line of Up to $4 Billion

WeWork in Talks for Larger Credit Line Than Previously Discussed

(Bloomberg) -- WeWork Cos. is in talks to extend its credit line, helping the company fund costly commercial real estate operations ahead of a planned initial public offering, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

A debt facility planned for the coming months could be $3 billion to $4 billion, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the deal isn’t final. The New York company, which rents furnished office space to workers, had previously discussed a $2.75 billion credit line with banks, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg in May.

In the next several years, the credit line could increase to $10 billion, the person with knowledge of the discussions said. Talks with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and other banks are still in flux, and a decision is weeks away, one of the people said. Representatives for JPMorgan and WeWork declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported on the talks Sunday.

Adam Neumann, the co-founder and chief executive officer of WeWork, wants to open more locations around the world and invest in a wide array of businesses, including apartments, elementary schools and real estate acquisition. WeWork needs to find new ways to fund these goals after its largest investor, Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp., backed off a plan late last year to pump $16 billion of equity into the startup for a controlling stake.

In addition to the debt talks, WeWork is arranging a $2.9 billion fund called ARK to buy stakes in office buildings. The company said in April that it filed paperwork confidentially with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO.

--With assistance from Gillian Tan.

To contact the reporters on this story: Michelle F. Davis in New York at mdavis194@bloomberg.net;Ellen Huet in San Francisco at ehuet4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, ;Mark Milian at mmilian@bloomberg.net, Daniel Taub, Ian Fisher

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