{"id":32783,"date":"2024-04-22T17:22:38","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T17:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/22\/exclusive-wework-inc-to-sell-entire-stake-in-india-unit\/"},"modified":"2024-04-22T17:22:38","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T17:22:38","slug":"exclusive-wework-inc-to-sell-entire-stake-in-india-unit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/22\/exclusive-wework-inc-to-sell-entire-stake-in-india-unit\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: WeWork Inc to sell entire stake in India unit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Exclusive:<\/div>


\n<\/p>\n

US office sharing company WeWork is selling its 27% stake in the India unit via a secondary deal. We have this evening scoop and more in today\u2019s ETtech Top 5.<\/p>\n

Also in this letter:<\/span>
\u25a0 Flipkart\u2019s q-comm head
\u25a0 Piyush Gupta quits Peak XV
\u25a0 Time sought to study digital competition law<\/p>\n

\n

Exclusive: WeWork Inc to sell 27% stake held in India unit via secondary deal: sources<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Nearly seven years after coworking major WeWork US entered India through a joint venture with the Embassy group, it is now exiting the market<\/a>. Here are all the details <\/p>\n

Driving the news: <\/span>WeWork India, promoted by Bangalore-based Embassy group, is in the midst of offloading the stake held by its US parent through a Rs 1,200 crore secondary transaction. Embassy group owns 73% in WeWork India and the rest is with WeWork US. The India entity retains the branding rights for WeWork in India.<\/p>\n

New investors check-in:<\/span> Enam group\u2019s family office led by Akash Bhanshali, investment fund A91 Partners, and CaratLane founder\u2019s Mithun Sacheti are investing in WeWork India. This capital will be used to buyout WeWork Inc\u2019s stake in the India unit. The joint venture unit was set up in 2017.<\/p>\n

Deal details: <\/span>Along with the 27% that is being sold by WeWork Inc, the deal also involves another 13% being offloaded by the Embassy group, said a person familiar with the details.<\/p>\n

Also read | <\/span>ETtech Explained: WeWork’s downfall from $47 billion valuation to bankruptcy
<\/a>
Background<\/span>:<\/span> Adam Nuemann and Miguel McKelvey founded WeWork in 2010 and raised several billion dollars from top investors including SoftBank. In November, however, it filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy<\/a>. Neumann, according to reports, is planning to buy back the company. <\/p>\n

India business thriving:<\/span> Unlike its collapsed US operations, WeWork India reported a 68% jump in FY23 revenue at Rs 1,300 crore while losses reduced by 80% at Rs 146 crore. For the first six months of FY24, it clocked a revenue Rs 831 crore revenue, up 40% on-year. It is yet to file its audited FY24 financials with the RoC (Registrar of Companies).<\/p>\n

Also read | <\/span>WeWork India says business not affected by US bankruptcy<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

A year on, Apple\u2019s India stores emerge among its best globally <\/p>\n

\"stores<\/div>\n

Apple\u2019s two company-owned India outlets, which completed their first year of operations this month, are off to a great start having posted revenue of Rs 190 and 210 crore<\/a> each for the last fiscal year.<\/p>\n

Driving the news:<\/span> The outlets have joined the ranks of the iPhone maker\u2019s top-performing retail stores globally.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stores have clocked monthly average sales of Rs 16-17 crore each consistently since their launch. It has met Apple\u2019s expectations, matching some of the best-performing store launches and they are now aggressively scouting space for the next three company-owned stores,\u201d said an industry executive aware of the matter.<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/div>\n

Expansion plans: <\/span>As per two industry executives, Apple is in advanced talks to open stores in Pune and Bengaluru. It also plans to have another outlet in the National Capital Region in Noida. All of these will be in prominent malls, people in the know told us. <\/p>\n

One of the executives said the company was waiting to complete a year of its first two India stores before finalising on the next phase of expansion.<\/p>\n

Catch up quick:<\/span> The US-based tech company opened its Mumbai store<\/a> on April 18 last year, followed by the one in New Delhi two days later. Chief executive Tim Cook had flown to India for the store inaugurations.<\/p>\n

Apple of the I:<\/span> The iPhone maker has been doubling down on India<\/a> \u2014 the world\u2019s second-largest smartphone market \u2014 amid geopolitical tensions and a slump in sales in the key markets of the US and China. It is aiming to reach a double-digit smartphone volume market share in India as soon as possible, from around 7% in 2023.<\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/div>\n

iPhones powered an over 35% surge in India\u2019s mobile phone exports<\/a> to a record $15 billion-plus in FY24, we reported earlier. Exports stood at $11.1 billion a year ago.<\/p>\n

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Flipkart picks supply chain head to lead quick commerce biz<\/p>\n

