NEW YORK/TOKYO -- When SoftBank Group invested a further $2 billion in New York-based shared-workspace provider WeWork this January, it had valued the company at $47 billion. This week, it was reported that We Company, WeWork's parent, is exploring a target valuation less than half that size for its upcoming initial public offering, in the neighborhood of $20 billion.
The Japanese tech investment powerhouse has already booked nearly 200 billion yen ($1.87 billion) worth of unrealized losses for the quarter ended in June, much of it stemming from the sluggish share price of Uber Technologies, which listed this year.