SoftBank abandons WeWork deal

No deal: People work out of the WeWork office in Tokyo. SoftBank’s exit from its offer to buy shares worth billions in the office-space rental venture has become contentious. — AP

TOKYO: SoftBank Group Corp has scrapped an agreement to spend US$3bil to buy WeWork stock from former chief executive officer Adam Neumann and other shareholders, despite threats of legal action from some members of the company’s board.

SoftBank had agreed to buy the shares from Neumann, Benchmark Capital and others as part of a bailout package last year, but notified stockholders in mid-March that conditions for the deal hadn’t been met. Yesterday, after the deal’s deadline passed, SoftBank confirmed it would end the offer, citing five conditions that were not satisfied by the closing date.