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IWG plc

IWG plc
Company typePublic
IndustryIndustrial services
Founded1989, Brussels, Belgium
Headquarters
Key people
Douglas Sutherland, Chairman
Mark Dixon, CEO
Productsserviced offices
RevenueIncrease £2,958 million (2023)[1]
Decrease £145 million (2023)[1]
Decrease £(216) million (2023)[1]
Websiteiwgplc.com
Regus Austria, Vienna

IWG plc, formerly Regus, is a British holding company.[2] It provides serviced offices under several brand-names, including Regus.[3] It was started in Brussels, Belgium, by Mark Dixon in 1989.[4] It is registered in Saint Helier, Jersey, and has its head office in Zug, Switzerland.[3] It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.[5]

In 2020 the company was in difficulty, and filed for bankruptcy for 97 entities connected to Regus and to its co-working brand Spaces. However, it was expected to break even in 2023 after three years of losses.

History

The company was founded as "Regus" by English entrepreneur Mark Dixon with the objective of providing flexible office space to customers in Brussels in 1989.[6] In 1994, Regus entered Latin America with a centre in São Paulo and Asia with its first centre in Beijing.[4]

2000s

The company completed a successful IPO on the London Stock Exchange in 2000.[7] In 2001, it acquired Stratis Business Centers, a U.S.-based network of franchised business centres.[8] Five Regus employees died in the September 11 attacks, as Regus had a business centre on the 93rd floor of the South Tower.[9] The company was criticised for a lack of response to the victims' families, though a Regus official said they had made "proactive outreach to every family of the team members who are missing."[10]

In 2002, the company sold a controlling stake (58%) of its UK business to Rex 2002 Limited, a company created by the private equity firm Alchemy Partners.[11] This move raised £51 million for the company,[12] which had been facing severe financial difficulties.[11] In 2003, Regus filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for its U.S. business, which had been struggling in the wake of the dot-com bubble.[13] A year later, it took its U.S. business out of Chapter 11 after restructuring,[14] financed by its share of the profitable UK business.[13]

The company acquired HQ Global Workplaces, workplace provider based in the U.S. in 2004.[15] It re-acquired the Regus UK business in 2006 for £88 million.[12] The company went on to acquire Laptop Lane, a chain of American airport business centres, later that year.[16] In 2006, the company entered partnerships with Air France-KLM and American Airlines for preferred access for business travellers and in 2007, it entered a partnership with American Express for preferred access for their Business Platinum cardholders.[17]

In 2007, Regus opened business centres in Bulgaria and the Middle East.[18] In June 2008, Regus introduced Businessworld, a multi-level membership service for flexible access to its services in any of its locations.[19] Effective 14 October 2008, Regus Group plc became Regus plc. Regus plc was created as a holding company for Regus Group plc, to establish the company's headquarters in Luxembourg and its registered office in Jersey.[20] Regus has maintained a policy of expansion, opening new business centres.[21] It has also renegotiated some leasing agreements with property owners in the UK to save money, warning owners that the vehicles holding the leases could go into administration (bankruptcy); this has angered the British property industry.[22]

A Regus Hotel and Conference Centre near Dartford

2010s

On 5 July 2012, UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced that Regus would provide 30,000 young entrepreneurs across England with access to its network of offices, complementing the Government's StartUp Loans scheme managed by James Caan.[23] On 19 February 2013, the firm took control of MWB BE, a large UK-based serviced office provider with a £65.6m cash bid.[24]

In December 2016, under a scheme of arrangement, the company established a new holding company IWG (International Workplace Group) and announced its intention to move its base outside the European Union referring to the "increasingly complex legislative environment".[25] The new head office was established in Zug, Switzerland.[26]

In 2019 IWG had approximately 3,000 coworking spaces in around 120 countries.[27][28]

2020 to present

In 2020 IWG was in financial trouble; over a few months it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for 97 different entities connected to both Regus and its co-working brand Spaces.[29] After three years of losses, in 2023 the company was expected to break even.[30]

