The merger with BowX Acquisition would value the office-space company at US$9 billion including debt. WeWork would also raise US$1.3 billion, mostly through a private investment in public equity from Insight Partners, with funds managed by Starwood Capital Group, Fidelity Management and others. (The Wall Street Journal)

Talking point: It’s been nearly two years since WeWork’s high-profile failure to go public through a traditional IPO. Since then, the company’s founder Adam Neumann has stepped down as chairman and CEO, in hopes that new leadership would stymie losses at the firm. The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on WeWork, which has shuttered offices as people work from home. In the long term, however, the company is pitching its flexible office model as an option for workers who may not return to the office full time even after the pandemic. The onslaught of SPACs on the market gives WeWork a vehicle through which to go public on the new thesis, even if it’s fetching a substantially lower price than the firm’s once US$47-billion valuation.