SoftBank Group Corp has made a $5 billion debt financing offer to keep WeWork afloat as part of a deal that would make the Japanese technology conglomerate the majority owner of the struggling U.S. office-space sharing start-up, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. In addition to the debt financing, SoftBank is proposing to accelerate a previous $1.5 billion equity commitment to WeWork in the form of warrants that are due in April, the sources said. This commitment was made at a $47 billion valuation, but SoftBank is now seeking to renegotiate it at a valuation of less than $10 billion, sources have said. WeWork's board will meet on Tuesday to evaluate SoftBank's offer, one of the sources said. JPMorgan Chase & Co has been trying to put together an alternative financing package, sources have said. WeWork, SoftBank and JPMorgan declined to comment.
