WeWork Global has successfully completed the restructuring of its wholly-owned portfolio and emerged from Chapter 11 in the US.
WeWork South Africa, a 100% independently owned entity, operates separately from WeWork in the US and Canada and was not affected by the Chapter 11 process that has been under way in the US for the past nine months.
Stefano Migliore, CEO of WeWork South Africa, said while WeWork South Africa operated independently from WeWork Global, its strengthened capital structure and optimised real estate portfolio would benefit the entire ecosystem.
“Through this process, WeWork Global has achieved extraordinary outcomes by completing a historically large and complex restructuring,” Migliore said.
With its restructuring complete, WeWork Global has also appointed a new CEO to lead the company in its next chapter.
John Santora, former Tri-State chairperson at Cushman & Wakefield, is one of the most experienced global commercial real estate executives, having spent decades in various leadership roles at Cushman & Wakefield.
Andrew Robinson, executive director at WeWork South Africa, noted that WeWork Global’s newly optimised portfolio was an asset to local South African members of WeWork.
“WeWork operates globally across a portfolio of over 4 million square metres and approximately 600 locations in 37 countries. The reorganisation of the global business means that our South African members will continue to benefit from this access,” Robinson said.
“In addition, as global office demand continues to move toward flexible solutions, our current and future landlords are guaranteed that WeWork South Africa is well-positioned to capitalise on the technology, data and community support needed to create truly outstanding flexible office solutions.”
In 2022, Cushman & Wakefield partnered with WeWork to develop a global workplace experience report, surveying 800 people working in WeWork spaces in London, Singapore, and New York.
Among the findings, people who use flexible office space wanted to increase their utilisation up to half their workday.
Among those surveyed, 40% of their time was spent in flexible office space, 55% at home, and approximately 5% in other places.
Looking ahead, respondents said they wanted to be in flexible office space 50% of the time and reduce their work-from-home time to about 45%, a 19% reduction.
BUSINESS REPORT