WeWork reveals loss, revenue growth as it prepares IPO

WeWork is getting ready to go public, adding to a growing list of money-losing venture seeking investors.

The office space-sharing company, which recently renamed itself The We Co., said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that it now has 527,000 memberships across 29 countries. That's nearly double the 268,000 members it had in the prior-year period. More than 50 per centof its members are outside the U.S., as of June.

The company makes money by renting out its office space. It had $17.92 billion US in long-term lease obligations as of June 30. While its initial members were mostly freelancers, start-ups and small businesses, WeWork said that its current membership represents global enterprises across multiple industries, including 38 per centof the Global Fortune 500.

The company has 13 Canadian locations in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, with another 10 sites announced or set to open soon.

WeWork, which began in 2010, had a loss of $689.7 million on revenue of $1.54 billion for the six months ended in June. That compares with a loss of $628.1 million on revenue of $763.8 million in the prior-year period. Total expenses grew from $1.44 billion to $2.9 billion.

Among WeWork's biggest investors is Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank, which has poured billions into the company. Other companies than own more than 5 per centof its shares include JP Morgan, We Holdings LLC and Benchmark.

WeWork plans to list under the "WE" ticker symbol. It did not disclose what platform it plans to trade shares on.