In February 2021, IWG acquired a majority stake in The Wing women's co-working network,[31] which subsequently ceased operations on 30 August 2022.[32]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Annual Results 2023" (PDF). IWG plc. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  2. ^ IWG PLC. Bloomberg. Accessed June 2021.
  3. ^ a b IWG PLC. Reuters. Accessed June 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Our History - Regus UK". regus.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  5. ^ "Constituents and weights". Ftse Russell. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  6. ^ Cave, Andrew (17 July 2004). "Mark Dixon, CEO of Regus: A true entrepreneur back on the expansion trail". The Independent. London. Retrieved 25 April 2009.
  7. ^ Shah, Saeed (27 September 2000). "Regus valued at £1.6bn in second attempt at flotation". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  8. ^ "Regus buys Stratis in $10m deal". Birmingham.bizjournals.com. 9 May 2001. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  9. ^ Staff Writer. "September 11 - A Memorial" (pg.88), CNN.com, August 2004 (Archive date).
  10. ^ Dwyer, Jim, and Henriques, Diana. "A Nation Challenged: Death Benefits; Money for Families Of Attack Victims Could Vary Widely", The New York Times, 20 September 2001.
  11. ^ a b Vaughan-Adams, Liz (21 December 2002). "Regus staves off bankruptcy with £57m UK disposal". The Independent. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  12. ^ a b Michael Jivkov (20 April 2006). "The Investment Column". Independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 June 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  13. ^ a b "Regus becomes first UK firm to file for Chapter 11". Findarticles.com. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  14. ^ Williams, Charles (29 August 2003). "Regus to exit Chapter 11". Propertyweek.com. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  15. ^ "Regius will buy HQ Global". New York Times. 17 July 2004. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  16. ^ Regus buys Laptop Lane[dead link‍]
  17. ^ Open from American Express Archived 17 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "Where We Operate". regus.qa. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  19. ^ "Regus Responds to Growing Need for Privacy Amongst Business Travelers with the Launch of Businessworld Membership Card Program" Archived 17 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Press release, 16 June 2008.
  20. ^ "Admission and Listing of New Regus Ordinary Shares" Archived 17 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine, General notice, 14 October 2008.
  21. ^ Likus, Anita (27 August 2010). "INTERVIEW: Regus Set For Expansion Despite Harsh Conditions". The Wall Street Journal. London.
  22. ^ Ruddick, Graham (12 March 2010). "Property industry furious at Regus". The Daily Telegraph.
  23. ^ "StartUp Loans - Regus UK". Regus.co.uk. 5 July 2012. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  24. ^ "Regus makes Business Exchange £65.6m bid". ft.com. 19 February 2013.
  25. ^ [Alliance News] (19 December 2016). Regus Becomes IWG As Scheme Of Arrangement Becomes Effective. Morningstar. Archived 2 April 2017.
  26. ^ Jack, Sidders; Konotey-Ahulu, Olivia (21 February 2021). "Family Office Buys Back Flexible Office Firm for Hedge Funds". Bloomberg. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  27. ^ Wiedeman, Reeves (10 June 2019). "The I in We How did WeWork's Adam Neumann turn office space with "community" into a $47 billion company? Not by sharing". New York. Archived from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  28. ^ Olaniyi, Bisi (16 August 2019). "Regus' Port Harcourt centre relaunched". The Nation (Nigeria). Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  29. ^ Ali, Aayat (22 September 2020). "IWG's Reasoning Behind Entities Filing For Bankruptcy". allwork.
  30. ^ "IWG/WFH: scary home companions challenge employers' flexible friend". Financial Times. 8 August 2023. IWG deserves credit for tenacity. But its record suggests it is a specialist with a defensible niche. It is not poised for boom times on the back of WFH.
  31. ^ Regus Owner IWG Buys Majority Stake in Office Startup The Wing" Gillian Tan and Jack Sidders, Bloomberg News, 11 February 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  32. ^ "Gone girl(boss): Troubled co-working space The Wing announced it's shutting down, but all anybody cares about is what will happen to its furniture" Julie Gerstein, Insider, 31 August 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
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