软银将放弃价值30亿美元的WeWork投资者协议

软银将放弃价值30亿美元的WeWork投资者协议

SoftBank Group is scrapping an agreement to spend $3 billion (Dh11bn) to buy WeWork stock from former chief executive Adam Neumann and other shareholders, despite threats of legal action from some members of the company’s board.

软银集团(SoftBank Group)将取消斥资30亿美元(合110亿迪拉姆),从WeWork前首席执行官亚当•诺伊曼(Adam Neumann)和其他股东手中收购WeWork股票的协议，尽管该公司部分董事会成员威胁要采取法律行动。

SoftBank had agreed to buy the shares from Mr Neumann, Benchmark Capital and others as part of a bailout package last year, but notified stockholders in mid-March that conditions for the deal hadn’t been met. The deal’s deadline is 11:59pm New York time April 2.

作为去年救助计划的一部分，软银曾同意从诺伊曼、基准资本(Benchmark Capital)和其他公司购买这些股票，但在3月中旬通知股东，交易条件尚未满足。该交易的最后期限是纽约时间4月2日晚上11点59分。

“The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of WeWork has been advised by SoftBank, the controlling shareholder of WeWork, that it will not consummate the tender offer which it agreed to in October of 2019,” the committee, made up of Benchmark’s Bruce Dunlevie and another director, Lew Frankfort, said in a statement. “The Special Committee is surprised and disappointed at this development, and remains committed to reaching a resolution that is in the best interest of WeWork and its minority shareholders, including WeWork’s employees and former employees. The Special Committee will evaluate all of its legal options, including litigation.”

由基准的布鲁斯·邓列维(Bruce Dunlevie)组成的委员会表示：“ WeWork董事会特别委员会已获WeWork的控股股东软银告知，它将不会完成其于2019年10月同意的要约收购。”另一位董事刘·弗兰克福特(Lew Frankfort)在一份声明中说。 “特别委员会对此事感到惊讶和失望，并始终致力于达成一项符合WeWork及其少数股东(包括WeWork员工和前员工)的最大利益的决议。特别委员会将评估其所有法律选择，包括诉讼。”

SoftBank shares rose as much as 2.5 per cent while the broader Japan market fell. The company didn’t respond to requests for comment.

软银股价一度上涨了2.5%，而日本股市整体下跌。该公司没有回复记者的置评请求。

The share purchase was hammered out in October as part of SoftBank’s rescue of WeWork, after the co-working company’s failed initial public offering left it weeks away from running out of money. In the deal, the Japanese conglomerate would have taken a stake of almost 80 per cent in the company and buy $3bn in shares from investors as well as current and former employees.

去年10月，软银敲定了此次购股计划，这是该公司拯救WeWork计划的一部分。此前，这家合作企业的首次公开发行(ipo)失败，使其在数周内就将资金耗尽。在这笔交易中，这家日本企业集团将持有该公司近80%的股份，并从投资者、现任和前任雇员手中购买价值30亿美元的股票。

Mr Neumann, ousted in the deal, was set to sell up to $970 million in shares. The generous exit package angered many of his employees, thousands of whom had their jobs eliminated in the following months as WeWork parent We Co. tried to cut its expenses.

在交易中被罢免的诺伊曼先生计划出售至多9.7亿美元的股票。由于WeWork母公司We Co.试图削减开支，数千名员工在接下来的几个月里被裁掉了工作。

WeWork signs long-term leases with landlords around the world and then rents that space to smaller companies and freelance workers, a business that has been particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus and economic slowdown. In a letter to bondholders, the company warned it didn’t expect to hit its financial targets for 2020.

WeWork与全球各地的房东签订了长期租约，然后将其租给较小的公司和自由职业者，而这一行业尤其容易受到冠状病毒和经济放缓的影响。在致债券持有人的信中，该公司警告称，预计不会实现2020年的财务目标。

In the past few weeks, the shareholder buyout deal has become increasingly contentious. SoftBank sent a letter to WeWork investors saying it could withdraw from the agreement if certain conditions weren’t met by the deadline. SoftBank cited regulatory concerns and a handful of government investigations into WeWork, including from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department.

过去几周，股东收购交易的争议越来越大。软银致信WeWork投资者，称如果在最后期限前不能满足某些条件，它可能退出协议。软银提到了监管方面的担忧，以及美国证券交易委员会(Securities and Exchange Commission)和司法部(Justice Department)等政府部门对WeWork的几项调查。

“Neither SoftBank nor the company can offer any assurances regarding the scope of these investigations, the nature of any actions that these or other regulatory parties will take, or the timing within which they will be resolved,” the Japanese company said in its letter, arguing it has no obligation to complete the tender offer.

“软银和公司都不能提供任何关于这些调查的范围,保证的性质,这些或其他监管各方采取任何行动,或者他们将解决的时机,“日本公司的信中表示,认为它没有义务完成收购要约。

The two WeWork independent board directors responded, saying they would consider legal action if SoftBank pulled out.

WeWork的两位独立董事回应称，如果软银退出，他们将考虑采取法律行动。