\"Flipkart<\/div>\n

Flipkart has picked senior vice president and group head for supply chain, Hemant Badri to lead its entry into quick commerce.<\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s happening?<\/span> The Walmart-owned company is aiming to launch its quick commerce offering in July,<\/a> ET had reported last week. It is in the process of setting up a chain of dark stores to do the same.<\/p>\n

Badri joined Flipkart over three years ago from fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) major Unilever, where he spent nearly 11 years, ending his stint there as vice president of worldwide planning, among other things.<\/p>\n

\"Major<\/div>\n

The big picture: <\/span>Flipkart\u2019s move comes as quick commerce firms like Blinkit and Zepto are expanding the stock keeping units (SKUs) in their dark stores to add non-grocery categories like apparel, electronics, kitchen appliances and toys,<\/a> which have traditionally been the domain of ecommerce firms.<\/p>\n

We earlier reported that a potential deal between Zepto and Flipkart fell through<\/a>. While Flipkart wanted a large shareholding in Zepto with the founders running the company, the latter decided to opt for a financial round over a strategic sale.<\/p>\n

\"Quick<\/div>\n

Flipkart had also held investment talks with cash-strapped Dunzo, in which Reliance Retail is the single largest shareholder, but those talks also didn\u2019t progress.<\/p>\n

Read our extensive coverage on the rise of quick-commerce:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Peak XV MD Piyush Gupta to leave VC fund<\/p>\n

\"Sequoi\"<\/div>\n

In what is the first senior-level departure at Peak XV Partners since its split from Sequoia Capital in June 2023, the venture investment firm\u2019s managing director Piyush Gupta is leaving at the end of this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What next? <\/span>People aware of the matter said Gupta \u2013 who did not oversee investments for Peak XV but has been leading its strategic development team \u2013 is set to launch his own venture fund focused on secondary transactions.<\/p>\n

Also read | <\/span>VCs looking for partial exits, investors eyeing IPO-bound firms push up secondary deals<\/a><\/p>\n

Tell me more:<\/span> Singapore-based Gupta, a former banker with Deutsche Bank, has worked with Peak XV\u2019s portfolio firms including Zomato, Pine Labs, Go Colours and Indigo Paints over issues such as fundraising, mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings.<\/p>\n

Zoom out:<\/span> Gupta\u2019s departure adds to a list of increasing churn at venture capital firms in India joining Nexus Venture Partners\u2019 Sameer Brij Verma<\/a>, Lightspeed Venture Partners\u2019 Vaibhav Agrawal and Abhishek Nag<\/a>, in addition to partners at firms such as Orios Venture Partners<\/a>, Trifecta Capital and Lightbox Ventures.<\/p>\n

\n

Advocacy groups seek more time to study proposed digital competition law<\/p>\n

\"Big<\/div>\n

A group of 21 industry bodies, including Broadband India Forum, Deepstrat, the Internet Freedom Foundation, and the Dialogue have written to the government seeking an extension to the May 15 deadline <\/a>to provide inputs to the draft of the Digital Competition Bill.<\/p>\n

Time sought:<\/span> In the letter addressed to the ministry of corporate affairs, organisations as well as some individuals have argued that a five-month extension was necessary to allow stakeholders to conduct research, involve small businesses, consumers and gig workers as well as study the impact of ex-ante regulations across the world and its efficacies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is also likely to impact non-digital domains, owing to their inextricable relationship with digital counterparts, and thus could consequently impact jobs and income generation opportunities created across sectors,\u201d the industry bodies have argued in the letter. <\/p>\n

Recap: <\/span>Earlier this month in April, the government had extended till May 15 <\/a>the timeline for the submission of stakeholder comments on the draft of the Digital Competition Bill. The original deadline for submission of comments was April 15.<\/p>\n

In March this year, the fair trade regulator proposed a digital competition bill <\/a>that seeks to put in place several obligations for large digital enterprises, including news aggregators, as part of efforts to ensure a level playing field and fair competition in the digital space.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s ETtech Top 5 newsletter was curated by Megha Mishra in Mumbai and Jessica Rajan in New Delhi.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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US office sharing company WeWork is selling its 27% stake in the India unit via a secondary deal. We have this evening scoop and more in today\u2019s ETtech Top 5. Also in this letter:\u25a0 Flipkart\u2019s q-comm head \u25a0 Piyush Gupta quits Peak XV\u25a0 Time sought to study digital competition law Exclusive: WeWork Inc to sell […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img.etimg.com\/photo\/msid-109505582\/WeWork.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[607],"tags":[36589,36420,20018,6728,3578,273,36418,31526,36480,6724,3556,27199,2341,4493,14871,36417],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32783"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32783"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32785,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32783\/revisions\/32785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}