WeWork IPO valuation likely below $20 billion

Enthusiasm seems to be plummeting for WeWork's planned public offering.

A source tells Reuters the office-sharing startup's parent company is considering slashing the valuation from a projected $47 billion to as low as $15 to $18 billion.

However, another source told Reuters the valuation was unlikely to be quite as low as that.

The We Company - which is expected to begin its roadshow as soon as this week - rents out workspace to clients under short-term contracts and pays rent for the properties under long-term leases.

Meanwhile, Softbank, the We Company's biggest outside investor, is urging the money-losing start-up to put We Work's IPO on hold, due to underwhelming investor appetite, according to the Financial Times.

SoftBank may be simply hoping to avoid getting burned on another lackluster IPO.

It backed both Uber and Slack. Shares in both firms dropped significantly after their offerings.