Office space leased to WeWork India in a DLF-owned commercial building in Gurugram has been acquired by the developer for Rs 81 crore, sale registration documents showed.
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The co-working space operator had leased the 31,254-square feet office space in 2018 at DLF’s ‘Two Horizon Centre’ for 10 years at a monthly rent of Rs 135 per square feet. The lease had a rent escalation clause of 15 per cent every three years, from the date of rent commencement.
The sale deed, made available by data analytics firm FloorTap.com, showed that DLF has acquired the office premises from Singapore-based NRI, who owned the space and had leased it to WeWork India.
WeWork India operates as a franchise model with Bengaluru-based Embassy Group holding around 71 per cent stake and WeWork International and WeWork Companies (International) B V having a minority share. The Indian entity pays a fixed amount as fees to WeWork.
The Softbank-backed co-working office space provider had filed for bankruptcy in New Jersey earlier this month, having accumulated around $19 billion in dues to rapid, unsustainable expansion.
In India however, its operations are healthy, and a recent media report said that WeWork India reported a net profit of Rs 60 crore in FY23 on revenue of Rs 1,400 crore and an operating profit of Rs 250 crore. The report quoted chief executive Karan Virwani as saying that it had about 90,000 desks in India, with an occupancy rate of 80 per cent.
In January, ratings agency ICRA had assigned a BBB- rating to WeWork India, stating that it had an occupancy level of 87 per cent in October 2022, up from 52 per cent in May 2021. At that time it had around 68,000 desks in 39 micro-markets spread across Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Pune.