Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. will invest US$3 billion to increase its stake in New York-based coworking giant WeWork Cos. Inc., The Wall Street Journal reported, citing WeWork.
The transaction, if completed, will value WeWork at about US$45 billion, making it the second-most valuable U.S. startup, behind Uber Technologies Inc. and ahead of Airbnb Inc., the publication said, citing Dow Jones VentureSource.
SoftBank will make the investment in the form of a warrant in which it would acquire the additional WeWork stake in the first half of 2019, according to the report.
The publication previously reported that SoftBank was in discussions to buy a majority stake in WeWork through an investment of between US$15 billion and US$20 billion, although it is unclear how the new capital infusion relates to the planned larger investment, according to the latest report, which cited people with knowledge of the matter.
